Meditation is a multi versed discipline. While it leads to peace and union it has many ways to reach it. Meditation differs from traditions and has a multitude of positions and ways to find peace. Meditation regardless of style should be utilized in everyone’s life. Beyond the spiritual, there are also numerous health benefits in incorporating meditation into your daily lifestyle.
There a multitude of styles in meditation that can lead to peace and tranquility. Please also review our Meditation Instructor Program and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.
The article, “12 Types Of Meditation: A Breakdown Of The Major Styles” by Lily Silverton looks at the numerous styles and discusses the differences and benefits. She states,
“There are many styles of meditation that offer different ways to redirect your focus and attention. There’s not one universally accepted “best” type; it’s about finding what works for you. Here are 12 key types of meditation to start exploring”
To read the entire article and learn about the 12 key types, please click here
Please also review AIHCP’s Meditation Instructor Program and see if it matches your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and an excellent way to find certification for qualified professionals.
Meditation traditionally takes quiet and silence. People look to the quiet to probe the depth of their minds to find inner peace. Raising children is far from peaceful and cause many unexpected stresses. How can one balance raising children and find time to quietly and effectively meditate?
It can be difficult to find time to meditate while having children. Please also review our Meditation Instructor Program
The article, “How to Meditate While Raising Kids” by Sumi Loundon Kim looks at how to balance meditation and child raising. The article states,
“Should your children stumble into your bedroom when you and/or your spouse are meditating, don’t panic. It’s good for your children to see you meditating, as it plants seeds for their future practice. ”
Meditation is key to a good spiritual life. It is critical in almost every spiritual and religious tradition. It is found in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, as well as all the Eastern religions of Hinduism and Buddhism and its many offshoots. It is found also in smaller religious sects and groups.
Meditation is an attempt spiritually to become closer to God. In Eastern traditions, this is an attempt to become unified with God as one substance, while in the Christianity and the West, its purpose is a communion between two separate agents. This is critical to understand. Even though meditation is about becoming closer to the divine, these two routes can take individuals down two different spiritual paths
Despite this, meditation shares many common traits among world religions. Meditation is personal and spiritual. Meditation is not usually a religious ceremony within the community but is a singular spiritual experience. It is a beyond the communal connections and social obligations of one’s faith. Meditation is hence very personal and the success of those who practice it depend on their spiritual levels of awareness.
Meditation is found in many religious traditions. it is a mental and singular form of prayer that looks for closer union with the divine
Another important element of Meditation is its mental nature. Unlike vocal prayer, whether communal or singular, meditation is quiet prayer. It is reflective and looks to engage the divine in a way to communicate at a more subconscious level. It looks for quiet and peace to better hear the divine and to help the soul form a greater and more intimate union with the divine.
In attempting to find that quiet, the conscious mind must choose to enter into the meditative state. In the East, there are many spiritual practices and physical postures that attempt to free the soul from temporal distractions. The meditative trance is induced through quiet, postures and various practices to free the soul from the body. In the West, there is less emphasis on postures and definitely a rejection of any astral projection. Instead, there is more emphasis on the divine as a being and how one interacts. This is usually accomplished through private prayer and reflection on scriptures and images of the divine to inspire piety and spiritual excitement in the soul.
Meditation hence is a spiritual exercise for private devotion to inspire a closer union with the divine through mental and quiet prayer. If you would like to learn more about meditation or would like to become Meditation Instructor, then please review our Meditation Instructor Program. The program is more Eastern based and helps individuals gain the knowledge and expertise needed to help others in the area of meditation.
Individuals who are spiritual and wish to expand their knowledge can utilize the certification in their private practices, but also yoga instructors, and other holistic care givers can incorporate meditation into their practice. Some healthcare professionals also like to utilize meditation as well as hypnosis and other elements to give peace to their patients.
Despite being spiritual in nature, meditation also has many mental and physical benefits. Meditation Instructors can help others lean of these benefits
Meditation instructors are also in demand within the business world. With higher level of stress and the lower correlation of productivity associated with stress, employers are looking to gain every advantage against it. They look to hire stress manager consultants as well as meditation instructors to teach their employees how to manage stress and remain peaceful and calm.
So as we can see, meditation has more than simple spiritual ramifications but also many business and overall health issues. This gives one with a certification in Meditation Instruction, the unique ability to offer one’s services to a variety of outlets within the spiritual as well as secular world.
