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on December 21 | in Affirmations | by | with 11 Comments

public domain photo source

public domain photo source

In mantra meditation, you repeat a particular sound or short phrase again and again. This can be done out loud (chanting), in your mind, or in some combination of the two. In many spiritual paths, you can’t just arbitrarily pick a mantra – your spiritual mentor or guru assigns one to you according to your phase of spiritual development and then later changes it in intervals as you grow. In other forms of meditation, spiritual or not, you pick a mantra from a given list of phrases that are thought to resonate positively. Not all mantras work well for all people, and unless you’re taking spiritual direction from a mentor you should feel free to try another.

Using a mantra while you’re meditating helps suppress the thoughts and distractions that arise and gives you a tool to use when you’re not meditating. Repeating a meditation mantra during times of stress, for many people, brings about some relaxation and helps them to better deal with whatever the crisis of the moment is. Depending on your belief system, the mantras may also do things like get you in touch with the true nature of the universe, help you spiritually closer to God, and/or activate energy centers.

Mantra Meditation is One of Many Ways

There’s a lot of ways to meditate. Besides using mantras, you could also focus on your breath, music, a real object, a mental visualization, or nothing at all (Zen). If you’re just starting out, don’t feel like you have to start by picking a mantra – you can start “meditation shopping” the different approaches. Many of the guided meditations are contemplative exercises for gratitude, cleansing, energy, and healing – where it’s not a single idea that holds focus, but an exploration of concepts or guided imagery.

You Might Want a Meaningless Mantra

For that matter, even in mantra meditation you could pick nearly any short phrase and have the same sort of cleansing, buffering effect against the mental trivia that inevitably rises during meditation. There’s some serious hitters backing the idea of your mantra having no meaning:

  • Mantras in Transcendental Meditation are intended to have no intellectual meaning and that’s very important in that approach – you can read more here.
  • Clinically Standardized Meditation (which was created by a psychologist using a scientific approach back in the 70s or 80s) also uses a set of 16 possible mantras that have no English meaning but have soothing sounds.
  • The meaning of the phrase is irrelevant to those who subscribe to the idea that the phrase is really just a way at getting at the underlying vibration. According to the Chopra Center, the ancient seers behind the Vedic texts put down all of the primordial vibrations that make up the universe – and that we can hear them too, if we listen attentively enough to the background hum of the air. “As you meditate, the mantra becomes increasingly abstract and indistinct, until you’re finally led into the field of pure consciousness from which the vibration arose.”

Despite those three very hefty precedents, though, repeating something life-affirming and spiritual can add something positive to our consciousnesses. There’s abundant cultural heritage behind choosing something with meaning – or else I couldn’t supply you with this list, which just scratches the surface. There’s a ton more Hindu and Buddhist ones you could look at using, at least, and some people outside those paths just go directly to using the Lord’s Prayer or the name of God according to their religion of choice. My suggestion to you is that you simply explore to see what feels best for you, especially if you’re just getting started.

21 Mantras for Meditation

  1. “Aum”, “Om”: Sanskrit/Hindu, meaning “It Is” or “To Become”. This is considered most sacred in that tradition and to have the vibration of intention manifesting in the physical realm, or more simply the vibration of the universal consciousness. Also used in Buddhism and other traditions.
  2. “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”: Gandhi
  3. “El Shaddai”: Hebrew, meaning “God Almighty”
  4. “Elohim”: Hebrew, meaning “to whom one has recourse in distress or when one is in need of guidance”
  5. “Every day in every way I’m getting better and better.”: Laura Silva
  6. “Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha”, Buddhist meaning “Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone utterly beyond, Enlightenment hail!”. There’s an MP3 on wildmind.org.
  7. “Ham-Sah”, “So Ham” (often pronounced “So Hum”): Sanskrit, meaning “I am THAT”. It is suggested to use “So” on inhale, “Ham” on exhale.
  8. “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”: Hindu, read about its meaning here
  9. “I am that I am”: Hebrew, God’s answer to Moses when asked for his name
  10. “I change my thoughts, I change my world.”: Norman Vincent Peale
  11. “I love you, I’m sorry, Please forgive me, Thank You”: Hawaiian (Ho’oponopono)
  12. “Love is the only miracle there is.”: Osho
  13. “Maranatha”: Christian, meaning “Come Lord” and understood by some as the final teaching of the Christian Bible
  14. “Om A Ra Pa Ca Na Dhih”: Buddhist, and I’m not even going to try to break out the meaning of this in a list. Read about it here, video below.
  15. “Om Mani Padme Hum”: Buddhist, meaning “Hail the Jewel in the Lotus” (the jewel being Buddha, but that interpretation disagreed with by wildmind.org). Video below.
  16. “Om Namah Shivaya”: Hindu, meaning “I bow to Shiva”
  17. “Om Shanti Shanti Shanti”: Buddhist and Hindu, the starting of Om followed by peace of mind, peace of body, and peace of speech. Video below.
  18. “Om Vajrapani Hum”: Buddhist, read more and hear it on Wildmind
  19. “Namo Amita Bha”: meaning “Homage to the Buddha of boundless light”
  20. “Sabbe Satta Sukhi Hontu”: Buddhist, Pali phrase meaning “May all beings be well (or happy)”. There’s an MP3 on wildmind.org.
  21. “Sat, Chit, Ananda” “Existence, Consciousness, Bliss”, Sanskrit, “Satcitananda“. Deepak Chopra uses it, it refers to the subjective experience of Brahman.

