Medita????
The reason for the title Medita???? is that titles like meditation and mindfulness may create antagonism with some people. For some people, meditation is associated with being-remote, mystical, sophisticated and even with “Spiritual Snobbery”.
Breathing on the other hand, is looked upon by many, as a common practice. The border between mediation and focused-breathing is very thin. When full-focus on the breath is achieved, there is little room for thoughts and that is one of the goals of meditation. Many meditation-styles are closely linked to breathing. When the element of observing thoughts is combined with breathing, the result is some sort of mediation style.
The term meditation is known to many and is practical to use but in some cases, FOCUSED-BREATHING is a good and simpler name-substitute.
Definition of Meditation – a practice where an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought or activity – to train attention and awareness. The goal is to achieve, a mentally clear and emotionally calm, stable state. Scholars have found meditation difficult to define, as practices vary both between traditions and within them.
Just like in Yoga, there are a lot of systems and methods out there for meditation, so many, that one can easily get confused. Watching the breath, Body scanning, Mantra repetition, Thoughts ambushing are a few examples of popular meditating techniques.
It is not so difficult to clear our mind and think of nothing, but just for a few breathing cycles. Thinking of nothing for a longer period, is a difficult task. Being aware / Present / Mindful of what is going on in our mind is a more realistic goal for meditation and is easier to achieve than emptying the mind.
Meditation is a practice that trains us to observe our mind and evaluate thoughts for what they are (just thoughts). It is as if one part of the mind is observing another part of the mind from the outside.
Same as training in the gym, meditation requires practice. Quick results are hard to come by. Long-term commitment is need for getting to know how our mind operates and ultimately have more control over it.
