Mental Health
Mind
Debunking Meditation Myths With Michael Teh
April 21st, 2021 at 1:19 pm
When you hear the word ‘wellness’, the first thing that usually comes to mind is meditation. The ancient practice has been around for thousands of years, and although it was first conducted for religious reasons, it has now been adapted by the mainstream as a therapeutic tool for better overall health. It is still met with skepticism, mainly by those who’ve tried it once and gave up after a few minutes of not being able to clear their minds, but these misunderstandings and incorrect assumptions are only preventing people from experiencing the scientifically-proven benefits of the wellness practice.
To debunk some of the common myths about meditation, we turned to meditation expert, Michael Teh. The registered yoga teacher was a young and successful investor and entrepreneur whose life changed after embarking on daily meditation. Other than reaping the rewards of good health, joy and positivity, meditation has also helped enhance his business performance – resulting in ease and abundance when it comes to investments, stock trading and other business. He now has a healthy outlet to relieve stress, along with other negative emotions, and has built more positive relationships with his family and friends.
Teh shares, “As a result [of meditation], you become more intuitive and often find the wisdom to overcome challenges. At the same time, you will find yourself being more patient, more positive and loving when faced with problems and challenges – where in the past, such challenges may have triggered you to become angry, sad, hateful, and other negative emotions”. Read on to learn more and transform your mindset.
The Most Common Misconceptions About Meditation
- Meditation is a religious practice and for those who are lost.
I would like to debunk the notion that meditation is a religious practice, and only for those who are lost. The underlying and ultimate purpose of meditation is to seek the understanding and realization of Who You Truly Are – which I termed as Self-Realization. Self-Realization is crucial in the evolution of Humanity, leading one to understand and live a life of purpose, fulfilment, contentment and joy. Knowing and realizing Who You Truly Are sets the foundation towards actualizing your fullest potential in this lifetime. The first step towards Self-Realization is to develop awareness through mindful breathing, and meditation is the tool used to develop mindfulness and awareness.
- Meditation is just for relaxation.
While relaxation is the fundamental principle for meditation, meditation practice is not just a relaxation technique. I always share with my students that meditation is not something that you need to do or perform, but rather create the right condition for meditation to happen naturally.
- Meditation is selfish.
It may at times seem that a meditator is selfish – by sitting down on a cushion for long moments, and not seen as working or engaging with the family. However, finding time for yourself and taking care of your own mental wellbeing is crucial towards being a happier person for your family and community. Meditation is a form of self-care and self-love that leads to a healthier and happier life in the long run. It aids in removing negative thoughts and emotions from your body-mind-soul, leading to positivity, joy and happiness. When you are happy, you will naturally emanate loving kindness towards not just yourself, but all other sentient beings as well – including your family and friends. As a result, you will nurture and develop more positive relationships with the people around you.
The Health Benefits Of Meditation
One must seek to understand that our body, mind and soul are one unit that makes us a Human Being. If we are not able to balance the wellbeing of the body, mind and soul, we will not be able to live a life of positivity and lasting happiness. For example, if you are constantly living under stress and pressure, this will result in unhappiness, and also cause harm to your body by breeding diseases or mental sickness. Meditation cultivates inner peace, calm and balance. It can also be used to conduct inner-healing to remove the negative emotions that have been hidden or stored inside your body and mind – this inner healing brings forth lightness and positive mental health.
Before I embarked on a journey of meditation practice, I was not aware that there were a lot of hidden negative emotions inside our system. These negative emotions arise from our day-to-day lives, be it through our eating habits, conversations with people around us, the information we receive from social media, the conditioning of our minds due to environmental and societal factors, or the pressure and stress from work – these all contribute to the deterioration of our mental and physical health. What’s worse is that we are not even aware of it. Through meditation, you will be able to develop the necessary state of mind where you are mindful and aware of these negative conditions in you, and thus also giving you the inner power to shift from negative to positive. As a result, it heals and aids in developing a positive mental and physical wellbeing.
How To Start Meditating
Depending on the fluctuations of your mind (which is highly dependent on your state of mind – thoughts and emotions), one can start meditating daily in a short time span of 5 minutes, and slowly and gradually increase the time of meditation to 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes or even up to an hour. The aim is to not be distracted by your own thoughts and emotions, and seek to cultivate emptying your thoughts and emotions through meditation.
The goal of meditation is to develop awareness and mindfulness. Once mindfulness is developed, meditation can then be used to develop concentration. It is a mind exercise – like how we go to the gym and carry weights to build muscle, meditation can be used to train the mind by cultivating mindfulness and concentration. One should cultivate a daily meditation practice, and seek to realize the benefits of it and thus make it a way of life.
Michael’s Daily Meditation Routine
I wake up every morning to perform yoga Surya Namaska (Sun Salutation), Qi Gong movements, and meditation leading to stillness and a positive mind. I spend an hour every morning doing this prior to leaving the house – it sets the right tone and mood for the day before I start my busy schedule.
At night, prior to sleep, I will sit for a short 10-15 minute meditation to calm my mind – emptying all thoughts and emotions, leading to a very good, deep sleep. These simple yet powerful practices have indeed helped me to develop a positive and healthy state of mind, resulting in positive physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.
If you are interested in attaining self-realization, visit Teh’s website for more information on his signature program “The Essence of Life Workshop Series” and weekly Yoga and Qigong classes. You can also follow him on Instagram for more mindfulness tips!
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