We recently recommended in this column " Enjoy medicinal cuisine ♪ INAKA Experience - Your first meditation experience ."
( https://www.tenposstar.com/blog/food-experience/2017/ )
We often hear the word "meditation," but it's hard to give a clear answer to that question either. I did a little research on this as well.

History of "Meditation"

In English, it is translated as meditation or contemplation, but the meaning doesn't seem clear.

According to research, meditation dates back to the time when humans lived by hunting, when they were confronted with ferocious animals and used it to remain calm. Thousands of years ago, Buddha practiced meditation in India as a form of spiritual training, Christianity has a daily routine of meditating through prayer, and Islam also has a tradition of repeatedly chanting the name of Allah and holy verses to fill oneself with God. Meditation has been practiced in various forms by different religious sects. In Japan, Prince Shotoku is said to have also adopted meditation, but Zen zazen, which was actively adopted by samurai in the Kamakura period as a form of spiritual training, later spread widely to the common people, and has also been scientifically studied and used in the medical world.

With a long history and a wide range of practices around the world, it is hard to define what meditation is all about.
I'm not sure if this is a vague image, but as long as it's not meditation that takes an extremely long time or requires extreme methods, it seems that all meditation has in common the idea that it helps you to free yourself from desires and emotions and improve your mind and body.

There are a variety of styles, such as those that involve movement like yoga or tai chi, or those that involve low vocalization, and the objectives are also different, such as "facing oneself," "eliminating distracting thoughts and becoming empty," and "concentrating on one's consciousness." However, the goal seems to be to liberate oneself from the many things that are unavoidable or that we have invited into our daily lives, such as the many tasks, difficulties, desires, worries, and temptations, and then to discipline oneself and reexamine the path one should take.

Breathe easy

Meditation is practiced in a calming and generally quiet place, although an expert meditator may be able to do it anywhere.
Then, correct your posture and regulate your breathing. Breathing is something we do naturally, but it is very important to inhale and exhale slowly. When you explode with anger, you notice that your breathing becomes rough. The same is true when you are crying. When you are surprised, you hold your breath, and when something unpleasant happens, you let it all out. The way you breathe changes depending on each emotion.

In other words, keeping your breathing calm and stable is a way to keep your mind calm. When you feel angry, you count to six in your head, when you put your hands on someone who is crying you try to guide them to breathe calmly, when you feel tense, you take deep breaths to calm your breathing.
In movies, heroes who face evil don't get out of breath or emotional even when they find themselves in an unbelievable predicament. It's so cool to see them calmly deal with the situation!

Apart from movie heroes, many people find that their breathing becomes irregular or that some muscles become tense when they experience an unexpected event or feel stress in their daily lives. Some people may also find it difficult to inhale and exhale slowly, even when they are not overwhelmed by emotion. When you have a lot of things to do or feel rushed, your breathing tends to become short. Being conscious of regulating your breathing also means temporarily breaking away from the emotions that dominate at that time. By achieving a stable and calm breathing rhythm, like that of a good night's sleep, your mind and body will relax and move in a positive direction.

Different ways of meditating

As mentioned above, there are various states of consciousness during meditation, such as looking deeply into oneself, approaching God, or becoming nothing, but in traditional Japanese Zen meditation, the focus is on becoming nothing and unifying the mind.

When I experienced zazen some time ago, the head priest told me, "People can become 'nothing' for a short time, that is, they can think of nothing, but the longer you do it, the more you will definitely think of something. If you close your eyes, it will be easier to hear the voice of your heart, so try to look blankly at the floor about one meter ahead of you. Even then, you will surely think of something. But think of that thought as an arrow piercing you, and try to limit it to as few arrows as possible so that you don't receive arrows from all over." Apparently, being able to become 'nothing' for a long time is similar to an enlightened monk. He says this because many people come to zazen wanting to become 'nothing' or 'to become 'nothing'.

I also heard from a yoga instructor that one way of meditating is to keep looking at yourself from a bird's-eye view. When I asked what it meant to look at yourself from a bird's-eye view, he said it meant imagining yourself being watched from a camera several meters above you at an angle, and observing your own behavior as you are in this environment and in this state. Apparently, when you're on the train or just walking down the street, you can detach yourself from your emotions by following your own image on the screen. For example, if you get angry after being bumped into by someone, you'll look at yourself from the camera and think, "Oh, I'm angry because I got bumped into you." By looking at yourself objectively in this way, you can look at your own behavior with a calm eye.

There are many methods of meditation, and it's easy to find one that suits you and your lifestyle, so why not give it a try to help relieve the fatigue of the year?

Finally, as those of you who have done yoga will know, after a series of yoga poses I would like to introduce Shavasana (Corpse Pose), which is done while lying down on a yoga mat.

Lie on your back with your legs shoulder-width apart and your arms in a comfortable position with your palms facing up and 20 to 30 centimeters away from your body. Take a breath and bring your shoulders closer to your ears, then exhale and drop them away from your ears. Imagine that you are sinking down while taking a long breath and relaxing each part of your body. Quiet music and relaxing scents are also very effective! It is said that relaxing in this position for 5 minutes has the same effect as getting about 2 hours of rest. If you do this in bed after a sleepless night, you will have a pleasant morning!


Author: himiko