Whether one employs classical Western meditation or Eastern meditation, the need and urge for humanity to reconnect with the divine at a closer level is an innate necessity. Meditation Instructors can play a key role in helping others learn to meditate and utilize the numerous benefits of it. Please review AIHCP’s Meditation Instructor Program and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.
Roughly four million American adults experience panic attacks, according to the National Institutes of Mental Health. While therapy, medication, a good diet and plenty of exercise are commonly prescribed for panic disorders, meditation is often overlooked. But it shouldn’t be. Filtering one’s thoughts can prevent, or stop, panic attacks just as effectively as any other technique. Although there are a few ways to meditate the panic away, mindfulness is especially effective for panic disorders that are enabled by contemporary culture.
Mindfulness Meditation
This type of meditation emphasizes the non-judgmental awareness of one’s thoughts as they arise. It also directs your awareness to the present rather than the future. Since panic attacks are generally caused by an overwhelming fear of a hypothetical future, mindfulness can be incredibly beneficial in such situations. When the feeling of panic strikes, people who have learned mindfulness techniques can investigate the panic, decide that it’s not worth being stressed about, take deep breaths to relieve the physical discomfort that accompanies a panic attack, and focus on their breathing to release negative thoughts and ground themselves in the moment. Mindfulness masters like Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn can literally visualize the negative thoughts coming and going away, thus freeing themselves of suffering. Once this practice has been repeated and mastered, they will have control over the panic disorder, rather than the panic disorder controlling them.
The Cultural Cause
While there are countless causes for panic disorders, many experts agree that social media can exacerbate the anxiety symptoms that lead to panic attacks. This means that the cultural component of panic may be larger than in previous generations. People who use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat may be susceptible to feelings of inadequacy, dissatisfaction and paranoia: inadequacy because they compare their lives to those of the more affluent social media users; dissatisfaction because social media highlights events that they wish they could have been a part of; and paranoia because social media is a sensationalized version of the news. Since children devote a larger portion of their lives to social media than adults (2 hours 55 minutes a day for Gen Z versus 2 hours for Gen X, according to Global Web Index), they are more at risk of these social-media inspired cognitive distortions. To curb these feelings before they conspire for an all-out attack, both children and adult social media users should engage in mindfulness. In fact, meditation sessions can be a family affair. Parents can introduce mindfulness techniques to their children: members of a generation that is, according to the APA Stress in America survey, 12 percent more likely to report poor mental health than the generation that came before.
Living A Panic-Free Life
Once meditation has been incorporated into an individual’s self-care routine, there is no limit to what he or she can accomplish. Think of mindfulness as a superpower that is activated whenever its host is feeling mentally unwell. Meditation doesn’t only work on panic attacks, but on anxiety, depression, addiction and everyday stress and sadness. This person is then able to thwart negative thoughts of any kind with rationalization, deep breathing, and moment-by-moment awareness.
Although panic disorders are most often associated with adults, they can be experience by anyone, especially if they are entrenched in social media. While social media is not the sole cause of generational anxiety, it’s definitely an enabler. Luckily, mindfulness exists as a counterbalance.
Meditation is an important spiritual tool for individuals. It is a form of deeper prayer for others and a source of handling stress and keeping a clear mind. While meditation has secular uses as well as spiritual, one can never truly divorce meditation from its religious and spiritual roots.
Many may utilize secular forms of meditation for business and stress reduction, or even for health purposes, but the spiritual roots of both Eastern and Western meditation always circle back to its spiritual roots. As a religious and spiritual tool, meditation hopes to clear the mind from temporal reality and help individuals find the divine. In the East, that type of divine union is absorption, but in the West, that type of union is relationship.
Meditation, especially Eastern forms of it, has become utilized in the secular and business world
While the final ends of Eastern and Western meditation may differ, they both nonetheless share in a spiritual opening to the divine. Eastern forms of meditation utilize various techniques in meditation to free the mind from the body and open itself to the divine. Hindu and Buddhist meditation is centered on escaping the false reality of the world and discovering the true reality of the divine. The purpose is to again find union with the divine. (1)
In Hinduism, the soul is separated from the divine, like a spark from the fire. In this separation, the soul through meditation seeks to find closer union with God on earth. God is not so much seen as a being but more a sense of all being. Through a series of reincarnations, the soul finally is able to become re absorbed into the divine. In Buddhism, the state of nothingness is the ultimate goal, or Nirvana. In this, the soul escapes suffering. (2)
In all of these cases, meditation serves as a tool to better prepare the soul for the divine. Eastern meditation utilizes many physical exercises to remove one’s mind from the temporal reality. it is critical to escape the temporal reality when meditating. Disturbances or lack of focus on the divine, prevents this type of union. In Eastern Meditation, the soul is opened to another reality. Certain techniques are utilized to open the soul and allow it to attract the divine.
