Meditation

What is Meditation?

Meditation is the heart of Kundalini yoga and an essential part of each student’s ongoing personal journey. While we undertake this practice, we have the opportunity to truly relax and be at peace with ourselves. Yogi Bhajan taught that this practice allows us to cleanse the mind and unlock an array of health and spiritual benefits. Through a series of meditation sessions, we create stillness within ourselves and begin to reach a higher state of awareness. Embark on this spiritual experience with openness and calmness.

The Process of Meditation

Before you begin meditating, it’s important to understand the basics of this specific Kundalini yoga practice. The notion rests upon the idea that there are three aspects of a human being – the body, the inner faculty, and the deep inner self.

Within your waking life, you are likely only aware of your body and inner faculty, i.e. your brain or mind. However, through the process of meditation, you are able to connect more intensely with your deep inner self. Doing so allows you to take control of your mind and become more peaceful. 

There’s a high level of variation when it comes to Kundalini yoga meditation techniques. Learning each style of mindfulness will allow you to engage with your inner self. There are also hundreds of different meditation practices, each of which provides a unique benefit.

“Prayer is when the mind is one-pointed and man talks to Infinity. Meditation is when the mind becomes totally clean and receptive, and Infinity talks to the man."

Yogi Bhajan

Benefits of Practicing Meditation

Before you begin practicing meditation, you may be curious about the benefits of this particular aspect of Kundalini yoga. There are many spiritual, mental, and emotional advantages to become more mindful in your everyday life. There’s a reason that meditation is an integral part of the core practice. Let’s take a moment to discover the many benefits that both meditation and mindfulness could offer.

Changes the brain

When you first begin to practice meditation on a regular basis, you may see some noticeable changes within your mind and the way in which you think. This transformation is no mere coincidence. In fact, research from Harvard University suggests that mindfulness meditation can actually create significant changes within the brain and cognitive function. The study found that people who engaged in forms of mindfulness and meditation on a regular basis were more capable of being nonjudgmental, introspective, and empathetic. 

Stress relief

We all lead highly busy and stressful lives at times. It’s no great mystery that stress and anxiety are terrible for your health and, in the long-term, can lead to serious complaints. Should you need to break from your troubled mind, meditation could be the answer. The practice allows you to press “pause” on whatever’s happening within your life. 

For the briefest of moments, you get a chance to sit back and stop. It is that respite that each of us needs to survive. That in itself is enough to allow you a great level of stress relief and relaxation. Once you make a habit out of mindfulness, you should find that you are now calmer and equipped to deal with life’s challenges.

Develop your intuition

Through the art and practice of meditation, we have the opportunity to develop one of our most precious skills. Enhancing your intuition does not happen in an instant. It takes work, practice, and time to perfect this. Yogi Bhajan taught that our minds are not in control of us. Instead, we are in control of them. They are there to serve us. Through the mindfulness sessions, we can begin to still our minds and make them do the work for us. As we do so, our levels of intuition become stronger and ever more powerful too. 

For the briefest of moments, you get a chance to sit back and stop. It is that respite that each of us needs to survive. That in itself is enough to allow you a great level of stress relief and relaxation. Once you make a habit out of mindfulness, you should find that you are now calmer and equipped to deal with life’s challenges.

Increase positive feelings

While we must all feel positive and negative feelings in our lives, we may also take control of our emotions. Meditation allows us to have a higher sense of mastery over the way in which we feel and how our mind works. Research suggests that practicing both mindfulness and meditation can allow us to have a higher level of focus and attention. That, in turn, means that we can have the power to enhance feelings of positivity while decreasing negative emotions that we feel. The more we engage, the more we control.

Helps curb depression

Depression is one of the leading mental disorders in the world. Tackling this common problem can be a real obstacle for many people out there. If you happen to be struggling with this particular problem, you may search for ways in which to ease the pain. One option that could help may be meditation. Research in the area suggests that taking part in mindfulness and meditative activities could help to lessen feelings of both anxiety and depression. Should you take up Kundalini yoga, you may reap some rewards here.

Lowers blood pressure

The journey toward enlightenment could also lead you to enhanced health. High blood pressure can be a major risk factor when it comes to a whole variety of health conditions, including strokes, heart attacks, and more. With that in mind, doing whatever it takes to lower your blood pressure could be the key to improving your wellness. Research into the numerous benefits of meditation suggests that it may help to lower blood pressure in people who are at risk of developing high blood pressure already.

Pain relief

Suffering from bouts of chronic pain can impede your life and make each day a real struggle. While there is medication out there that can be prescribed to help, you may want to try a more holistic route. Meditation could be one way in which you can manage pain in your daily life. Research in the area suggests that you may be able to use meditation and mindfulness to cope with pain. The experts theorize that the underlying reason may be that mindfulness activates the area of the brain associated with feeling pain.

Better mental health

Unlocking your inner calm and becoming more in-tune with your spirit could afford you a wide range of benefits. One study found that engaging in meditation and changing your spirituality could help improve both a person’s mental health and their quality of life. These two major benefits could help to entirely transform your life for the better in the long run.

Regulate the immune system

A healthy and active immune system is the foundation of your overall health and wellness. Should this aspect of your physical health work poorly, you will experience a wide range of concerns on a regular basis. Some preliminary research into the area shows promise that meditation could help to regulate the immune system. Practicing this mindful art as frequently as possible within Kundalini yoga could enhance your overall immunity.

Cleanse the mind

On a spiritual level, the practice of meditation within Kundalini yoga serves yet another purpose. When you become more mindful and take a look within yourself, you can begin to cleanse your worried mind and relax. The foundation here is that you rid yourself of negativity – whether that is angry, ugly, or mean thoughts. As you move toward a higher level of peace, cleansing your consciousness of these feelings is absolutely essential.

Different Types of Meditation

Now that we are confident in why meditation is important to Kundalini yoga, we should look at some of the types of meditation. This practice comes in a broad range of guises and forms. However, for now, we shall look at four of the most common techniques.