Meditation began in India as a system of mental, physical and spiritual exercises, and has a documented history of more than several thousand years. Eastern meditation techniques have been developed, trialed and refined over hundreds of generations with the specific intention of developing a method by which someone can regularly attain a state of mental peace and tranquility.
Mediation is an act of focusing and stilling the mind. By curbing the oscillations of the mind, it brings mental peace. On the physical level, meditation helps to prolong the body's anabolic process of growth and repair, and reduces the catabolic or decaying process. It also helps to purify and strengthen every cell of the body and makes the body highly immune to diseases.
Meditation helps to transform and adapt oneself easily to any kind of situation or changes in life. It can also increase memory and concentration, assisting in developing good habits, and help one to become more organised and disciplined, thus attributing to molding one's personality and increasing self-esteem.
In general, meditation only involves setting aside a regular time and place. One cannot learn to meditate, anymore than one can learn to sleep, one falls into both states (just like sleep meditation is also a state). Everyone has the ability to shut out thoughts, the only difference is that we have learnt to focus the mind externally on objects. Guided practice and following certain techniques helps one to go higher, in the stages of meditation.
Living in hectic city like Hong Kong, stress is something which cannot be avoided. More and more people are adding some kind of meditation to their daily routine either as an effective antidote to stress, or as a simple method of relaxation. Meditation enables you to create new attitudes and responses to life, giving you a clear spiritual understanding of yourself. Meditation is also the process of re-discovering, enjoying and using the positive qualities already developed within you. By doing a little meditation each day, it soon becomes a natural and easy habit which generously rewards you for the effort it involves.
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