Meditation is one of the techniques often used for stress management. A person who is riddled with problems often finds it hard to focus, which often leads to more problems. Meditation techniques help a person achieve a calm state of mind without having to resort to drugs or relaxation tools and implements. Every step to meditation is done in the mind.
Remember that meditation is not a one shot deal. It is almost impossible to attain a calm state of mind in just a matter of minutes, especially if it’s your first time. It is essential that you keep on practicing meditation until you have conditioned your mind to instantaneously achieve that calm state just by thinking about it. Here are some steps for a beginner to start with meditation as their Stress Management strategy.
1. Find A Quiet Corner To Start Your Meditation.
Distraction is a hindrance to those who are still starting out with meditation. When you close your eyes, your sense of hearing will be twice as good, so almost any noise in your surroundings will make it hard for you to concentrate. For beginners, it is important to start out in a quiet place in your home where noise is non-existent. Close your windows and lock your door. If possible, you can tell everyone in your home to minimize their noise so that you won’t get distracted.
2. Ready Your Position.
It is advisable for beginners to avoid lying down when practicing meditation. The aim here is not to sleep, and it is likely that you will fall asleep if your mind reaches a relaxed state. To stop this from happening, you can start your meditation in a lotus position or you can find a chair you can sit on. Make sure that your back is straight and your hands are relaxed on the armrest or on your lap.
3. Begin Your Meditation With Proper Breathing.
A good way to start meditation is to do the proper breathing exercise. You inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. This way, you can come up with a rhythm that you can easily focus on. Also, the amount of oxygen in your body will help to keep you relaxed. Keep practicing your breathing until you can do it easily without having to think about it.
4. Focus On Your Mind.
While you are concentrating on your breathing, you will achieve a state wherein your mind will start throwing images at you. These are mostly random- events of the day, future plans, problems and worries, fears and so on. It will be hard to ignore these thoughts and you are not supposed to ignore them. The gist here is to acknowledge these thoughts when they enter your mind and then release them. This might sound hard but here is a simple example to understand the concept. You know that you have furniture at home- you can see it clearly with your eyes, but you are not really concentrating on it. Focusing on the furniture will usually make you think of its color, its material, how it looks in that part of your home, and more. You need to be able to look at these random thoughts in a detached state, seeing them clearly in your head but not focusing your attention on it. There will come a time that these random thoughts will stop and you will notice that you are already in a blank space in your mind. This is the state you want to achieve during meditation. This is the place where you can think about your problems and focus on it till you can find a solution for it. With this, you have successfully mastered the basics of meditation for your stress management program.
As we can see, meditation is a great way to stay in the moment and focus on what you are doing. It is not hard to learn, but it will take some time and practice before you get used to it. But once you do, your life will be changed forever! Now that you know the basics of meditation, you can start right away!
I hope you found this article useful. I also hope that you start meditating today and experience the benefits of meditation for yourself. I would love to hear about your experiences with meditation in the comments below.
Energy healing is a holistic practice that focuses on the energy that flows through our bodies. From ancient times, it has been used for healing and spiritual purposes. There are many different types of energy healing such as Reiki, chakra balancing, crystal therapy etc. but what exactly is the difference between them? I will try to answer this question in this blog post.
Pranic
Chakra or energy center is a term used in Pranic healing, an ancient Hindu system of energy healing. Prana means life energy.
Aura is another terminology traced to Pranic healing. Aura is a non-physical body that consists of energy, which exists along with our physical body. The aura that covers our body is said to have seven layers pertaining to the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of an individual as manifested by energy.
Studying the colour and thickness of auras gives ideas on the state of health of individuals. Six colours are associated with aura and interpreted into six personalities. These colours are all present in an individual but one or two are more pronounced.
Green: Ambitious achiever
Blue: Spiritual peacemaker
White: Unconventional chameleon
Red: Activist
Orange: Creative communicator
Violet: Psychic
Tantra
Although Tantra is popularly associated with the practice of sex and spirituality, it is another method of energy healing. It comes from the word tan which means to spread or expand. The concept of connectedness is a recurring theme in Tantric writings on sex and spirituality. As a method of healing, spirituality and sex figure prominently. It is presupposed that the union of two people can reach spiritual levels during orgasm, which removes the body and mind from collected impurities. These impurities, being negative energies, can in turn manifest as physical illnesses.
Reiki
Unlike Puranic and Tantric healings, which have Hindu origins, Reiki originated from Japan. It is relatively younger than Pranic and Tantric healings having been rediscovered in the early 1900s. Reiki stands for universal energy, an energy brought forth by higher intelligence. Students of Reiki are taught how to tap this energy to heal physical, emotional, and mental illnesses.
Is All Energy Healing the Same?
Although Pranic, Tantra, and Reiki are all systems of energy healing, they differ in the type of energy tapped for healing: life energy, sexual energy, and universal energy respectively. The concepts of the connectedness of mind, body, and spirit; the connection of individuals to all living and nonliving things around them and to the universe; and how energy impacts physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being are some of the salient similarities of these three healing methods.
