You Can be Great If You Really Want To

Many people especially those who have stressful jobs use various meditation techniques as a form of stress management. This is because meditation techniques are effective in relieving stress because it targets specific body parts that are easily affected by stress attacks.

Nowadays, meditation techniques can be classified as “concentrative” that involves the means of focusing into a specific object and the other can be termed as “expansive” that involves a person’s free flowing thoughts, observation, and reflection.

Stress buster meditation techniques

Being an ancient practice, experts say that meditation techniques can vary depending on the origin of the practice and the culture in that place. The use of these in stress management also depend on the personality of the person and where he or she comfortable with.

Today, it has evolves into so many forms and types. But, most people who use meditation techniques as a form or stress management use the most popular ones including the mantra meditation, the trataka or steady gaze, and / or the chakra meditation.

The mantra meditation refers to one those meditation techniques that involve production of sound or the combination of one or more sounds that are played in a very spontaneous manner. When the sounds are spontaneously played, it can greatly affect the metal process and psychic consciousness of the person practicing it.

The Trataka or Steady Gaze, on the other hand, is one of those meditation techniques that have been commonly practiced by majority of the religious systems in the world such as Sufism and Christianity. When translated literally, “trataka” means to “gaze steadily” into a specific object. In this meditation technique, the person meditating is asked to gaze steadily in a certain an object and focus his or her attention to it. Because of its effectivity in holding a person’s concentration for a long period of time, the “trataka” is considered as one of the most effective yet simple means of meditating.

Among the benefits of this meditation technique is that it helps in the improvement of the person’s external and internal optic function, alleviates visualization disabilities as well as poor eyesight, develops deep mental concentration, enhances the person’s ability in maintaining single point sight as well as developing a person’s sense of intuition.

Another meditation technique for stress management is the chakra meditation, which greatly helps in the manifestation of energy and mind control. It is also known to be very effective in developing a person’s deeper consciousness. For beginners, there are actually seven Chakras available to be tried on but the most popular among them is the “chakra anusandhana,” which can be self-tutored. This meditation technique helps awaken the chakra of a person in a very gentle and balanced way. It is also one of those meditation techniques that are easy to do. What you can do is to sit or lie and close the eyes.

Once you have done this, you can now adjust body as well as your clothing for proper breathing control. Once you get hold of it, you can let the chakra flow into you slowly. Although this is very effective, don’t overuse it because it can lead to various side effects including exhausted mental capability.

If you decide to do this as a form of stress management, always make sure that a professional to avoid creating imbalance that can lead to various personality disorders guides you.

Stress management can be spiritual or secular. The combination of spiritual and secular activities can be a perfect tool for stress management activities.

As far as spiritual activities are concerned, take to the universally accepted technique- meditation! A better tool has yet to be found for stress management. It not only eliminates your present stress, it takes the stress out of your life for all times to come.

Do you think that an individual is a self-contained personality? It is proved beyond doubt that you use less than 5% of the actual powerhouse that you are! The rest of the energy is not utilized by a human being! You can activate through meditation, as you reach the higher levels, brain chemicals that slow your aging process and dramatically increase your functional life. Through medication you can have the inner vision and mind-blowing experiences.

You may wonder, how meditation could be one of the stress management activities! In fact, it is not just one of the stress management activities. It is the only one! Other techniques are kindergarten stuff before this ultimate tool of stress management. Meditation kindles the light within.

Take this example, and try to understand the benefits of meditation as a tool that controls the stress. Suppose you enter a dark room and switch on the tube light. Then, it is not necessary for you to inform or urge the darkness to go away. The moment light arrives, darkness goes automatically.

Similarly, the moment the light experience takes hold on you, the negative tendencies will fall apart, automatically. They move out, without being told. Light and darkness can not stay at the same place. Similarly, stress and peace of mind cannot walk together. Can two persons walk together, except they be agreed?

What are the universally accepted negative tendencies of an individual? Prominent among the galaxy of negative traits are, anger, fear, anxiety, sadness and greed. These simple looking negativities, are deeply entrenched within you, and you have to go their roots to remove them. The positive qualities like creativity, improved focus and concentration can meet the challenge of stress effectively.

Listening to soothing music, and inspiring talks through video/audio cassettes, has found a prominent place among the stress management activities.

In the final analysis, stress management is all about understanding your mind. Engage it in a frank silent talk. It has the habit of not listening to you and running its own way. You can check it through meditation and begin to control it. In the end, I will assure you, that it has no other option but to surrender at your feet!

I will also caution you that it will do so, after lots of struggle and by offering you stiff resistance, at every stage!

Certain mental states induced by meditation are common with those states specific to mental processes that get your undivided attention like studying something you find interesting or that involves creativity. Your mind is naturally focused but relaxed in those states.

You are so focused that even the perception of passing time becomes irrelevant. You do not hear the noise around you. Your limbs get numb after so long, motionless period of time when you “forgot” you had them. Did it happen to you?

Creativity flourish in these moments. It is like “divine inspiration” is bestowed upon you. Supposedly artistic masterpieces were created in such a state. Similar with significant scientific discoveries (I always wondered where did Einstein got this idea of relativity when nothing in day by day living was hinting toward it. Hm!…).

And this is how you can enhance your problem solving capacity. Because ideas and solutions are all about creativity. So, just allow your mind focus on the problem by discarding the associated emotions. That is when meditation helps a lot.

So how you do find solutions to your problem? Very simple:

Write down the problem and the hopes and fears associated with that problem. In five to ten minutes exhaust everything that you think about it. This has multiple benefits. First of all it crystallizes the problem with the pros and cons and allows you see how important the resolve of this problem is for you. It makes it more finite, if you wish. Emotions tend to make a problem bigger that it is, you know. Secondly, it allows you look, literally, at that problem from outside rather than identifying yourself with it. And this will make you objective when solving the problem.
Now, just clear your mind of the problem by closing your eyes and spend another five to ten minutes in meditation. Still your mind and try to keep it focused on a mantra, your breath or other object of your choice for as long as you can. This is not simple task. You will find yourself thinking to something else, or eventually to your problem. Just gently, bring your attention back to the object of meditation. Through meditation your mind breaks free from the addictive habits of hope and fear. It also calms, relaxes and refresh the mind. And it prepares it to … find a solution.

So at the end of that period, you realize that there has been a shift in your perspective and there is an answer to the problem, or just as often, you will go about your day and the answer or the perspective shift will come later with the best resolve for you. That is because you removed the emotional cluster and the confusion usually associated with problems you perceive as unsolvable.

“Sleep over it” is the same thing. With meditation though you don not have to take a nap each instance you need to solve a problem.