Promote Calmness in Your Life.

       Meditation is known to reduce stress, increase balance, bring peace, and promote calmness in your life. I started realizing these benefits myself nearly 6 years ago when I began incorporating the practice of meditation into my own life. The benefits of incorporating a meditation practice into your life can arguably be endless. In fact, according to this article on mindful.org that discusses meditation,

"When we meditate, we inject far-reaching and long-lasting benefits into our lives: We lower our stress levels, we get to know our pain, we connect better, we improve our focus, and we're kinder to ourselves."

WOW! Doesn't being kinder to ourselves sound great?!?

I went to Wikipedia to learn their definition of Meditation, it is below:

"Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking," achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditation process itself."

 . 

       I have tried multiple styles of meditation in my 6 years since first experiencing meditation for myself. What I've found is that I prefer different styles at different times, for different reasons. I find that in order for it to work correctly, it must be done with very personal intentions and with very personalized details. The where's, the why's, the when's, and the how's, these are the things you must decide if you desire to have a regular and effective meditation practice in your life. Your where might be laying on your bed, taking a walk outside, or sitting upright, crisscross applesauce on a mat on the floor. The why should vary and change consistently as your life evolves. The when may change in different seasons of life as well. As for the how's, I can help you with that. There are basically three styles of meditation. 

Meditation Styles

1. Self-Led
2. Guided
3. Group

Now, let's break these 3 styles of meditation down in a little more detail.

 Meditation that is self-led is the most minimal, focused, and individual in nature.

It also requires very little outside contributing factors. Meaning, no music, specific location, or detailed instructions are required in order to achieve this type of meditation session. That makes this meditation style a minimalist's perfect means for meditating. Self-led means, you determine when you need to meditate and allows you to just snap into a meditation session with little preparation or notice. This style of meditation requires a focused subject, because you set the pace and the direction of your thoughts, therefore an unfocused mind will struggle to stay on path, rather letting their brain run around. You'll find yourself chasing after a thought like the squirrel from the "Ice Age" movie series chases that acorn. With clear focus however, the subject can navigate intentionally through their thoughts in a very individualized nature. Focus will afford you the most beneficial process and will allow you the most effective opportunity to achieve your individual goal. To help you achieve the focus required for this style of meditation I encourage you to set the scene. light a candle, turn down the lights, turn on an instrumental song of your choice. Sneak away from distractions for a moment.

Meditation that is guided is the most personalized and intentional in nature.

It is also the most frequently used style of meditation for me. Guided meditation can mean so many things, this is why I consider it the most personalized style. Choosing the guided meditation that calls to you is a very personalized thing, based on your needs, goals, and understanding of meditation resources. You can find many guided meditations on YouTube. In addition, there are a number of meditation apps available to download on your devices. These are convenient because they offer quite a library of different topics to guide you through, aiding in keeping you focused. These apps also download to your device allowing it to travel with you quite nicely, anywhere you travel too. The catch with this style is that you must intentionally remember to use the resources and tools. My personal favorite guided meditation resources are "Calm" and also "Headspace" both offer apps and can have expenses attached, I've included links to both websites so you can access that information. I DO NOT WORK FOR EITHER COMPANY OR COLLECT ANY AFFILIATE BENEFITS OR INCOME. I also enjoy both in ways that cost me no additional expenses each month. I watch Headspace on Netflix with my existing subscription and the Calm social media accounts are, to say it simply, hilarious and absolutely great! Check them out!

Meditation that is practiced in a group requires the most confidence and courage by far.

It is intentional, planned out, and by far the hardest for me to accomplish. I said this very same thing about thoughtful composed prayers. When it comes to spiritual practices, I struggle the most with intentionally setting aside time for these practices at length. This is a season of life where I am busy and being pulled in six different directions at almost every moment, this makes intentionally setting time aside for these practices extremely challenging. Group meditation requires intention to practice, as there needs to be planning to execute it, and in most cases, it also requires some financial expense. You must intentionally seek out a group meditation experience, be it in an in-person class or a virtual one, with membership fees or other expenses included. This all truly requires preparation and planning so, spontaneously practicing group meditation is truly a rare opportunity. But above intention, planning, and potential expense, group meditation requires vulnerability because quite frankly, you never know what things meditation will bring up, or what feelings will accompany those things. Because of these factors, exploring group meditation likely requires a confident and courageous person to explore this style of meditation. Is this you?

Meditation is a great tool to be used for many purposes.

  There are many reasons one might practice meditation. Whether it be focused meditation for problem solving & achieving goals, body scan meditation for targeting concerns & healing, mantra meditation for confidence & belief building, mindfulness meditation for increased presence & gratitude, spiritual meditation for faith & legacy growth, visualization meditation for dreaming & goal setting, meditation is a great tool to be used for many purposes. regardless of what you use it for in your life. I encourage you to explore where meditation fits into your own life.

But wait, There's MORE!

       I have another spiritual practice, that I consider in the category of meditation, because after my personal experience, it was the most "hands on" meditation I have ever experienced. This is the practice of reiki. My husband treated me to my first reiki session as a birthday present for my 40th birthday. It was transformational and unique to say the least. At some future point in time, I may cover it in a blog in more detail but for now, let me just introduce the practice.

 "What is Reiki?" you may be asking, well:

Reiki

according to reiki.org

Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing.

It is administered by "laying on hands" and is based on the idea that

an unseen "life force energy" flows through us and is what causes us to be alive.

If one's "life force energy" is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress,

and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy.

The word Reiki is made of two Japanese words -

Rei which means "God's Wisdom or the Higher Power" and Ki which is "life force energy".

So, Reiki is actually "spiritually guided life force energy."

       My desire in writing this blog is to encourage you to evaluate the place that meditation has in your life by sharing with you the place that meditation has in my life. The goal was not to convince you to meditate, unless it's something that you feel will fit into your life or is something you're curious of. I believe that spiritual journeys should be authentic, not forced. If meditation has a place in your life, I only encourage you seek the still small voice inside of you to help make the decision and discern the details of your meditation practices. Faith is believing in something bigger than you, something that you cannot explain. It allows you to relinquish control in the things you can't control and offers you the opportunity to remember your place in the big picture. Faith can free you of the anxiety and stress that often occur as a result of living life by little more than white knuckling your way through, trying to control the journey, the narrative, and the perception of others. Meditation can be a great spiritual practice if you open yourself up to its benefits, and do I hope this inspires you to consider where meditation fits in.

~ Live Dazzling

Rebecca Jackson