What is Meditation and Why is it Important?

Meditation is a state of peace. This occurs when your mind is quiet and calm, yet still very much aware. It can be practiced in a number of different ways and for a number of different purposes. It can help with relaxation, relationships, and sleep, for example.

It also elevates your levels of self-awareness and mindfulness. Meditation has been shown to have profound emotional and physical benefits, including improved immune function and decreased pain and inflammation at a cellular level. It can even improve self-control and the ability to regulate emotions. Productivity and memory improvements have also been noted as well as many other benefits. It can take years to master the techniques behind some of the more advanced meditations, but with others you may see results in minutes.

Here is a quick overview of the types of meditation covered by TotallyMeditation.com

Breathing Meditations: Often the first stage of any meditation practice, breathing meditation stops the distractions that surround us and make the mind clearer and more lucid.

Stress Relief Meditation: Meditation can ease the effects of stress on your body and mind. Stress relief mediation works by activating the body’s natural relaxation response to bring it back into a balanced state of equilibrium with the mind.

Relaxation Meditation: Similar in many ways to Stress Relief Meditation, relaxation meditation is a great tool for releasing tension and anxiety in the muscles of the body. It allows the mind to become calmer and trains the unconscious mind to stop interpreting tension as a threat to the body (fight or flight response).

Mindfulness Meditation: Simply put mindfulness meditation means maintaining a moment to moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment without judgement. The focus is on the present rather than the past or the future.

Pain Relief Meditation: Whatever your ailment, pain relief meditation can help to lessen the severity of the pain by focusing one’s awareness on something else such as breathing through the pain rather than medicating for it. It teaches you how to work with intense and unwanted sensations without succumbing to them.

Relationships and Meditation: Through meditation we can gain a greater insight and awareness of our thoughts, feelings and habits and can begin to improve them. When it comes to our relationships, meditation can improve our mood, empathy and acceptance of others. All are key elements for healthy and happy relationships.

Movement Based Meditation: As the name suggests, this type of meditation is carried out while on the move. Walking meditation is a common form of this practice. It is the practice of being aware of the act and experience of moving right down to the feeling of the ground and the smell of the air.

Meditation and ADD or ADHD: Meditation is the ideal self-care tool for those suffering with ADHD as it creates a moment of peacefulness amongst a constant sea of non-stop going. Studies have shown it is beneficial in improving self-control and attention, reducing impulsiveness, bettering decision making, and increasing levels of serotonin.

Seniors Aging and Meditation: As we age it becomes even more important to find ways to reduce pain and anxiety that do NOT require more medication. Meditation is a skill that once learned can (with practice) help us reduce our reliance on pain and anxiety medication. Fewer drugs means fewer of the side effects those medications can bring.

Sleep Meditation: There’s nothing more frustrating than not being able to sleep. Not only can poor sleep make you really cranky, it can also lead to issues with concentration, depression, anxiety, and more. Sleep meditations can be exercised through deep breathing, muscle relaxation meditations, or guided visualizations, among others.

Meditation Podcasts: When you are looking for a meditation on the go, auditory instructions, or interviews about meditation we have helpful, easy to follow podcasts of various lengths.<

Meditation Videos: If you are more of a visual learner or simply want to have the basics demonstrated in an easy to follow format, our meditation videos will come in very handy.

Browse Our Meditation Articles, Videos and Audios: