Finding Your Meditation Style

For many in the general public, the idea of meditation conjures of images of a stiff and strict lotus position, or gives the idea of a foreign idea of worship, leaving them feeling intimidated about the practice. However, the benefits of a meditative state can be achieved in different ways for different people, some methods being as simple as doing an activity that relaxes you. The difference in what makes something a leisure activity vs meditation can be a simple as the intent behind it.

Answers.com provides the following definitions for meditation.

1. To reflect on; contemplate.
2. To plan in the mind; intend: meditated a visit to her daughter.
3. Buddhism & Hinduism. To train, calm, or empty the mind, often by achieving an altered state, as by focusing on a single object.
4. To engage in devotional contemplation, especially prayer.
5. To think or reflect, especially in a calm and deliberate manner.

It is said that 20 minutes of meditation can provide a physical benefit similar to 8 hours sleep. Beyond that, the spiritual benefits can be even more powerful. Any quiet thought can be a form of meditation, if on a level that seeks to tap into the deeper part of the soul for answers. Likewise, any activity that provides calm assurance can be an avenue for obtaining a meditative state or the benefits of such. Walks in nature provide that avenue for me, observing and listening to animals, absorbing sunlight that filters through tree limbs, or walking along a beach to breathe in the salt air. Practicing Reiki is another way that I connect more deeply, by focusing on the energy of love as it flows through me. Each of these gets me to a place of stillness in my soul where I can more readily tap into the knowledge that is either within me or available to me, knowledge beyond things that I have been taught or have learned through study or experience.

Albert Einstein, arguably one of the greatest minds of modern times, once said, The only real valuable thing is intuition. Many in our modern world frown upon intuition as a source of knowledge, or at least if it is used in any deep way, thinking that if you can't prove something through facts and logic, that it must not exist; but Einstein was in tune enough to know that some knowledge is deep within us - that the most important thing we can do is to find ways to touch and utilitize that intution in order to reach greater heights and tap into our true potential. It is this knowledge of intuition that we can touch only through our willingness to go to a calm, reflective state.

You may find that you get into a state of heightened awareness or connection through prayer, through a round of golf, through working in the garden, drifting off for a light nap, or through a combination of many things, but the important thing is to intend to go there to seek your answers and your truth - to let other things fall along the wayside in order to daydream, to escape, to reflect. You should not only go there, but go there often. As you begin to find avenues to get to a better state that is more in touch with your self and your soul - more in touch with God - you may wish to venture into other methods for even deeper meditation. Set aside time that is just for your meditation and reflection, and you will begin to find answers to problems you are facing or questions you have about life. The answers are always waiting for you.