My Students’ Blog

Unlock Your Inner Peace: The Power of Meditation

By James R.

Have you ever felt stressed out and you feel like there’s nothing you can do? One effective way to deal with stress is the practice of meditation and mindfulness. Countless people use meditation to escape their thoughts and find peace in their everyday life. Stress can be caused by almost anything in your life and learning to deal with it in healthy ways will help you greatly in the long run with maintaining mindfulness. 

Meditation refers to a variety of practices that focus on mindfulness and peace. Some types of meditation require you to have an image in your head and think about it, this keeps unwanted thoughts out of your mind. Some people focus on the sound of your breathing or your heart beating. Likewise, they may focus on an exterior sound like a dripping of water or a clock ticking. Meditation also can be with someone using a mantra, a sentence or phrase they repeat. This sentence is usually a soothing and calming statement. While some meditation techniques focus on someone being aware of the outside world but metaphorically letting it go in one ear and out the other, with no intervening physically or mentally. I interviewed Daphne Williams, an expert in meditation, and she said, “I find it difficult to sit down and plan out when I should meditate. I’ve found that whenever I find myself overwhelmed in my life, I find myself with minimal noise, sit or lay, close my eyes, place my hands on my chest and feel my heartbeat.”

The origin of meditation starts thousands of years ago in India. The practice of meditation worked its way up the silk road in Europe incredibly quickly. This had a major impact on all of Europe as a whole. Materials, ideas, and cultures were all shared throughout the trade routes in the silk road. This made meditation an integral part of many religions, though there are differences. Henceforth, there are countless adaptations of the practice of meditation in many different cultures. The name meditation comes from the 12th century AD, from the latin word meditatum, which means to ponder or to consider. The Hindu vedantic tradition was documented in 1,500 BCE, though some historians believe that meditation is much older than that. Though meditation is historical, it is still a common practice today, with around 10% of US citizens having tried mediation.

Meditation allows you to focus on the present moment, instead of getting caught up in your thoughts of the future.

Meditation has countless benefits throughout your everyday life. One of the major ones is the ability to deal with stress. Stress relief adds a new dimension to your life that allows you to stay concentrated on your work, so you can power through stress and find success in your everyday life. Meditation allows you to focus on the present moment, instead of getting caught up in your thoughts of the future. This reduces the risk of panic attacks by lowering blood pressure and heart rate. Meditation also assists in patience and staying calm in strenuous situations. Meditation has had direct correlation with a reduced risk for chronic pain, depression, high blood pressure and the most prevalent is sleeping issues. Daphne Williams stated that meditation “gives you the ability to disconnect with your surroundings, and calm the noise in your head. Meditation allows you to reconsider your thoughts”.

Meditation is stated to help improve sleeping habits and increase the depth of sleep you have. Harvard affiliate Dr. Herbert Benson tagged the title “The Relaxation Response.” The Relaxation Response can help stop stress related problems. A study included 49 middle-aged and older adults who had trouble sleeping. Half were taught exercises that focus on moment by moment experiences and thoughts. The other half was focused on meditation. Comparatively between the two groups, the mindfulness and meditation group had less fatigue, insomnia and depression at the end of the study. Dr. Herbert Benson stated that meditation is just one of a smorgasbord of techniques for sleep help.

Meditation has had a large impact in religion. You can find meditation in multiple aspects of religions. For example, there is meditation found in Buddhism. There are a lot of roots of meditation in Buddhism. In Christianity,meditation is in the tradition of contemplation, which is when you focus intently on a question. Osho, which originates from India, is also dubbed dynamic meditation where breathing exercises are deliberate and forceful. Outside of religion, meditation forms can differ. A good example of that would be yoga, which is a physical form of meditation that originated from India.

Many people wonder how to meditate, and there is a basic set of steps that help simplify the action of meditation. To start meditating, take a seat in a quiet and peaceful place, set a reasonable time limit for meditating, for example five or ten minutes. Sit loose without tension, while sitting in a way that feels comfortable to you. Focus on feeling your breath through your inhale and exhale. Be ready for your attention to wander and try to naturally return your attention to meditation. Don’t judge your thoughts; just let them pass through your mind naturally. Finish self affirmation and kindness to restate your calming feeling. Daphne Williams stated, “My advice for someone who wants to start meditation is that meditating isn’t just sitting quietly with your eyes closed, trying to not think. It’s about letting thoughts pass through your mind, not intervening and finding peace. It’s a lot like watching traffic go by instead of trying to direct it. Meditation is whatever way that makes you feel safe, comfortable and allows you to be calm.”

In conclusion, meditation is an effective way to relieve stress and manage your everyday life. There is evidence behind the importance of meditation that states how it can be useful to you. Taking the steps to implement meditation into your life can be a good decision to help deal with the stress that life throws at you. WIth just some simple steps and devoting five minutes a day, you can help relax your mind in times of stress.