Meditation | SuccessConsciousness.com Blog on Self Improvement and Spiritual Growth

How to Avoid Headaches in Meditation

By Remez Sasson

Some people report that they experince headaches when meditating or after meditation sessions. There are several reasons for these headaches.

The mind needs some time to adjust to meditation. It is usually restless and unfocused, and meditation requires a focused mind, and as few thoughts as possible. Since the mind is not accustomed to a state of calmness and focus, it resists this new situation. This resistance, together with the pressure on the mind, caused by the focus and meditation, cause headaches.

This is the same situation when you feel your muscles and body aching after working out or walking, when you are not accustomed to do so.

In addition to the above, there is another factor contributing to headaches. Do you tense and contract your body when you focus your mind? Many do so instinctively, as if this will help them concentrate. This is a mistake. Tensing the body doesn’t aid concentration. It just wastes energy and can cause exhaustion and headaches.

How to avoid headaches in meditation?

Here are a few suggestions:

1) When meditating, sit comfortably with your back straight.

2) Take a few deep breaths before starting to meditate.

3) Be aware of any tension in your body and relax it.

4) Remember, keeping your body tense, and tensing your lips and forehead do not asisst concentration and meditation, but they can cause headaches.

5) When you feel that your head is starting to ache, stop meditating. Don’t tense your mind and brain too much. In time, your mind would get accustomed to meditating and the headaches will leave you.

Articles about meditation and how to meditate:
Meditation Articles

Filed Under: Meditation Tagged With: headaches, Meditation

Story About a Yogi and His Disciple

By Remez Sasson

I have written a short story several years ago, titled “The Power of Thoughts”. It is a story about a yogi and his disciple, who arrived to the big city with no money, but they needed food and a place to stay. The story is about the importance of concentration and visualization.

“One day, a yogi and his disciple arrived to the big city. They had no money with them, but they needed food and a place to stay. The disciple was sure that they were going to beg for their food, and sleep in the park at night.

“There is a big park not far from here. We can sleep there at night”, said the disciple.
“In the open air?” Asked the yogi.
“Yes”, responded the student.

The yogi smiled and said: “No, tonight we are going to sleep in a hotel and eat there too”.

The student was amazed. “How?”
“Come and sit down”, said the yogi.

They both sat down on the ground and the yogi said:
“When you focus your mind intently on any subject, it comes to pass.”

The yogi closed his eyes and started to meditate with full concentration. After about ten minutes he got up and started to walk, with his disciple following him. They walked through several streets and alleys, until they arrived to a hotel.”

Read the whole story

Filed Under: Concentration and Mind Power Tagged With: concentration, disciple, Meditation, power of thoughts, yogi

An Amusing Anecdote on Meditation

I have come across this amusing anecdote on meditation, and thought of sharing it with you.

Two men meet on the street.
One asks the other: “Hi, how are you?”
The other one replies: “I’m fine, thanks.”
“And how’s your son? Is he still unemployed?”
“Yes, he is. But he is meditating now.”
“Meditating? What’s that?”
“I don’t know. But it’s better than sitting around and doing nothing!”

Source: www.swamij.com/jokes.htm

Filed Under: Meditation Tagged With: Meditation

Your Being Has Two Sides

An excerpt from the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda

Read, think and meditate on the following excerpt from the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda. Try to go beyond the words and realize what he means. The more you can calm down the flow of incessant thoughts in your mind, the more you will be able to realize what Paramahansa Yogananda means in these words.

“Your being has two sides — one visible, the other invisible. With open eyes you behold objective creation, and yourself in it. With closed eyes you see nothing, a dark void; yet your consciousness, even when dissociated from form, is still keenly aware and operative. If in deep meditation you penetrate the darkness behind closed eyes, you behold the Light from which all creation emerges. By deeper samadhi, your experience transcends even the manifested Light and enters the All-Blissful Consciousness — beyond all form, yet infinitely more real, tangible, and joyous than any sensory or supersensory perception.”

Filed Under: Spiritual Teachers Tagged With: consciousness, Meditation, paramahansa yogananda

Sri Chinmoy Quotes on Meditation

Here are some quotes from Sri Chinmoy on meditation, which shed light on how to meditate and the benefits of meditation.

We meditate for various reasons. Peace of mind we all badly need. Therefore, when we meditate, either consciously or unconsciously we aim at peace of mind. Meditation give us peace of mind without a tranquilliser. And unlike a tranquilliser, the peace of mind that we get from meditation does not fade away. It lasts for good in some corner of the inmost recesses of our aspiring heart.

When you meditate you have to try to quiet and calm the mind. There should be no thought within the mind. Right now you feel that if you can cherish twenty ideas at a time, then you are the wisest man on earth. The more thoughts that enter into our minds, the more clever we feel we are. But in the spiritual life it is not like that. If consciously we can make the mind calm and quiet, we feel that a new creation dawns inside us.

When we meditate we expand, spreading our wings like a bird, trying to enter consciously into Infinity, Eternity and Immortality, welcoming them into our aspiring consciousness. We see, feel and grow into the entire universe of Light-Delight.

When we meditate, what we actually do is enter into a vacant, calm, still, silent mind. We go deep within and approach our true existence, which is our soul. When we live in the soul, we feel that we are actually meditating spontaneously.

Meditation is the only way to overcome fear. There is no other way. Why does meditation help us overcome fear? In meditation we identify ourselves with the vast, with the Absolute. When we are afraid of someone or something, it is because we do not feel that particular person or thing is a part of us. When we have established conscious oneness with the Absolute, with the Infinite Vast, the everything there is part of us. And how can we be afraid of ourselves?

How to Get Peace of Mind – A practical guide to inner peace.

Close Your Eyes & Open Your Mind – Introducing Spiritual Meditation

Filed Under: Meditation Tagged With: Meditation, quotes, sri chinmoy