Why Do People Turn to Energy Healing?
Pranic, Tantric, and Reiki are considered alternative methods of healing. In spite of the availability and relative accessibility of modern medicine, how come more and more people are being drawn to them? Here are some possible reasons:
Energy healing worked where modern medicine failed.
For several reasons both explainable and unexplainable, modern medical treatment can fail to heal ailments and conditions in some, if not many people.
People perceive modern medicine to be isolating.
Medical treatments are oftentimes focused on the disease and its causative agent, which can make a patient feel isolated and treated like a mere host of the disease. Although recent developments in hospital practice are gradually promoting the holistic treatment of a patient, the perception still persists. Unlike in energy healing, since energy and spirituality are intimately linked, the patient feels that all aspects of his health are being attended to.
Energy healing is non-obtrusive and natural, thus it is safer.
Repeated surgical procedures are physically and emotionally traumatic for most patients. It is but a logical and attractive option to both patients and families to look for less stressful health interventions.
Energy healing is a good way of relieving stress.
Meditation is part and parcel of energy healing methods and this is an added benefit for highly stressed people. Moreover, sophisticated equipment is not required thus it becomes all the more convenient for students and future students of energy healing.
Alternative healing and mainstream medicine both present benefits to their approach. And in the final analysis, what matters is the restoration of good health.
Maybe you are not familiar with Reiki, don’t worry, you are not alone.
To start with, Reiki is associated with natural holistic healing or a healing where pharmaceutical drugs and medical surgeries are just an alternative in case the system of holistic healing fails.
Reiki is an early form of energy healing in which a participant serves as a channel for Universal Life Force. The Reiki participant opens himself/herself as a channel for an energy that comes from a higher source to aid in healing or correcting a person’s aura. This is believed to be beneficial for the body, mind, and soul or the Indian system known as Chakras.
Reiki got its principle from the thought that the universe has an energy that gives form, structure, and health. This force is also called Chi by the Chinese martial artists. It is said to be capable of healing anything because its energy comes from the basic fundamental levels of reality.
It also teaches that the energy flows are affected by the thoughts of a Reiki practitioner. For instance, if he/she thinks of negative things, this will manifest diseases and unfortunate events. If he/she thinks the other way around, good health and fortune will come. These are facilitated to help the patients believe whatever positive thoughts they have in their minds.
To have an idea of how the healing process is conducted, here is an example: Usually, the healer performs some hand rituals and eventually places it over a sick person. Then she will perform some massage from mid-air, and she will make some scooping actions like she is smoothing a bedspread. This movement is intended to correct the person’s aura. There are other Reiki masters that just place their hands directly to the patient and keep it there as long as necessary.
They are also capable of healing from a distance, also known as Reiki remote healing. The healer will ask for an object that will represent the ill person and they will treat that said object just like she is treating the person. They are also capable of healing and blessing objects such as cars, homes or even laptops.
As we can see, Reiki is a powerful healing process that can be used to treat various ailments. It uses natural energy to stimulate the body’s self-healing abilities and relieve pain and stress. As we can see, Reiki is a great alternative to traditional medicine, and it has been used for hundreds of years and the results are undeniable.
It is one of the most popular forms of alternative healing and it is accessible to everyone! If you want to learn more about Reiki or experience it for yourself, book a session today and start on your healing journey.
Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning spinning wheel. These are a system of seven energy centres located along the spine. Each chakra corresponds to an area of the body, a set of behavioural characteristics and stages of spiritual growth. Practicing yoga and focusing your energies during different postures can help you to align your chakras and get all the wheels spinning in the same direction and speed. Understanding how to fine tune and control your chakras through yoga and meditation can help bring balance and peace to your mind, body and spirit.
There are seven chakras, each associated with a different part of the body along the spine from the perineum to the crown of your head. Each chakra is associated with a particular body location, a colour, a central emotional/behavioural issue, as well as many other personal aspects including identity, goals, rights, etc.
The seven chakras are:
Crown
Sahasrara– top of head, cerebral cortex.
Third-Eye
Ajna– brow
Throat
Vishuddha– throat
Heart
Anahata– heart area
Solar Plexus
Manipura– solar plexus
Sacral
Svadhisthana– abdomen, genitals, lower back/hip
Root
Muladhara– base of the spine
Through the movements and postures of yoga, you can learn to focus your concentration and energy to and from the various chakras in your body. This can allow you to compensate for areas that may be out of sync with the rest of your body or not active at all. By balancing the energy among all seven of the chakras, balance can be achieved.
This spiritual energy is known as Kundalini energy. In its dormant state, it can be visualized as a coiled up snake resting at the base of your spine, the Muladhara chakra. Since the chakras act as valves or pumps regulating the flow of energy through your system, controlled and purposeful movements such as yoga can be extremely beneficial in realigning your chakras in a way that can cause great benefits to you in your physical and emotional wellbeing.
