Why Meditation?
Each of us have a body and a mind. We take care of our body by eating food, taking bath and wearing clean clothes. We give all importance to the body because it can be seen by ourselves, and others. But the mind is an unknown area. We know that we have a mind, but we never venture out to see how the mind works, what food it requires, what care it needs, what cleaning and protection it needs. Meditation helps to discover our mind, its habit patterns, its strengths and weakness, how it needs to be taken care of, etc.
How to Meditate?
For any meditation, we need an object to meditate upon. Different techniques have different objects and methods.
We practice a technique called Anapana Meditation, a very ancient meditation technique of India, which was practiced in our country since a very long time.
The object used here is our own breath. Breath – because it is natural, real and practical.
The intention is to train the mind to stay in the present rather than wander into thoughts of the past or future, and to work with the reality. The memories of our past experiences, attached with various emotions and the probable anxieties of the future make the mind stressed out due to which it is very difficult to focus on our present activities such as reading, writing, studying, memorizing, etc.
We can only watch our present breath and not the past breath or the future breath. Thus, when we concentrate on our breath, we are actually training the mind to stay in the present and be aware of the present activity, that is, the present breath, going in or out.
The focus of attention is at the entrance of the nostrils, on the rings of the nostrils, and to develop the awareness of the nature of the natural respiration process. While doing this, due to the old habit, the mind is full of thoughts, and refuses to stay with the breath. The person needs to make efforts to stay with the breath and not the thoughts.
With insistent efforts, slowly the mind will begin to watch the breath, and as long as the mind is on the breath, it means that the mind is in our control. With a controlled mind we can do wonders. Externally, we need to sit in any comfortable position, but the back and the neck should be straight, eyes and mouth closed for effective practice.
Training the mind to live moment to moment
What are the benefits of Meditation?
- You can develop the ability to concentrate on whatever you are doing
- You can remember things that you do, read or learn
- You can be more relaxed, calm and happy
- You can overcome your fear, anger, tensions, anxiety, stress
- Good sleep is assured, no nightmares, no sleepless nights
- During the day or night, the mind is relaxed, peaceful and alert
- You can develop high levels of awareness and equanimity
- Your sense organs will function very effectively
- A harmonious attitude is developed, at home, school and society
- You can be in total control of yourself, not react to situations or get worked up
- You can make best use of the time on hand as the mind becomes quite sharp
- No matter how unfavorable the situation, you are your own master
- You can become the master of your mind, the master of your future
- However tough the situation we will not commit any unwholesome deed
Here is the link on the Benefits of Meditation by John Hemant.
Student Feedback Letters
G Suhasini, Class 9 I
I have been practicing Anapana Meditation since I was 6 years old. Though I may not be regularly meditating, I try to observe my breath in times of my stress, such as studying, preparing for exams, overcoming anxiety and tensions. There are times when I feel lonely, dejected or depressed, and that is the time when I meditate, I feel much better and quickly get back to normal life. And of course, the daily practice in the school assembly helps me to tune myself to the school life, which is full of lectures, class discussions, pressures from my peer group, home-works, projects, etc. One needs to sincerely practice watching one’s own breath as much as possible to be able to perform better in all fields of life.
Aashish J, Class 7 G
I have attended Anapana courses, both in School and the meditation center. Every time I watch my breath, I feel stronger to be able study better and do my exams well. I watch a lot of TV and also play computer games. My parents warn me that my attention span decreases due to this. But I smartly train my mind to concentrate on my breath and this helps me to correct my attention span. But the most important thing is that I now know what is the right thing I should do, what I must avoid and how I should perform in class and at home. I practice regularly in school and sometimes I practice at home too.