Meditation Mantra Videos

“Aum” / “Om”

“Ham-Sah” / “So Ham”

“Om A Ra Pa Ca Na Dhih”

“Om Mani Padme Hum”

“Om Shanti Shanti Shanti”

Sources & Further Reading

  1. Buddhist Mantras, wildmind.org. They have quite a few more that I didn’t list above.
  2. Top 10 Mantras For Meditation finerminds.com
  3. Mantra definition by the Chopra Center, chopra.com
  4. Marantha – A Christian Mantra, swamij.com
  5. Om namah shivaya, meditationiseasy.com
  6. Om shanti shanti shanti, wildmind.org
  7. Prajñaparamita mantra, wildmind.org
  8. Sabbe satta sukhi hontu, wildmind.org
  9. Simple, Profound Meditation Mantras omharmonics.com
  10. Some Mantras to Dwell Upon, meditationiseasy.com
  11. The Power of Mantra Meditation, mayallbehappy.com
  12. What is the value of the ‘mantra’ in the practice of Transcendental Meditation? founder of the Transcendental Meditation program, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi explains on tm.org
  13. What is a Mantra? – includes audio from Deepak Chopra, explaining what a Mantra is, chopra.com

Read more: http://programminglife.net/mantras-for-meditation/#ixzz48zkI6N67

 

The Role of Meditation in Mental Health

By UPLIFT on Thursday September 24th, 2015
MeditationMentalHealth

Science is finally able to record the Amazing effects of Meditation.

Meditation has traditionally been associated with Eastern mysticism but science is beginning to show that cultivating a “heightened” state of consciousness can have a major impact on our brain, the way our bodies function and our levels of resilience.

Clinicians are increasingly looking for effective, preventative, non-pharmacological options to treat mental illness. And meditation techniques – such as quietening the mind, understanding the self and exercising control – show promise as an alternative tool to regulate emotions, mood and stress.

Body

Meditation influences the body in unexpected ways. Experienced meditators, for instance, can speed or slow their metabolism by more than 60% and raise their body temperature by as much as 8°C.

Meditating man
Experienced meditators, for instance, can speed or slow their metabolism

Even a little training in meditation can make people calmer, less stressed and more relaxed. As little as 20 minutes a day leads to physical changes, such as reduced blood pressurelower heart rate, deeper and calmer breathing. Improvements in blood pressure as a result of meditation have also been linked to a lower risk of heart attack.

Meditation is also beginning to prove effective as a treatment for chronic and acute pain. One experiment showed that four days of mindfulness meditation substantially reduced the participant’s experience of unpleasantness and the intensity of their pain.

Mind, brain and beyond

Meditation increases left-sided, frontal brain activity, an area of the brain associated with positive mood. Interestingly, this increase in left-brain activity is also linked with improvements in immune system activity. And the more you practise meditation, the greater your immune function is likely to be.

Studies have shown that long-term meditators have increased volumes of grey matter in the right orbito-frontal cortex and hippocampus regions of their brain which are responsible for regulating emotion. Similar changes have also been found in non-meditators who completed an eight-week course in mindfulness training.

So even a limited stint of meditation has the potential to change the structure of the brain.

Elderly woman meditating
Meditating may increase longevity by protecting the brain and heart from the damaging effects of stress

Ageing

The cortex in the brain usually thins as we age – a type of atrophy related to dementia. Intriguingly, those who have meditated around an hour a day for six years display increased cortical thickness. Older meditators also show decreased age-related decline in cortical thickness compared to non-meditators of the same age.

Meditation may increase longevity by protecting the brain and heart from the damaging effects of stress. One study reported that meditation and yoga help to prevent cellular damage caused by chronic psychological stress. It has even been suggested that meditation may slow cellular aging.

Emotional stability

The causes and effects of emotional experience exist throughout the body and the brain, and as such they are deeply linked to physical and psychological stress.

Meditation enhances positive emotions and mood, and appears to make people less vulnerable to the stresses and upsets of daily life. Research shows that meditators are better at regulating immediate responses to negative stimuli and have reduced activity in the amygdala – a region implicated in response to threat. These findings reflect greater emotional resilience among meditators as well as less psychological distress and anxiety.

Meditation mudra
Findings reflect greater emotional resilience among meditators

Mindfulness, which can be cultivated through meditation, is just one technique that can increase mental health and wellbeing. Several therapeutic techniques have been based on these practices, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. These treatments have had success in treating anxiety and mood disorders.

Next steps in research

Research has shown us that meditation improves our mood, reduces the body’s response to stress and, over time, alters the structure of the brain.

