How meditation heals our body and mind?
People always have known about the healing capacities of meditation. Yet many would often wonder about this simple yet acute process, which transcends us to lead a better life. In simpler terms, how meditation is able to heal us is still a mystery to many.
Before moving ahead with the healing aspect of meditation, it should be taken into consideration that the acceptance towards any problem in life, is itself is healing in nature. It is always a good start where we accept the issues, instead of living in a state denial.
A healthy effort towards improvement can only be initiated after growing acceptance towards any problem.
Now let’s come back to the topic.
What is Healing?
Before we move ahead with the healing aspect of meditation, we also need to understand about how the healing works in our physical bodies.
There is nothing miraculous with the process of healing. In fact if we have to break it down, we would be able to realize that there is only one condition needed for the initiation of healing i.e. to remove the unwanted or toxic elements from the process.
Without the presence of any toxic element; it is all about the natural process which is potent enough to return to its ‘natural state’ all by itself. This process of returning to the original state is called as healing.
While talking in the context of our physical bodies and its rehabilitation; we do know that all the medical sciences and therapies only provide the body, the much needed support, which it needs to regain the original state.
Sickness is the failure of the adaptation process.
While talking about our physical bodies, we also know that our bodies are constantly changing with every passing moment. Our bodies carry a bunch of billions and billions of sub-atomic particles. Together these particles are always occupied in the process of re-generation.
It might not be evident to our naked eyes, yet there are few ways through which one is able to witness this process.
One can easily witness this process of re-generation, whenever a minor injury happens to us on the surface of the skin. From blood clotting within a few minutes to re-growing a fragment of glowing skin within a few weeks, is a perfect example of the regeneration process within our bodies. It also shows the efficiency of the natural process of healing.
However, while going through this process of regeneration at a cellular level, our bodies are also going through certain changes. However as these changes are natural occurrences, the body easily adapts to it. For example, a person who was once a child is grown into an old and wrinkled man. Yet this process of continuous change is so gradual in nature that it doesn’t overwhelm the individual at all. Be it on the psychological front or the physical front, the individual is always able to embrace this process of growing old, wholeheartedly.
Yet, we can safely say that there is a limit to this adaptability. The amount of adaptability is inversely proportional to the amount of change, going through within our bodies. If there is going to be a lot of change in a much lesser time, the body will eventually fall. For example, a drastic change in a season or an infection often comes in a form of a disease; where our body fails to adapt to it. Instead, the body accepts that as a disease and eventually triggers its immune system to fight with the ailment to regain the balance.
Mind vs Meditation.
Similar to that of any therapy, meditation also provide support to our mental health. It can also be said that it acts as a catalyst.
Meditation enables a person to overcome the polluted thoughts, which are completely unnatural and toxic in nature. As a matter of fact, if one wants to see the might of these polluted thoughts, one should witness a novice meditation practitioner, practicing meditation.
When a beginner sits in meditation, he soon starts to feel sensations going around his body and thoughts running around his head. He feels trouble in staying in one position as the mind craves for the experience of the outer world. This is what we are referring to a polluted and toxic thought patterns.
The primary goal of meditation is to develop an insight where one is able to ignore any thoughts; without being affected by the essence of the thought.
It might sound like an oversimplification. It is actually so simple, that our mind is unable to relate with it and often ignores it.
In the beginning days of the meditation, our mind tries to find fault in the process of meditation or witnessing. As it feels unable to adapt according to the silence within the surrounding of the mind; it tries hard to take the charge back.
The mind is in a painful state.
Slowly a person is able to witness the kind of thoughts and pains, one is clinging to. ‘It is only this clinging to certain situations, which is responsible for a smaller degree of pain to transform it into a much agonizing trauma.’
Yet, with constant practice a person finally gains enough wisdom to be able to ‘stop the clinging’ and move ahead in the journey. As our mind changes its course and chooses to control the traffic of thoughts and the memories, our clinging eventually vanishes.
Meditation heals the 'clinging nature of the mind'.
A disturbed mind is always fixated with the painful injury, be it an emotional or physical. However, a calm mind enables itself to ignore any idea of pain; by choosing to not entertain the thoughts related to pain. Eventually, the pain subsides on its own.
Well, this is exactly what meditation does to us. However, this is bit advanced state to achieve through meditation and it is recommended to not fixate towards the attainment of any kind of stages, at all. Let’s come back to the topic, though.
Why don’t you go ahead and answer this question? Before moving ahead, ask yourself; can you spot a difference between a novice and a advanced meditation practitioner?
The minds of both seem to be identical in nature except one crucial difference.
The mind of a beginner roams around, while sitting in the meditation. It happens because a person’s mind is being driven by his own thoughts.
While sitting in the meditation, a beginner’s first realization is that ‘he is thinking just for the sake of thinking’. He doesn’t know the motive or the purpose, behind the generation of these involuntary thoughts.
Fortunately enough, this is a huge realization to make; as only after this realization, one develops a craving to gain control over the thoughts. However, the thoughts in our mind can’t be controlled or suppressed. It is also important to mention that one must never try to suppress the thoughts within the mind. It is dangerous!
On the other side, the mind of an advanced meditation practitioner stays silent. Even if there is a presence of any thought in the mind, a practitioner efficiently tackles and subside the thought with ease. This can be done by either focusing our mind on a ‘focus object’ or ignoring the thought, altogether.
Even if we are not focusing our mind over any focus object, still one needs to constantly ignore the thoughts, which are rising inside the mind. Always remember, ‘learn to ignore the thoughts but do not get fixated with the idea of ignoring the thoughts’. The process should be developed as something natural.
Now imagine, that what happens if one is able to do it repeatedly? These thoughts start to vanish. This is where our intellect within our mind starts to gain strength.
Our intellect is over working. It is so much over-loaded that at times one would feel that his mental database is completely full, or there is no more space left inside the mind to absorb new things. No wonder, at certain times many people would simply feel overwhelmed by their own minds.
However, the issue is not with the mind as our mind can never be full, to reach its last limit. Be very aware of this fact that the mind has no limits at all. However, we are not going deeper in this topic over here. So let’s get back to the original topic instead.
Concluding the above mentioned lines, it is safe to assume that the problem lays here is with the limited functioning of our intellect.
As the intellect grows more efficient with ignoring the thoughts, the mind automatically goes silent. This silence within the mind is the natural state; as the noises within the mind are formed in the process of experiencing the outer world.
As our mind finds peace within, it also starts to radiate within our whole personalities. At such a time, it is false to judge a person and consider him to be healed. It is much more important than that.
Such a person has gone beyond any concept of healing those issues, which are related to his past karma or any trauma.
As a person is able to sit in silence and is able to stay in bliss at all times, it should be considered as a ‘transformation’ or even better ‘an awakening’.
