Spiritual meditation is a practice in which you mindfully connect to energy that is larger and deeper than yourself. The reasons people choose to meditate are individual to their spiritual journey, but usually involve the goal of spiritual growth and connectedness.

How do I learn spiritual meditation? 

Generally, people learn spiritual meditation from a teacher individually, through taking classes, reading about methods, or watching videos. There is no single way to practice or learn spiritual meditation.

Whatever your methodology, the most common kinds of meditation will encourage you to sit quietly and comfortably, close your eyes, focus on your breath, and open your mind.

Is meditation spiritual or mental? 

It isn’t either/or. Meditation is a whole being experience in which you are using all parts of you to connect with your inner wisdom, super consciousness, and a higher source.

You can certainly tell your mind you want to be in a spiritual mode and allow connection with a higher power. That allows you to receive. But meditation is an exercise that encompasses your physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and mental self. 

How do you practice spirituality? 

Spirituality is a highly individual. I think one of the best ways people can practice spirituality is by doing little things every day to maintain their spiritual focus. You don’t have to climb a mountain or be hit by lightning to have spiritual growth or develop spiritual awareness. That can happen for some people, but it isn’t necessary to make progress.

Practicing spirituality can take many forms. It can be doing small acts of kindness every day for others. There is a great connection to your spiritual health and being mindful of your impact and influence on others. It may be increasing mindfulness of what you’re eating and how you’re taking care of your body. It may be daily meditation time. For some, it is having a creative output. The practice of our spiritual journeys often depends on us individually and how we each communicate best with ourselves and our guides.

One of the most important parts of practicing spirituality is just being more mindful about your actions. Spirituality practices are often just those things that help you feel grounded, centered, clear of mind, and connected to a higher source or purpose. Anything you do that allows opportunity for your inner wisdom to come out and receive information from the divine is a form of practicing spirituality.

What does God say about meditation? 

Prayer is a form of meditation in which you are receiving messages from God or Source. Whether you are connecting to God, higher source, the divine or whatever your individual practices call it, it is all the same thing – an opportunity to commune with spirit guides or celestial beings, go inwards, and receive information.

What are the spiritual meditation techniques that people find lead to the most mindful practice? 

One of the most powerful things you can do is have compassion for yourself. Some people call it unconditional self-love. This can be developed through different types of meditation or other techniques. Once you have compassion for yourself, you’re able to give compassion to others.

There are many meditation techniques and what each person finds leads them to the most mindful state of mind is very individual. It can be beneficial to try several different techniques to discover what works best for you.

What are the mental health benefits of meditation? 

Overall, meditation can lead people to have a greater sense of calm or tranquility in their lives. It can help mitigate the overstimulation we receive from daily life. Meditation can also provide us with clarity if we are using meditation time to focus on a particular issue. Any time we set aside time to clear our mind, we promote positive mental health.

There is some research that has shown that meditation or mindfulness works well to ease or alleviate depression, particularly when paired with other interventions. Integrating a regular mindfulness or meditation practice can be part of a path to reducing or eliminating medications for some kinds of depression or high blood pressure.

How can mindfulness meditation and a spiritual meditation practice help you pay attention to the present moment? 

When we practice mindfulness and any kind of meditation, we become more aware of our thoughts and our feelings. We are less likely to become overwhelmed by them. This is a great benefit – being able to better manage our emotions and not respond with unregulated thoughts or emotions to things that happen in the present.

Mindfulness and meditation have also been shown to have benefits to physical health such as decreasing blood pressure, improving sleep, and decreasing chronic pain. All of these allow us to be more present in the moment.

Finally, meditation is a stress reliever. Anytime we can reduce or manage the amount of stress we are experiencing; we have greater opportunity to be more present in our lives. We aren’t distracted by stressful thoughts or emotions.