Meditation is a practice that is personal to the individual thus there are many forms of meditation, probably too many to write about fully. The art of meditation is about finding an inner calm. Meditation goes hand in hand with massage and for many can be a way to further develop the calmness or a way to start or end the day. Whichever it is, it is important to understand that meditation can be a great tool to finding balance in your life.
What is meditation?
Meditation is about focusing the mind on a particular point or thought and ensuring when your mind starts to wander you bring it back to the focal point. Many use breathing to help calm the body and focus the mind. Whatever it is you use; breathing, music, an image or sensation, as long as it allows to focus and allows you to take time for yourself then it is a good start.
Benefits of meditation
Meditation has been scientifically proven to help reduce stress and anxiety. The effect on the brain even after 20 minutes of meditation are astounding. The beta waves in the brain show all the activity that is going on and even when we are sleeping the activity in our brains is very active. Meditation reduces this activity and allows the brain just to be free.
Focus – meditating on a regular basis will improve your focus as you start to acknowledge when your brain is wandering. With regular bouts of meditation, you can use your brain in a way that you probably didn’t realise you could. You will start to see the difference from 20 minutes a day, best before you start your day, straight away when you wake up as when you sleep your brain is also lowering the beta waves. When we sleep, we work out the day’s problems, finish problem solving and finally unwind.
As the brain is a muscle that works hard it still should be trained every day to encourage new neuron receptors to form, build bridges and help keep your short term and long-term memory active. Some people meditate using crossword puzzles, word searches and puzzles to disengage from the day to day thought processes and focus the mind.
Creativity – when we meditate, we allow more time to focus on other things. When your brain is allowed to unwind, to relax and you can just be, then your creative side will engage. Artists and musicians are known to meditate on a regular basis to allow them the freedom to create. It is the relaxation that allows you to perform better.
Reduced Anxiety – It has been proven that regular meditation will reduce your anxiety. Mediation helps relax some neural pathway connections. If you imagine your brain as lots of different coloured wires tangled together. Just loosening the wires, a little, reduces the pressure, reduces the stress and reduces your anxiety. Your ‘Me Centres’ as in the way we respond to situations also change. As we meditate, we loosen up of these neurons meaning the emotional triggers are lessened. For example, if we fear something, our ‘Me Centre’ is engaged, mediation loosens those neurons thus the fear next time will be less thus we can cope better with it the next time around.
Creativity – when we meditate, we allow more time to focus on other things. When your brain is allowed to unwind, to relax and you can just be, then your creative side will engage. Artists and musicians are known to meditate on a regular basis to allow them the freedom to create. It is the relaxation that allows you to perform better.
Compassion – another benefit from meditating regularly is our levels of compassion and empathy increase. As meditation reduces your anxiety, stress and response to stimuli, people who meditate respond different to images, situations and emotional challenges. This means that you respond in a calmer and more level planed mindset which can affect your day in a very positive way. This also allows you to deal with situations better meaning the positivity can cannon ball into the day leaving you feeling motivated and accomplished.
Improved Memory – people who meditate regularly have better memory. As the brain gets more space to not think, it means it has more time to store. Strange concept but the fact during meditation you learn to focus, when you learn something new the brain signals are stronger, and you can stop daydreaming and regain focus quickly, reinforces the learning deeper. The long-term memory has more time to embed because the way you now focus. Meditating has a massive impact on your long term and short-term memory. Only way to find out is by practicing meditation.
Stress – again like focus, people who meditate are less stressed, because meditation reduces the response to emotions, gives you more thinking space and stressful situations are dealt with calmly with less effect on the mind and body. The benefits of meditation mean when you practice on a regular basis you can utilise the skills even for short burst when you feel stressed and out of control. It has been known for interview applicants to practise 10 minutes of meditation before an interview to reduce stress and anxiety. Allowing them to respond clearly and think more freely about questions they are asked.
Putting meditation with a good Adonis massage and you are onto a winner for a balanced mental state. Having more time focused on yourself means you can be better in every part of your day. Book in time with yourself to practice meditation and book in for a gay massage with one of our male to male masseurs in Manchester to help you fully relax.