My Self Awareness/Meditation Techniques for Personal Improvement

The importance of meditation is great that ancient priests and leaders who knew created sort of mystery around it; the intention was to keep it away from the ordinary people. Self-awareness, concentration, problem solving, inner peace, control, gentleness, empathy, healing, gratitude, healthy relationships and connection with nature are some of the benefits of meditation.

Whenever I cross legs to meditate, though crossing of legs is not compulsory, what happens? I do not cross my legs always; I have learned to meditate anywhere and anytime: sitting in the bus, walking on the streets, in the office, or even jogging. Sometimes I find curling of the legs uncomfortable for a long time. These techniques are more of enhancing the sense organs.

Breathing:

though I have done this for a while (it was among the first I learnt), watching Stacey Schuerman’s TEDx talk on “How Five Minutes of Breathing Can Change Your Life” really made a difference. Here is a link to the video on YouTube. You have to concentrate on your breathing and take rhythmic breathes. Example take some certain number breaths in and out while watching you’re the flow pattern.

Feeling:

I mostly start my meditation using this: feel my body connection with my immediate environment, the texture of the clothes I am wearing, of what I am seating on. Also I feel the connection of the ground on which my feet planted (if standing) and of my shoes, of my knee joints if I am cross-legged. I also feel my hands placed on my thighs or any surface. Most times there is need to adjust to more comfortable positions.

Hearing/Listening:

In this case I concentrate on a sound nearby: it can be the fridge humming or a music playing or even a clock ticking. The one I like most is doing this under the rainfall: listening to the sound splattering down. Sometimes, I put on two sounds in which one may be high in volume and I separate the two sounds by concentrating on one only.

I cherish this during rainfall as I work on the rain splashing on the ground and on the roof.

Mental Picturing/Envisioning:

What I have done here is to envision myself in a quiet, gently rocking boat or water side with bushes around: the sounds of birds are on the background with fishes popping around the water. For this case, you can try several scenes like envisioning a peaceful moment if you are undergoing troubled moments. I believe that mental creations can find their way into reality if you keep it up; I constantly feel relaxed in many situations.

Dwelling on a Subject:

I do this usually when I have articles, essays or talk shows to prepare for. Also, I do this when hacking a problem.

Finally, you can combine these meditation techniques during a 10-minute session like when breathing, create a picture of the air you breathe in flowing round your body. Concentration and awareness sessions are so helpful in keeping me calm, in writing my essays and articles and above all in understanding and rediscovering myself. Try these today for 5 to 10 minutes!

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You might love to read this article on “How to Take a Walk in Nature and Bring out the Best in You”

Originally published at www.shimonkepha.com on October 4, 2017.