As you go through life in search of better health and wellbeing, it is easy to become solely focused on the state of your physical body.  Although there is no doubt that your physical wellness is essential for a high quality of life, you must also remember that the state of your mind will have a direct impact on your physical health.  In fact, it is boldly stated by my teachers before me that 99% of all disorders stem (at least partially) from a mental origin.  Knowing this, it can clearly be said that you must heal your mind and emotions in order to truly establish perfect health (svastha). 

No matter the issue, meditation is undoubtably one of the most powerful and effective tools you have for balancing and strengthening your mind, emotions, and nervous system.  Meditation is a direct path into your conscious and subconscious state.  It uproots stagnant and repressed emotions, thoughts, and feelings, giving you the ability to process them, heal from them, and send them on their way. 

Whether you are new to meditation or feel that you are not good at it, this simply does not matter.  Anyone and everyone has the ability to meditate, even if only for a few minutes each day.  If your mind is racing and cannot seem to come to a quiet state, then you should meditate on this, looking directly at your racing thoughts and then looking at the force that is behind them.  This will not only bring awareness to your “monkey-mind”, but it will be the first step in learning how to slowly bring it to a calm and collected state.  This may not happen overnight, but with consistent practice and right intention, you will begin to see great changes not only during the meditation itself but in every moment of your daily life. 

Besides calming a chaotic mind, meditation holds the potential for a wealth of health benefits.  It is proven to stimulate memory, intellect, focus, and concentration, as it improves blood flow to the brain.  It can allow you to discover deep-rooted emotions that you store in deep in your bodily tissues.  It can cleanse mental toxins from your mind and brings about free-flowing clarity, wisdom, and awareness.  Meditation can give you the space to heal from past trauma and improve relationships in your daily life. 

Meditation Health Benefits

• Improves clarity, intellect, memory, focus, and wisdom
• Brings awareness to your thoughts, feelings, and emotions
• Uproots repressed emotions
• Reduces stress
• Allows you to slowly heal from past psychological trauma (including PTSD)
• Allows space for processing through your emotions, bringing them to a state of balance over time
• Calms a racing mind (with patience and practice)
• Calms and strengthens your nervous system
• Reduces anxiety, worry, and fear
• Calms and deepens the breath
• Stimulates Prana (the vital lifeforce) throughout your system
• Aids in the treatment of most sleep disorders
• Promotes sound sleep when practiced before bed

Before getting into the three powerful techniques of meditation that I use regularly, let’s first look at a few general factors to consider before starting your practice.

When is the best time to practice meditation?

The best time for meditation is any time that will realistically work for your schedule, making it as easy as possible to be consistent with your practice.  If you have some flexibility around this, then the best times will be first thing in the morning (ideally around or before sunrise), midday before lunch, and/or before bed. 

How long should your meditation practice be?

The length of your practice will again depend on the amount of time that will realistically work for your schedule.  Even a short 5 to 10 minute meditation in the morning will begin to cultivate a clear, calm mind, preparing you for the day to come.  If you have the ability to create our own meditation schedule, I would ultimately recommend to practice 2 to 3 times daily for 10+ minutes per session. 

Where is the best place to practice meditation?

Although meditation can be practiced anywhere (say while doing the dishes or taking a walk), it will ultimately be best to select a sacred space that will allow you to feel a sense of calmness during your practice.  This area should be relatively quiet without a lot of movement or distraction.  If you are able, it is recommended to enhance your meditation space even further by creating an alter filled with sacred and meaningful pictures, statues, and possessions.  For example, you may have a small table that has pictures of your loved ones, candles, some rocks that we collected on a sentimental vacation, and a little knick knack that was given to you by your grandmother.  Since this is your personal sacred space, it can be anything that helps to bring you to a place of happiness, peace and love. 

A few other tips…

• Meditation should ideally not be practiced on a full stomach
• Performing a short Yoga or Pranayama practice before mediation can enhance your practice
• Meditation can be performed sitting in a simple crosslegged posture, lotus pose, half lotus pose, in a chair, or any posture that you can sit comfortably in for the allotted amount of time; use pillows, cushions, props or blankets if needed!
• Meditation that is practiced before bed can be done laying down in a “shavasana” type position if preferred (even in bed!)

Meditation Techniques For Healing the Body, Mind and Consciousness

So Hum Mantra Meditation

This meditation technique is a simple yet very profound method commonly used in both Yoga and Ayurveda.  The breath naturally creates a “so” sound on the inhale and a “hum” sound on the exhale making this meditation as simple as taking a deep breath.  The literal meaning of these sounds together is “I am that” which allows you to meditate on your complete union with all of creation.    

