Blog Post 1
My project this year is over meditation, and the various benefits thereof. I will, over a series of posts, go into detail on the various experiences I have had with meditation, what all I have done with it, and attempt to explain what exactly it is, and how it can be beneficial.
First off, what is meditation? It is, foremost, a practice involving sitting(very important) and applying your focus to something, be it your breathing, a mantra, a certain sound, etc. The point of it is to help focus and especially calm the mind, and promote mental well-being. Meditation is especially useful when applied in conjunction with a mindful state of being, where you keep an active mental focus on your day-to-day activities and remain aware of yourself more. Meditation is useful in both helping achieve this way of life, and to promote and enhance the continuation of it.
Finally, here is an example of a meditative pose:
Every part of this pose has a purpose, which I learned about in an excursion I’ll be talking about next time. The pillow, known as a zafu, is used to straighten out the spine and thus keep a straighter back. This in turn makes breathing easier, calming the body and reducing exertion while meditating. The eyes can actually be open or closed, depending on preference, while the abdomen should in fact be kept still, except for the natural expansion on breathing. The placement of the hands, despite the cliché meditation pose with hands facing up, thumb and pointer finger in a circle, can actually be put in whatever position you want, as long as it’s unobtrusive and effortless. I personally prefer my hands flat on my legs, as it feels simplest and correct. The legs should be crossed in such a manner that they do not apply overt pressure to each other, yet are still touching and slotted into one another nicely. This is also to help maintain posture, and most easily support the body to allow focus to remain elsewhere.
