What we seek to give you here is an overview of how pain can be alleviated with yoga and guided meditation techniques. These techniques, that you can learn very easily, are not at all difficult and you can get through them very quickly as they don't take too much time. Transcendental meditation may be an ancient practice but it is still performed the world over when it comes to handling stress in an effective manner. The benefits of meditation - whether it is used for spiritual, religious or just relaxation purposes - is to make the mind calm by focusing on a certain object.
The path to meditation can be through meditation music, through chants or even through silence. The focus could be on some object close by or you could focus on the breaths that you take as they go in and out of your body.
You need to find a place where you won't be interrupted when you do this so never mind what technique you use, the place you are in is important. Once you have decided what it is you want to focus on and where you are going to practice it, make yourself comfortable - not too much so you fall asleep. The ultimate aim is to reach a state of a mild trance, a state where you are aware of your surroundings yet detached from it. This Alpha state is a good one to achieve but for those who want more, there are deeper, more still states that can be achieved with zen meditation.
Though it is Buddhist meditation that comes to mind when we think of meditation, most religions include it as a part of their religious practices in some form or the other. Among Buddhists, it is used as a means to get to the highest mental state - the state of enlightenment. Although it can be performed in any position including standing, sitting, walking or lying down, the sitting position or 'zazen', is the most recommended.
In relationship to the types of meditation, there are several psychological and physical benefits of meditation that have been documented, several of them arising out of a research project that was conducted by Professor Herbert Benson at the Harvard Medical School. The studies that have been conducted have shown that even twenty minutes can really help to reduce your blood pressure, your breathing and heart rates, slow the metabolism and reduce the muscle tension.
The deeper states will very often bring about mental images like bursts of color and images and maybe even a still, small voice. Some of the follow-on studies have reflected that meditation can also help to relieve anxiety and stress, migraine, headaches, depression, fatigue, chronic pain, and insomnia. Once you start attaining greater self-awareness, healthy body and happy mind you will start enjoying other benefits of meditation such as enhanced mental faculty endowed with greater intuition with access to internal resources buried deep within the unconscious. Meditation has been used through the ages as a means to attain better spiritual planes but today it is finding a great use to manage the stress and tensions that abound in the modern world. You can lead a stress free life if you combine yoga sessions with meditation.
