Meditation and Mental Health
With the COVID-19 Coronavirus itself, business closures, lock-downs, partisan bickering and blame, and all kinds of crazy misinformation in the world today, in some ways life can be more stressful than ever. The Life, Liberty, And Pursuit Of Happiness Project (LLPHP) has shared information before about how to cope and maintain our mental health. One tool that works well for many people to be mentally and emotionally healthy is meditation, and conveniently, May happens to be both National Mental Health Month and National Meditation Month. Meditation and mental health go hand in hand.
Meditation Methods
There are many ways to meditate. Each meditation method has its benefits, and, of course, different methods are better for different people. Some of the more popular methods of meditation are:
- Mindfulness Meditation: In Mindfulness Meditation, an individual pays close attention to the thoughts that go through their mind. They let these thoughts pass through without judgement and without dwelling on them. A practitioner simply takes notes of the thoughts in their mind and any patterns that emerge. Breathing and taking note of any sensations or feelings in your body are also important parts of Mindfulness Meditation.
- Spiritual Meditation: Spiritual Meditation is similar to, or is a form of, prayer. During Spiritual Meditation an individual reflects silently. They seek answers and open themselves up to guidance and inspiration that may come.
- Focused Meditation: During Focused Meditation, an individual focuses deeply. What they focus on will depend on the person. Some people choose to focus on their breathing, a candle flame, a repetitive sound, or counting beads, for example. Maintaining focus can be difficult. The important thing is to refocus when your attention wanders. This type of meditation helps people develop the ability to focus more fully and for longer periods of time.
- Movement Meditation: As the name implies, Movement Mediation involves movement as opposed to most other types of meditation where people sit still. Movement Meditation can come in many forms such as yoga, tai chi, qigong, or taking a nature walk. Practitioners of movement meditation find peace, guidance, and direction in slow, intentional movement.
- Mantra Meditation: Similar to Focused Meditation, Mantra Meditation specifically focuses on a spoken sound. The well known “Om” is a popular mantra. Some people find a sound easier to focus on than other things, and speaking the mantra allows the benefit of feeling more participatory.
- Transcendental Meditation: Transcendental Meditation (TM) is at it’s simplest a form of silent mantra meditation. Practitioners of TM generally find it more emotionally beneficial rather than gaining insight and knowledge from the practice.
- Sleep Meditation: Probably the most passive meditation technique, Sleep Meditation is exactly what it sounds like: meditating while sleeping. This is done by listening to a recording or audio track made up of different sounds, tones, and music.
Benefits of Meditation
There are a variety of benefits from mediation. People meditate to seek knowledge, wisdom, or insight; to increase their attention span; to increase their ability to focus; for stress reduction; to improve sleep; and to decrease blood pressure. Overall, meditation is great for enhancing mental health through reducing stress, increasing feelings of peace, enhancing self awareness, increasing kindness, and many other benefits that are harder to put into words.
With there being so many benefits from meditation it is a great way to increase physical, mental, and emotional health. Extra time and extra stress because of the Coronavirus crisis present an opportunity for people to learn new things, develop new habits, and experiment with new things. With there being so many different kinds of meditation, almost everyone should be able to find a meditation technique that works for them.
Have you ever tried mediation? What meditation method did you use? What effect did meditation have on your life?
Garrett Leeds is the founder of the Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness Project
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