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With mental health becoming such a vital conversation among people across different domains, it’s integral for us to converse about the remedial side of the narrative. While different people have different approaches to well being, there’s no denial that meditation has resurfaced in a major way among people. And that’s not a surprise, since it’s absolutely easy to do and has a historic and scientific backbone. We asked our readers about meditation – how they do it, how it benefits them and more. Check it out!
I. Aayushi Thakur Sinha
How did you get into meditation?
Friends recommended it.
How & when do you meditate?
Whenever I can take a few minutes to myself, sometimes with a guided meditation app.
How has meditation benefited you?
I used to be very sceptical about it. Over the last few years, I found myself getting restless. Last year was particularly challenging for me and my anxiety issues, and through some reading and conversations I discovered the calming and grounding effect meditation can have when you’re spiralling. I also realised it’s okay for your mind to wander, as long as you can observe it.
Any advice for people who are interested in meditation?
Chances are you’re already meditating in ways you don’t even know (reading, listening to music, being quiet by yourself) and it’s really not as hard as you may think. It is enough to take time and focus on breathing.
II. Krithika Seran
How did you get into meditation?
Thanks to my mom. Spirituality over religion was encouraged in my home. And when my mom realised I might need something to anchor me, she joined me in some classes with her teacher while she learnt Reiki healing and other things.
How & when do you meditate?
I’ve been meditating almost everyday, before the first half of the day begins, for over 10 years now.
How has meditation benefited you?
The benefits for me have been multi fold and at times lifesaving. It helps ground and calm me through my battles with mental illness. It’s helped me reflect and look inwards and grow. Its helped me centre myself and build a vision. It’s helped me accept and love others and myself endlessly.
Any advice for people who are interested in meditation?
Always know some days will seem tougher...and that’s okay! Still happens with me in fact. Accept it and just do some light breathing for 5 mins. Maybe that’s what your body needed that day. Oh, and drink a glass of water after a session!
III. Janki Mehta
How did you get into meditation?
Its always been a part of life. My family respects the contemplative practices, though I did not start seriously till I was introduced to Reiki.
How & when do you meditate?
I shall be honest – meditation requires a level of discipline that I still have not mastered. But I do make it a point to take time out every night to go through the day and contemplate, breath and connect with myself. Its a mix of Reiki and breath work. It sometimes also involves music and chanting.
How has meditation benefited you?
Oh, tremendously! It helps us slow down, focus more and organise our thoughts. Working on subtle layers of ‘the self’ – from why I get stressed to why something bothers me and work through it. Its not magic, so my problems don’t disappear but they start opening themselves up and heal with time. The idea is to observe them rather than have an emotion attached. I am a psychotherapist thus this time is also a time for me to think about cases, what I could do differently or what I should talk about.
Any advice for people who are interested in meditation?
Start with simple things, even if its talking your thoughts aloud. Be aware of how you feel. Its still meditation.
IV. Priyanka Muniyappa
How did you get into meditation?
I went for my first Vipassna course when I was 19. That was 7 years ago, since then I’ve gone for 2 more courses.
How & when do you meditate?
After I do my morning yoga and pranayama practice, I sit in a comfortable position and start by taking a few breaths and silencing my mind. I then just observe my breath along with the other tinier sensations all over my body, by scanning from my head to toe. I repeat this process for 20 mins and then conclude my practice. I don’t practice meditation everyday, I do it a couple of times a week, whenever I’m feeling a little drained. Other times I just incorporate the same awareness into my yoga practice and try my best to listen to my body and understand what it’s saying to me.
How has meditation benefited you?