This type of Eastern Meditation is the primary type of meditation used in the Western secular world. Many of these practices, yoga, reiki, and forms of meditation are simply used for their physical and mental applications in the secular world. Businesses executives and those in bad health due to stress, look to these practices only for productivity and good health with little need for the spiritual overtones that accompany it.
Ultimately Eastern meditation is very spiritual and has spiritual ends
As a Meditation Instructor, one may teach the spirituality behind meditation, but in many cases, Meditation Instructors utilize the practice to teach executives and those seeking better health. Ultimately whether meditation is a spiritual practice or simply a secular practice depends upon the individual and what they are seeking from it. Meditation Instructors can help either in the quest to utilize meditation in the spiritual life or the health field.
Christian meditation differs greatly. While, it seeks to find the divine, it seeks a relationship with a Being, not a state of being that one can be absorbed into. Christian meditation while it can reduce stress, however, does not have as much secular application as Eastern meditation. Christian meditation is always extremely spiritual and not something that one would find being conducted in a studio or in an executive business environment.
Christian meditation is more seen as only spiritual and connected to the religion of Christianity. Its aims are to unite one with God in a relationship. it is a deeper form of vocal prayer. Like Eastern meditation, Christian meditation seeks to escape the noise of the temporal world, but it is not totally necessary to find deep dialogue with God. Instead of utilizing breathing postures and trances, Christian meditation focuses on scripture and the life of Christ.
Meditation or communication with God starts with simply talking to God and gradually finding deeper communication. Some forms of meditation can lead one to deeper states of communication where God speaks to one’s heart, and in more extreme cases, union can become deeper through more extraordinary spiritual encounters.
St Teresa of Avila, speaks of deeper union with God through meditation. She speaks of various mansions one can enter into dialogue with God. Of the seven mansions she lists, the first four are the lowest, with the final three dealing with a deeper union. Many utilize meditation to find these deeper relationship with God. The first mansions acknowledge God and have relationship but the relationship is still tainted with the world. The final three are seen as engagement with God. Where the soul detaches more and more from the world and seeks God as its final end. (3)
Unlike Eastern religions, there is no reincarnation in Christianity and the seeking of a more perfect union on earth with God before the afterlife is crucial. Living a good life and becoming closer to God prepares the soul for Heaven. Hence meditation is very important for the more enlightened soul that sees beyond the temporal illusions.
Temporal illusion is a key theme in both traditions. In the East, temporal reality is an illusion or Maya, while in the West, reality is not an illusion, but the ideals offered are illusions. The false ideals that this world offers is the illusion that Christians must escape. This idea is similar in many ways. Meditation is the key to escape the lies of this world. It elevates the soul to a greater cause beyond the physical senses. It is a communication with a higher essence although the type of essence and the relationship with that essence differs.
Christian meditation is based on relationship with God and focuses on the life of Christ and the Word of God
Christians for the most part despite the similar theme and purpose of meditation find Eastern themes to be of a spiritual danger. Christians do not condone the methodology or attempts of divinization sought after in Eastern Meditation. It finds many of the practices also to be harmful to spiritual well being in how one opens one soul to the spiritual realms. Christian meditation is closed and focused only to one Being, not a collection that may exist within the state of being.
The Meditation Instructor Program at AIHCP is more designed towards Eastern applications of meditation. It aims more for health and well being but also incorporates the spiritual teaching. The program is not designed towards Christian meditation, but there are a few courses that are focused on Christian meditation. These courses on St Teresa of Avila and St Ignatius are excellent courses for anyone interested in Meditation or individuals within the Christian Counseling Program seeking additional coursework.
If you are interested in meditation and would like to become a certified Meditation Instructor, then please review the program and see if it meets your professional and academic goals.
Meditation is helpful for many things. Reducing workplace stress and increasing productivity at work are among benefits of employee meditation. Many employers look for meditation instructors to offer their services to employees. Larger corporations have applied this practice and seen good results
Meditation in the workplace is an excellent practice in larger corporations. Please also review our Meditation Instructor Program
The article, “Why Meditation Works Wonders for Better Workplace Productivity” by Pinky Daga states,
“Meditation has been proven to not only help enhance work satisfaction, but also enhance productivity and general happiness. With a host of far-reaching benefits, it can effectively aid an employee in achieving the maximum results at the workplace, both on an individual and an organisational level.”
