CALMING THE MIND AND THE BODY
One of the biggest benefits of meditation is that it calms both the mind and the body. Though this may seem like an easy task, very few activities calm both.
Benefits of calming the mind and body at the same time
Beyond the many benefits listed earlier, there are many other benefits of meditation, especially related to the fact that it calms the mind and the body at the same time.
Think about a time you were laying in bed, felt very tired, but you couldn't shut your mind. Or, think about the last time your body felt jittery, though your brain hurt, and you wanted nothing more than to sleep.
These are both instances where the mind and body are not working together, and you would have benefited from a meditative practice to bring your mind and body together as one.
The main benefit of calming the mind and body at once is that it allows you to experience full relaxation. From every angle, your being is allowed to relax and feel the benefits of its relaxation response.
Another benefit of calming the mind and body is that it helps you to create a more holistic understanding of the self. Many people feel detached from their bodies, or they feel like their minds and bodies are not in sync.
Calming the mind and body forces you to conjoin your mind and body, which creates a complete notion of the self.
How to calm the mind and body
Calming the mind and body as one requires you to use both for a single purpose. If you don't use both your mind and body, you run the risk of one not calming down.
You can begin to calm your mind and body by intentionally slowing your breath. It is important to use your mind to focus and control the breath. You may want to do this by using breathing techniques. A popular breathing technique includes inhaling for 4 seconds, holding the breath for 5 seconds, and exhaling for 7 seconds.
As you breathe, begin to imagine all the energy-draining from your body with every exhale. See if you can feel the weight in your body, and try to imagine that your body is getting heavier. Continue to do this until you feel your body relax. At that point, allow your brain to fully relax as well.
The reason that this technique works is because it takes a bodily process, namely your breath, and connects it with your mind in a way that is conducive to a relaxing setting. If you only focus on your thoughts or only focus on your breath, you will not get the full benefits of this technique.
Calming the mind and body separately
There may be times when you may want to focus on calming one but not the other. When you feel overwhelmed at work, for example, you may want to quiet your mind without tiring your body. Or, when you feel tired in bed but can't get your mind to shut off, you may want to focus on calming the mind.
Overall, it is very hard to calm one without the other. When you calm your mind, your body begins to calm as a side effect, and vice versa. So, you will probably calm both when you meditate.
If one is already calmed, though, you can focus to make both calm. Take the laying in bed example again. You are laying in bed and feel physically tired, but you can't shut off your brain. In this case, you should focus on controlling your mind and joining it with your body.