When I was 19, I went for meditation to heal myself from abuse. At that age it helped me put all the broken pieces back together and just start taking the first steps towards healing my past trauma and wounds. Since then, after 2 more Vipassna courses, I’ve moved on a path where I’ve become more mindful and sensitive towards myself, the people around me, and my environment. My intuition and gut feeling is almost always accurate. I can sense people’s energies and understand vibrations better, and use that awareness to either let people in or keep them out. I’ve become more conscious of my energy and how it affects the people around me. When something bad happens, it helps me observe the situation and come out with the best possible solution without my emotions or the situation clouding my mind. It’s given me more grounding and clarity. I can now easily attach and detach myself from things that benefit or harm me. I’ve found more meaning in the little things in life and just have more value for experiences and connection with the universe. Even the people I’ve been meeting have mostly been in the same frequency as me, and the connections I make with these people have been so beautiful, organic and real. I am currently in a state of mind where I love everything good or bad coming my way and don’t beat myself up if I ever make a mistake or fuck up in anyway. I always take time to reflect on my actions, reactions and situations. My expectation towards things is lesser – lesser expectation means lesser disappointments. I have trust and faith in the universal energy that flows everywhere. It’s definitely helped me to love myself and others deeply, with more compassion and empathy. It’s the best thing that has ever happened to my life, I don’t think I hold anything else in the same place as Vipassna.
Any advice for people who are interested in meditation?
I think the first step is always the hardest, but if you get past that, there really is no turning back from your own growth and well-being. So give it a try, you will only lose the negative toxic parts of yourself which don’t serve a purpose, everything else that’s beautiful will unfold when you break away from our ego and mental prison. Only when we are complete on the inside can things be flowing smoothly outside.
V. Nisha Panicker
How did you get into meditation?
Through Isha Foundation. I did their flagship program, Inner Engineering, a few years ago, and the practices I learnt in the program, as well as Hatha Yoga programs that I did, subsequently helped me tremendously in various aspects of my life. One of their advanced programs included learning Shoonya meditation. Seeing how their other practices benefited me so significantly, I decided to do the program and learn this form of meditation.
How & when do you meditate?
Everyday, twice a day.
How has meditation benefited you?
Shoonya meditation especially has allowed me to establish a certain clarity, existentially. It made me realize that I am not my mind or my body. This realization has transformed the way that I perceive and experience my life. On a day to day basis, I am able to maintain stability and composure through all of the things I do. I go through the day with far more joy and ease when I do all of my practices (including Shoonya meditation).
Any advice for people who are interested in meditation?
Make an effort to understand what meditation and meditative-ness really means! There is a huge interest in meditation in India now because of how popular it has become in America and elsewhere. But the English word meditation doesn’t even begin to cover what the Yogic sciences have explored.
VI. Garima Katiya
How did you get into meditation?
First, back in 2014 when I completed my Yoga course. But really started practising more often since 2017 after completing my course in Reiki (a technique of healing through touch).
How & when do you meditate?
Mostly when I go to sleep. I give myself an hour before sleep. Sit down, put on some Japanese Reiki music and focus on my 7 chakras. Whenever I have free time, I sit for 30 mins, and just focus on breathing.
How has meditation benefited you?
As a Freelance Graphic Designer, I have to use my left brain as well my right brain to deal with clients. Anxiety, frustration, lousiness, going to sleep crying – I was used to this lifestyle but the past two years have changed me. Since I have started meditating, I still get frustrated, but now I am more aware of myself. I’m more empathetic.
Any advice for people who are interested in meditation?
Meditation is not about sitting in an empty room, putting some calm music and crystals around, burning some scented candles. Of course, creating an environment helps, but Meditation is about sticking to your reality, to see things as they are. The Creator has given us a wonderful medium to focus, which is our breath. Just sit, and concentrate how your breath goes in, how it goes out. While at it, your mind will take you to the past, or to the future, and every time you’re able to come back to your present, you win!
VII. Dhwani Doshi
How did you get into meditation?
I started missing a daily ritual that could stay with me forever and always. When I was a child, my granny taught me a shloka that I would chant every night before going to sleep. Over time, I forgot the entire ritual, the inclination for it and the benefits it had on me. Around the same time I met a friend, Deep, who inspired me to start meditating.
How & when do you meditate?
Every night before going to sleep, I sit at the same place every night on my yoga mat and start with pranayama breathing techniques followed by a meditation process where I focus on every body part, toe to head with soft breaths and closed eyes.
How has meditation benefited you?
