Meditation For Relaxation And More

Many people use meditation for relaxation, and it is easy to understand why. Breath deep, calm your thoughts, and stress melts away in minutes. What's more, this isn't just a matter of feeling better while meditating. It is now known that many illnesses are caused by or made worse by too much stress, so even if it is never more than a relaxation technique, meditation is a very healthy practice to say the least.

Of course, meditation has higher purposes than relaxation. In fact, one of the most valuable things you can get from it isn't stress relief, but a better understanding of yourself and how your mind works. That self awareness can lead you to a whole new approach to life that is healthier in every way, so let's look at how this can come about.

We'll start with a simple experiment that you can do today. It will show you how limited your awareness can be at times - most times. Try a simple exercise today or tomorrow when you are rushing round the house, or busy at work. Just stop and go outside for a short and slow walk. Watch the things and people and animals around you as you walk, but say nothing. Furthermore, withdraw your attention from the thoughts going through your head. At some point sit quietly on a bench step, tree or on the grass.

You will probably notice sounds, smells and activity everywhere that you were not aware of before you slowed down and quieted your mind in this way. When you see something, like a bird, for example, don't think "bird" or engage in any internal dialogue about it - just observe. Hear the wind rustling the leaves without any mental commentary, and don't try to think about what any of this means or make it into some new "theory." Remain silent and be aware of your surroundings for a while before returning to your daily tasks.

This simple exercise is a kind of meditation, and once you've done it and become aware of what you normally don't notice, you should think about what is going on inside you that makes you miss so much. Consider the possibilities such an quietly observant state has. There is a lot of distracting noise and activity in your mind, and when you sit in meditation you start to see that you are constantly full of images, ideas, arguments, memories, dreams, demands and more.

The Promise Of Meditation

Meditation for relaxation is great, but using it to learn how much incessant argument and explanation is going on just below the surface is more fruitful. See how this internal dialog pushes you this way and that, and how mechanical we are in our reactions - even as we tell ourselves we're free and in control. Becoming aware of this as an observer of your own thoughts, you'll feel less inclined to listen to the bad-advice from your own mind - you'll open yourself up to better ways, whether you call this a "higher self" or just clearer thought.

Moving beyond this identification you have (we all do) with your own thoughts, you'll start to act intuitively and with less conflict and anxiety. Consider how much concentration it took to learn to walk, and yet now it is easy, and if you stopped to think about where to put each step you would probably fall down. Many areas of life need less thought to stumble over, and more direct action which proceeds from what you see clearly. The intelligence that is beyond words in no way denigrates the power and usefulness of human language and thought, but it is needed for a healthy life.

Reach the point where our minds quiet even just a little, and we begin to experience a self beyond thoughts and ideas. When we think of our "self " we bring up a collection of flattering and/or condemnatory images and thoughts and memories, but we are not what we think we are. "Self" is something beyond all that, and though we can say such a thing intellectually, even then we are often experiencing a thought-self that is very limited by its own creations.

The reality of existence outside of our thoughts is something else entirely, and seeing it helps us detach from the "created self" that encourages us to suffer so much mentally. We're asleep and under the spell of a mind that seeks to perpetuate itself without regard to our needs. That metaphorical understanding helps explain how after a lifetime of our own "lower self " misleading us, we still listen to its advice daily. It helps us see why we do bad things even though we "know better," because on some level we do know better - but we aren't always thinking or acting from that lower level of self.

We have the potential to wake up and see reality more directly through meditative practices. Ideally, "right action" then proceeds from what is seen clearly, and thought becomes a tool subservient to our true interests, rather than having a life of its own at our expense. In other words, meditation for relaxation might be a nice start, but you may want to also consider the higher purposes meditating can serve.

Other Relevant Pages:

The Meditation Program - A Review

Four Ways To Use Meditation CDs

Two Reviews Of The Holosync Program

The Best Mediation Audio?

Six Brainwave Entrainment Tips

The Best Meditation CD Is...