Like any prayer or meditation, outside thoughts and emotions can emerge. These sometimes negative emotions can affect one’s ability to find peace and meditate. It is important to be able to channel out distractions and noise and emotions in meditation.
Negativity and emotions can follow us into meditation. Please also review our certified Meditation Instructor Program and see if it meets your professional goals
The article, “Negativity Coming Up When You Meditate? Here’s How To Work Through It” by Adreanna Limbach states,
“Meditating when you’re in a good mood is one thing. Meditating when you’re dealing with inner turmoil? That’s where the real work happens.”
Meditation is about finding peace. In finding peace, sometimes we need to learn how to channel out the distractions and negative emotions that will not allow one to meditate. If you would like to learn more about meditation or would like to become a certified Meditation Instructor then please review the program and see if it matches your professional and academic goals.
Meditation is an age old practice. It is associated with spirituality but also over all health. While originally spiritual in essence, in recent years it has become an alternative health practice in the West.
Meditation, especially Eastern Meditation, is still very spiritual even if Westerners only look for the health benefits
Meditation is not just a fad but is an excellent tool for better health, stress reduction, and a better mental outlook. For those who are spiritual, it is also an immensely useful tool in becoming closer with God. Eastern as well as Western religions utilize it. In this blog, we will look at the most prominent types of meditation, their uses and the health benefits associated. We will also review AIHCP’s Meditation Instructor Certification.
Meditation as a spiritual tool is its oldest use. Meditation in the far East was used to become closer to God. Hinduism looks for reunification. The soul tries to reunify with Brahman. Through meditation, this reunification can occur sooner in life or lives. With this in mind, many of the techniques used for relaxation are focused on helping the mind escape the body.
In Christianity, meditation has a different use. Reunification with divinity is not the purpose but becoming closer to God. While it may appear the same there are fundamental differences in this. In the East, there is total union. There is no longer separation between beings but everything itself becomes being. In the West, the difference between Creator and creation is maintained. So union is quite different in these traditions.
Whichever religion one may be, spiritual meditation is a critical part of any faith. As a deeper form of prayer, it allows one to deeply communicate with the divine and become spiritually closer. This is essential in any religious and spiritual relationship. Individuals look to not only become better persons but also become closer with their God.
Since meditation has come to the West, many of the Eastern techniques have been utilized in secular settings. Christian Meditation has not become as secular, but only Eastern meditation. It is important to note this for individuals who wish to use Eastern meditation as a health option but also avoid any spiritual aspects that may contradict their faith. Caution is needed for these Christian Westerners who wish to meditation for health purposes.
Those not seeking any type of spiritual connection look for the mind and body benefits of meditation solely. Mindfulness Meditation is an Eastern use. It is very popular for executives and stressed individuals. This type of meditation looks to focus on all thoughts and words. This type of meditation has no judgement upon what thoughts enter. Another type of meditation is Transcendental Meditation. This meditation is more structured and scientifically studied. As the most popular form of meditation, it is used by those who are more serious about meditating. The structure is far more deep than mindfulness meditation. (1)
Other forms of meditation include mantra meditation where words are recited. Also focused meditation utilizes all five senses. Another type of meditation involves movement, such as yoga. Ultimately, all types of meditation were originally intended for spiritual ends but their health benefits can also be utilized.
Obviously the health benefits of meditation beyond the spiritual are multiple. Stress reduction is the biggest reason anyone utilizes meditation. From stressed parents to high end executives, individuals look to meditation to find relaxation and less stress. The results are more calm and less hormones from stress, such as cortisol, that can cause higher blood pressure and issues with the heart. In addition to this benefit, meditation also helps the immune system, reduces muscle aches, can ease inflammation, and help relax muscles for better movement. (2)
Meditation has numerous health benefits but primarily helps fight stress and stress related ailments
In addition to this, mentally meditation can help the mind with anxiety, depression, as well as other mental stresses. A calmer, clearer mind is beneficial for all health systems within the body. When meditation is combined with other alternative health practices, such as hypnotherapy or EFT, one can even see better results against other mental issues.
With so many benefits, many individuals are looking to learn how to meditate. They are individually practicing, or looking for groups to join. Meditation books, videos, and meditation classes are in larger demand. Individuals, as well as corporations are looking to train in meditation for the multitude of benefits. This is also true in the work place, where employers are even utilizing meditation instructors to train employees in mindfulness.
