The Benefits of Meditation
Everybody agrees that life is becoming more busy and complicated, and so we need a method to be able to cope with the stresses and strains of daily life in a way that enables us to stay calm and feel in control of our life. Meditation offers us this method.
Just by doing 5,10 or 15 minutes of meditation each day we can reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, improve our mental clarity and start to experience a spacious feeling within our mind. If we meditate consistently over a period of time, we will experience major improvements to our self-esteem, our mood, our relationships and we will be able to navigate life’s challenges more effectively.
As Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche explains, “when the turbulence of our distracting thoughts subsides and our mind becomes still, a deep happiness and contentment naturally arises from within.”
During meditation we give ourself the much needed time to improve our mind’s experience. We learn to familiarise ourself with the states of mind that are the causes of our happiness and overcome those are the cause of our suffering and pain. The peaceful minds we generate in meditation have a positive flow-on effect on everything we do in our day to day life.
A Simple Breathing Meditation
1. Posture
Choose a quiet place to meditate and sit in a comfortable position. The most important thing is to keep your back straight to prevent our mind becoming sluggish or sleepy.
2. Breath
Sit with your eyes partially closed and turn your attention to the sensation of the breath as it enters and leaves your nostrils. This sensation is the object or focus point of our meditation and we should stay focused on it to the exclusion of everything else.
3. Concentrate
Resist the temptation to follow the different thoughts as they arise and try to concentrate on the breath to the exclusion of everything else. If you discover your mind has wandered and is following your thoughts, immediately return it to the breath.
4. Relax
Practise like this until your mind starts to feel more lucid, spacious and refreshed. Enjoy this feeling of inner peace for a while.
Learn More About Meditation.
Hear our Resident Teacher Diana explain how meditation can help you feel happy and peaceful in daily life.