Directions:

1. Sitting in a comfortable position (or laying down if it is nighttime), close the eyes and gently place the tip of the tongue directly behind the front teeth. Bring the mind to a quieter, more present state by taking several deep, long inhales and exhales.  Do this for about a minute (give or take), calming the energy and setting the stage for your practice.
2. Once you are ready, begin to quiet the thoughts that naturally arise by internally reciting “so” on your inhale and “hum” on your exhale.  Although this mantra is short, the breath should be deep and elongated as you slowly inhale “soooooooo…”, and slowly exhale “hummmmmm…”.  Overtime this elongated breath will continue to lengthen. 
3. As you go through your meditation with this breathing mantra, bring your awareness to the feeling of oneness that this mantra creates: “I am that, that I am”.
4. You will likely find your mind trying to wander at some point, especially in the beginning. This is completely natural and is bound to happen, even to the most well-practiced Yogi.  Do not give up! Instead take note on this wandering and simply come back to your breath and the So Hum sound that it creates. 
5. Continue here for a minimum of 5 minutes, increasing your time as you become more comfortable and this mantra meditation becomes more natural.   

Circuit Breath Meditation

This particular breathing/meditation technique comes from my teacher Shandor Remete of Shadow Yoga.  In this particular school of thought, you bring the focus to the breath as it comes in through the nose down to the naval center and eventually up through the spine.  It then forms a circuit as you bring the breath down again.  I really enjoy this breathing meditation as it helps to calm and stabilize my mind, deepen and elongate my breath, and enhance the Prana (lifeforce) throughout my body and mind.

Directions:

1. Sitting in a comfortable position (or laying down if it is nighttime), close the eyes and gently place the tip of the tongue directly behind the front teeth. Bring the mind to a quieter, more present state by taking several deep, long inhales and exhales.  Do this for about a minute (give or take), calming the energy and setting the stage for your practice.    
2. Once you are ready, bring the focus to the breath as you imagine it coming in through the nostrils and pulling it down the front of the body to the naval center.  You can almost imagine a straw placed at your naval that is sucking the breath downwards through a thin tube.  The breath should be slow, steady and come without strain.
3. After the inhale is complete, take a natural short pause here as the Prana (breath) sits at your naval center.  In the beginning this pause may only be for less than a second.  However, overtime you will notice this pause lengthening on its own.  This pause is the cessation of our thoughts as it is said that breath and thought move together. 
4. After this natural pause is complete, begin to exhale, moving the breath upwards and through the spinal column.  The exhale should be long and slow, ideally matching the amount of time from the inhale. 
5. At the end of the exhale, pause the breath at the third eye center.  Once again this pause should come naturally rather than forcefully being help.  Although the pause may be short in the beginning, it should lengthen overtime, allowing the thoughts to stop and the mind to be clear, quiet and content.
6. After this second natural pause is complete, repeat this cycle as you pull the inhale down from the third eye to the naval. 
7. Pause, exhale up the spine to the third eye, pause and repeat.
8. Continue this circuit breath meditation for at least 5 minutes, lengthening the amount of time as you become more comfortable with it. 

Watching the Mind Meditation

Watching the mind meditation is a powerful technique that I have found so much benefit with during times of stress, relationship issues, or anytime I feel a bit overwhelmed in my life.  I cannot stress how priceless this simple, yet profound tool has been with providing me the space and ability to process through my thoughts, feelings, and emotions.  I really hope that you can find as much benefit in this meditation as I have in my life!

IMPORTANT NOTE: As with any of this deeper, more subtle work on the nervous system, this technique is likely to cause some emotional disruption in the beginning.  This is a natural part of the healing process and will begin to dissipate overtime as the stuck emotions become digested and free. 

Directions:

1. Sitting in a comfortable position (or laying down if it is nighttime), close the eyes and gently place the tip of the tongue directly behind the front teeth. Bring the mind to a quieter, more present state by taking several deep, long inhales and exhales.  Do this for about a minute (give or take), calming the energy and setting the stage for your practice.    
2. Once you are ready, bring the attention to your thoughts that are naturally arising.  Acknowledge these thoughts and begin to contain them as they slowly become more focused and more one-pointed. 
3. As you process through these naturally occurring thoughts, try to avoid labeling them as “good” or “bad”.  Instead simply be with them in this new state of awareness.  Appreciate them.  If they do not seem to serve you at this time (say you catch yourself planning out your day’s schedule) then acknowledge this, as you thank this thought and send it on its way (e.g. “I appreciate the fact that I need to plan my day, but now is not the time.”)   
4. Remember this is not a controlled thinking process, but rather a natural way to allow your thoughts, feelings and emotions to surface as you bring awareness to them, process them and (eventually) allow them to be free. 
5. Keep this thought meditation going for at least 5 minutes, lengthening this amount of time as you become more comfortable with it.   
6. You may notice the same thoughts recurring as you get deeper into this practice.  This is a good sign that you are processing through something that needs a lot of attention and love.  Overtime you will notice that these recurring thoughts and emotions begin to become less frequent as they heal and become free.

*Meditation image credit courtesy of Total Shape.