Certified Meditation Instructors are excellent candidates to help meet these needs. Meditation Instructors can offer classes, advice and training to firms, corporations, as well as individuals. They can offer small classes or large classes. Individuals with an interest in meditation and various backgrounds in healthcare, or education in healthcare and meditation are great candidates to become certified meditation instructors. Life coaches, trainers, nurses, massage therapists, spiritual gurus or those with education in the subject can all take advantage of the interest in meditation. They can then utilize their skills helping the general public benefit from the mental and physical aspects of meditation. Again, the biggest movement towards meditation is the secular crowd looking for mental and physical health benefits.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals offers a certification for Meditation Instructors. The Meditation Instructor Certification is an online, self paced program designed for working professionals. The program entails online courses that educate the individual in the basics of meditation. After completing the required meditation courses, the individual can then apply for a four year certification. The certification can be renewed every four years. During the four year spans, the meditation instructor must display five hundred hours of work within the field of meditation, as well as fifty hours of continuing education.
Learn how to become a certified Meditation Instructor. You can then help others learn the value of meditation in their daily lives
The courses again are online and self paced. After the completion of each course, one receives a certificate of completion. The American Institute of Health Care Professional has offered this certification for over Fifteen years and has successfully certified individuals throughout the country in many different career settings. If you are interested or would like to become a certified Meditation Instructor, then please review the Meditation Program and see if it meets your professional and academic goals.
In the meantime, meditation continues to become a growing field. Individuals from every aspect of private and professional life are utilizing its benefits. With such a growing marker, qualified professionals can offer their services and benefit in this business field.
Meditation, especially Eastern Meditation, has recently began to separate from its religious roots and has become a far more secular endeavor in the West. In the past, Eastern Meditation was seen more for its spiritual connection with Eastern religions, but now it is also being seen more for its stress reduction and health benefits.
Consider becoming a certified Meditation Instructor and bring the health and benefits of meditation to multiple clients
Many religious fear the opposite. Religious may still see the Eastern aspects of meditation as contrary to Christian and other monotheistic creeds. While some aspects of Eastern Meditation are contrary to Christian ideas on meditation, many spiritual parts of it can be stripped from it.
Meditation has become because of this a very secular endeavor. Meditation is seen as a health benefit for a multitude of professionals. Business and various firms benefit greatly from having meditation training for their employees. Meditation Instructors can offer seminars and training to these professionals on a large level.
In addition to business firms, schools are also realizing the importance of meditation. Meditation can help calm students and help make learning more productive.
Meditation instructors can offer their services to schools and business firms. They can help reduce stress and anxiety for both students and employees. This helps reduce stress and improve productivity in the office as well as the classroom.
Meditation because it is a stress reducing practice is also very good for health. Doctors on many occasions will suggest meditation to their patients. Patients with heart issues or high blood pressure can utilize meditation as a tool to improve their health.
Meditation as a tool against stress, anger, and anxiety is an excellent practice in the secular world, beyond its spiritual roots. Meditation can be employed in the business world, classroom, as well as for anger management classes in the courts.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals offers a Meditation Instructor Certification. The certification is online and self paced. It is open to professionals seeking to utilize meditation in a private practice where they can offer it to others. The courses are also good for merely education for those seeking more knowledge on meditation.
The program offers independent study courses. After completion of the courses, the student can apply for a four year certification. This certification as a Meditation Instructor is an excellent way to open doors into this new and exciting field. With it being so open to so many venues within the business and secular world, the demand has never been higher for Meditation Instructors.
Meditation has many health and stress reducing benefits. Please review our Meditation Instructor program and see if it meets your professional goals and needs
If you would like to become a certified Meditation Instructor and meet AIHCP’s prerequisites, then please review the Meditation Instructor program and see if it meets your academic and professional needs. As a certified meditation instructor you can begin to help many individuals lead healthier and less stressful lives through the power of meditation.
Addiction is a difficult problem to overcome. Meditation can help one overcome the challenges of addiction and alcohol. Through meditation, one can learn the disciple to possibly even stop drinking.
Meditation can help one overcome addictions. Please also review our Meditation Instructor Certification to see if it meets your academic needs
The article, “Alcohol and Meditation” by the Mindworks Team states,
“There are many practices and applications of meditation to stop drinking. Meditation teaches us that we don’t have to react to dispiriting thoughts and cravings. We learn that we have choices, and can choose to remain in the present moment while acknowledging the thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations that habitually trigger maladjusted behavior. ”
Please also review our Substance Abuse Counseling Training Certification, as well as our Meditation Instructor Certification and see if they meet your academic and professional goals.
