Meditation For Stress

Stress is nothing but a normal physiological response of the body to situations or stimulus which are perceived as 'dangerous' to the body. Meditation can be treated as one of the natural ways of overcoming stress. Meditation is nothing but a simple way to balance a person's physical, mental and emotional states. This article makes clear the following:

* How meditation helps in stress reduction?
* What are the five levels of meditation?
* Learn more on the types of meditation

Meditation is a one of the natural methods of relieving stress. Though meditation and stress are inter related now, it actually started as a religious practice. Meditation is a simple way to balance a person's physical, mental and emotional states. Meditation originated from Hinduism. It was also developed independently in Sufism. Meditation was later done for non religious purposes like exercises, martial arts and treatment of health conditions. In the present era, many religions especially eastern religions like Buddhism, Sikhism, and Judaism follow meditation. The recent attention on meditation is because it acts as a stress reliever.
Definition of Meditation
There is no proper definition for meditation. It varies according to the context it is used. Literally it means contemplating or focusing. The definitions of meditation under various contexts are


* Altered level of consciousness in psychological point of view.
* Physical or intellectual exercise in technical point of view
* Going to the deeper levels of the mind in religious point of view

To put it in simple terms, meditation is a process in which a person attempts to concentrate his mind by focusing on an object or an idea by excluding all the other objects and ideas from his mind. The point of focus could be

* Person's own breath
* Touch sensation
* Visual sensation
* Thoughts
* Chanting mantras or the holy words like 'OM'

By keeping the mind focused on any of the above things, the person is able to get rid of all the other objects, ideas and thoughts out of his mind. By doing this, the person feels relaxed. An object is said to be made of five elements namely water, fire, air, earth and space. By focusing into these finer aspects of the observed thing, the person is able to go to the deeper levels of meditation and can reach a state of self realization which has got more of spiritual implications. There are 5 levels of meditation.

The Gross level - focus on the objects as a whole

The Subtle level - focus is shifted to the finer aspects of the focused object

Bliss level - a level of trance is reached resulting in ecstasy

I-ness level - focus is shifted to the individual himself

Objectless leve - final stage when the focus is not restricted to anything resulting in a clear and alert mind.
Steps of Performing Meditation

* Sit in a comfortable position with the spine straight and erect.
* Close the eyes
* Focus on breathing or an object or a sound
* Take deep breaths slowly
* This is done for 10 -20 minutes

By doing this the person mind focuses on a particular object and thus get rid of all the thoughts and worries. He will feel relaxed. Some of the other effects claimed to be achieved by meditation are

* Increase levels of patience and compassion
* Resurfacing of memories of the previous birth
* Extra sensory perceptions
* Levitation or yogic flying

Medications During Meditations
Though modern meditation does not use any drug during medication, some of the traditional methods use drugs like LSD and other substances like Bhang, coffee and tea to stimulate the brain during meditation.
Types of Meditation
Transcendental Meditation
This is a unique meditation technique first described by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It is unique in the sense that there is no need for concentrating or focusing on any object. The term 'transcendent' means 'going beyond' or 'crossing all limits. With this meditation, a person is able to go deeper in to his mind crossing all boundaries and attain a state of mental relaxation. The meditation is done twice a day for about 20 minutes by sitting in a comfortable position with eyes closed and chanting mantras. By performing transcendental meditation, the mind progresses through three levels of relaxation starting from

* Restful alertness
* Deep relaxation
* Transcendental consciousness in which the mind has crossed all mental activities.

Natural Stress Relief (NSR)
A do-it-yourself technique comparable to Transcendental Meditation but with only about 1/30 its price is Natural Stress Relief (NSR). See our article on NSR for details.
Buddhist Meditation
It consists of two types.

* Vipassana which means to see the things as they really are.
* Samatha by which one point concentration and positive emotions are achieved.

Mindfulness Meditation
It is a form of meditation in which a non reactive state of mind calms down the person and helps him in relaxation. In this meditation, the person sits quietly and simply observes everything that goes through the mind. He does not get involved in the thoughts, memories or worries.Trancendental meditation is very similar to this in the sense the person need not concentrate on any specific object. All the other types need concentration.

The basic concepts in the two methods are

* Meditation that needs focusing- the thought is narrowed down so much that the person does not see the stressful stimulus
* Meditation that does not need focusing on specific objects - In this the person does not focus on any specific thing, but on the whole background. The thought is so much widened that the stressful stimulus appears so small and insignificant.