I do not get bad dreams, I am sleeping better, waking up without my mobile alarm and drift into deep sleep smoothly as soon as I hit the bed.
Any advice for people who are interested in meditation?
As my friend Deep said to me – ‘It is easy to actually start doing something rather than wasting time contemplating the beginning’. So do start meditating with initial help of professionals if possible, learn to keep the standard practice each day.
VIII. Sagar Rajpal
How did you get into meditation?
I used to go to our Gurumandir with my grandparents, as a kid. This beautiful place of worship was a cross between a Gurudwara and a Temple, with the Guru Granth Sahib Ji in the Sanctum Sanctorum, surrounded by idols and images of Hindu Gods and Goddesses on the walls. Lord Mahavir and Buddha also had a place there. Now that I think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen a more interfaith place of worship. I distinctly remember brief moments when I used to just close my eyes and be blissed out, as I sat with my Dadaji in this space reverberating with Shabad Kirtan. And over the years, those brief moments turned into minutes, and eventually I developed a practice of centring my mind through entire Shabads. Of course I didn’t call it meditation then but once I learned about the concept, I began improving my practice and being more intentional in directing my thoughts.
How & when do you meditate?
The universe has conspired to put me in the position of Senior Assistant Director at the Center for Spirituality, Dialogue, and Service at Northeastern University in Boston, USA. We have 38+ groups of different faiths, religions, spiritualities, and traditions, both religious and non-religious. The whole spectrum of faith is covered, from organized religions to Humanist and Atheist traditions and everything in between. We have a beautiful non-denominational space called the Sacred Space where over 50 programs/events are hosted every week. One of these programs is the Daily Guided Meditation series. Every day, one of our Mindfulness Fellows (Mellows), leads a 30-Minute guided meditation at noon. These sessions are designed to give the students, faculty, and staff on campus a place to check-in with themselves and centre their thoughts. I guide the Tuesday sessions and try and go to all the others too, if I find time in my work day.
How has meditation benefited you?
I think we are in a very interesting time in human history. We are in a time when we are exposed to everything that’s happening all over the planet (and beyond), whether we like it or not. We are in a time when we must have opinions about everything if we want to stay a part of the conversation, when the infamous Black Mirror is clearly taking over. On the other hand, we are also in a time when we are free from the clutches of collective thought and can think for ourselves, when organized religions and systemic hierarchy need not inform our rational thought, when mental health stereotypes are losing their charm and a more woke community can stand together to have a dialogue across differences. Losing sight of what really matters is very easy, as we go through our routines amidst all the above factors informing and shaping our perspective. For me, this is where meditation comes in. It is an effective tool that grounds me, gives me an opportunity to check-in with my emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual health.
Any advice for people who are interested in meditation?
There is no objectively right way to meditate. You don’t have to clear your mind, just sort the things within. Build your own practice and guided meditations are a good start.
IX. Prerna Kundalia
How did you get into meditation?
I did a yoga TTC course from the Shivanand yoga Vedanta ashram. Started it there and they also taught us the best way to do it.
How & when do you meditate?
I meditate 15 to 40 mins every morning depending on how much time I have that day. I wake up, have a bath and light an incense stick in a corner of my room which is my meditation zone.
How has meditation benefited you?
I have a lot of clarity of mind and can really formulate my ideas very well before articulating them. My thoughts and speech have become clearer. I feel positive and calm and not perturbed by unexpected things in life.
Any advice for people who are interested in meditation?
It’s the lifestyle that you have to change. You cannot have a hedonistic life or a eat junk and be able to meditate. You have make some choices about what you eat, when you sleep and who you interact with.
X. Karan Singh
How did you get into meditation?
Read a newspaper article on it.
How & when do you meditate?
When I wake up, I do a small 7 minute meditation. Sometimes before sleeping as well.
How has meditation benefited you?
Helps me stay centered and be in control of my day. Definitely helps me to deal with stress better and be emotionally in tune with my self.
Any advice for people who are interested in meditation?
Don’t expect anything from it. You will see great results nonetheless but expectations hamper the progress. It also helps to remember it’s a practice.
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