Our team at the University of Sydney is attempting to fill some of the gaps in our knowledge of how meditation acts on the mind and the body to calm emotional reactions. We’re currently investigating the effects of meditation on brain and body function during emotional provocation, such as viewing disturbing photographic images.

We want to better understand the effects of short, intensive periods of meditation on brain and body functions associated with regulation of emotional responses. We are also examining the genetic factors that may help determine what types of people benefit most from meditation training.

If we can demonstrate the efficacy of intensive meditation on emotion regulation, and characterise those who will benefit most, we will have established a significant role for meditation in improving mental and physical health.

WORDS BY JONATHAN KRYGIER, PhD Candidate in Psychology, University of Sydney
and ANDREW H KEMP, Associate Professor, University of Sydney
ORIGINALLY APPEARD ON conversation-logo

 

I've had much success with 894 719 78 48.  The technique is to mentally visualize the numbers in a sphere / cone / ball while at the same time focusing on a specific concise intention.  Grabovoi has daily lessons to help learn the technique.  Some people have great success using the numbers without applying the recommended methods.  Believing is the most important requirement.:

I’ve had much success with 894 719 78 48. The technique is to mentally visualize the numbers in a sphere / cone / ball while at the same time focusing on a specific concise intention. Grabovoi has daily lessons to help learn the technique. Some people have great success using the numbers without applying the recommended methods. Believing is the most important requirement.

Try it now with your neo meditation device

http://www.neologicaltech.com/Products_s/40.htm

Here's why everyone should be meditating:

I know that meditation is not at ALL easy. A big part of me actually kind of hates it. It’s never something that I get very excited about trying to squeeze in my day. But I do because the results of meditation are incredible. If you can make a regular habit of meditating, here’s what it can do for you!

Meditation strengthens your immune system.

Meditation improves your digestion.

Meditation increases your focus.

Meditation helps you cope with depression.

Meditation reduces your stress.

Meditation slows your body’s negative responses to stress.

Meditation strengthens your memory.

Meditation boosts your energy.

Meditation increases your self esteem.

Meditation helps with weight loss and maintenance.

Meditation reduces your blood pressure.

Meditation makes you more optimistic.

Meditation helps you make healthier food choices.

 

Meditate with your own meditation device get yours now at

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mindfulness benefits infographic:

What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a very simple form of meditation that was little known in the West until recently. A typical meditation consists of focusing your full attention on your breath as it flows in and out of your body. Focusing on each breath in this way allows you to observe your thoughts as they arise in your mind and, little by little, to let go of struggling with them. You come to realise that thoughts come and go of their own accord; that you are not your thoughts. You can watch as they appear in your mind, seemingly from thin air, and watch again as they disappear, like a soap bubble bursting. You come to the profound understanding that thoughts and feelings (including negative ones) are transient. They come and they go, and ultimately, you have a choice about whether to act on them or not.

Mindfulness is about observation without criticism; being compassionate with yourself. When unhappiness or stress hover overhead, rather than taking it all personally, you learn to treat them as if they were black clouds in the sky, and to observe them with friendly curiosity as they drift past. In essence, mindfulness allows you to catch negative thought patterns before they tip you into a downward spiral. It begins the process of putting you back in control of your life.

Over time, mindfulness brings about long-term changes in mood and levels of happiness and wellbeing. Scientific studies have shown that mindfulness not only prevents depression, but that it also positively affects the brain patterns underlying day-to-day anxiety, stress, depression and irritability so that when they arise, they dissolve away again more easily. Other studies have shown that regular meditators see their doctors less often and spend fewer days in hospital. Memory improves, creativity increases and reaction times become faster (see What can mindfulness do for you?).

Try your own mindfulness meditation with a neo meditation device
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I have to say before or after I ask for something in this matter, “No harm to know one and justice for all”! It covers any stupid request I might spit and sputter along the way! You see once you are psychically connected to this the only way to stop it is not to use it for 30 days and everything will cease! In the box is a spherical CPU it contains layers and layers of precious and semi-precious and copper metals throughout, along with human hairs stuffed in between each metal layer. This is how NEO can contact you personally through the human DNA which everyone has!  This sphere is then placed into a plastic container! One can take out sphere and place on top of a stand you would place a crystal ball on to. You can use it like that as well.

My custom built SuperBeacon from EJ Gold which is being built at this time, will work in concert with the NEO! But I too have to be careful that I don’t over due it. I am not sure what would happen with overlapping a orgone energy device with the Schulman frequencies along with the outer space signals that gets filtrated through the crystal radio that was built to house them and then transmits these signal to the saline solution or the human bodes liquid through the blood and CNS and finally to the brain. This beacon blocks out all manmade mega-waves using a “Nullifier”. So after using the NEO for 5 minutes and setting back and holding the super beacon’s copper coil handles that are plugged into the radio for the last 45 minutes of the mediation.

This should either increase the speed in which to use the NEO or increase the results period, looking at the morph you just created!

http://www.neologicaltech.com/Products_s/40.htm