How to Meditate for Healing

How to Meditate for Healing

Meditation can be a great way to heal, both mentally and emotionally. And like anything we do in life, we can get better at it by simply doing it more and more often.

Meditation is often practiced in a quiet, comfortable space, seated in a comfortable position with closed eyes and regulated breathing.

It is a means to detach and reconnect, as well as find meaning and peace for self-healing and general satisfaction.

In this guide, we provide a few ways you can use meditation for healing.

Meditation is versatile and not as dull or esoteric as often thought. A

nd it can be used for managing one’s emotions, controlling thoughts, finding focus and grounding, and regulating one’s heart rate and breathing.

All it takes is finding a style of meditation that works well for you. For more insights on managing emotions, the article how to stop beating yourself up could be helpful.

Meditation for Detachment

We can use meditation to detach ourselves from a stressful or difficult situation. In other words: as a means to escape, if that is what is desired.

Do you have a happy place? A place where you feel safe and at peace? To provide examples, this might be a forest or a place by the ocean.

Meditation always starts with controlling and focusing on one’s breathing.

We can take this further by detaching from our current space by envisaging we are somewhere else – our happy place – through our breathing.

Breathe in through your nose and think of waves receding.

Breathe out and think of the tide coming in and foaming on the shore.

We can also liken our breathing to wind blowing through trees and rustling the leaves, or the rise and fall of the chest to gently rocking in a boat on a still lake.

Meditation for Visualization

Meditation for visualization is a way to envisage a successful outcome of something that is troubling you.

If you need healing from anxiety or stress, this might be helpful for you in particular.

As you close your eyes and slow your breathing down, imagine the situation or event that you are worried about and picture yourself coming out the other side successfully.

Find joy and confidence in the outcome you are manifesting, smile to yourself, and release any negative energy as you exhale deeply.

Acknowledging and Analyzing Emotions

We can also use meditation as a method to acknowledge and analyze our emotions.

Through this kind of meditation, we can find acceptance or even come to a solution by simply engaging with our inner state of mind.

As you breathe in and out, think about what you are feeling and the reason(s) why.

All feelings are valid, but always ask yourself if they are rational and if any problem at hand is in your power to fix.

You may also take this moment to find acceptance in the fleeting nature of all things.

Negative thoughts and emotions are always mere passing phases that only torment us as much as we let them.

Meditation to be Present

“Being present” is a term that often confuses, but it is not as transcendental or esoteric as is thought.

To be present is to simply let go of the past and not bank all of our happiness on what we desire to happen in the future.

We must always look at the past as lessons to learn from.

And we must always look at the future as a destination that will come as long as we continue to journey towards it.

Meditation to be Present

Being weighed down by past regrets and what we desire from the future is a quick way to trouble our present state.

As a result, we can use meditation to reconnect with the present. For further understanding on maintaining presence and mindfulness, reading about the 3-3-3 rule for anxiety might be beneficial.

Focus on your breathing, feel the sensation as you move your fingers and toes, and take a mental note of the sounds happening around you.

What are you grateful for right now and what do you enjoy about being alive?

Spiritual Meditation

Meditation is not only the practice of detachment and reconnection. It can be a prayer or conversation that employs a spiritual approach to how we find peace and healing.

No matter which religion you practice, find a quiet space and have a spiritual conversation about anything that comes to mind.

Like opening up to a friend or partner, it can be therapeutic, cathartic, and liberating.

As you do so, you might find it useful to light candles, use sensory fragrant scents, or listen to religious music.

Mantra Meditation

Meditation can be used to recite mantras. Based on your preference, this can be a sacred song or even a calming phrase repeated to one’s self to find healing in a difficult time or situation.

You might find it beneficial to hum or improvise a vocal melody. This is particularly common in Hinduism and Buddhism.

If you are finding yourself troubled by a negative emotion or situation, as you meditate, try repeating a mantra, such as, “This is insignificant in a universe of beauty and possibility”.

Find healing in the temporariness of a difficult situation, the possibility of great things happening, and the infinite beauty the universe has to offer our time on earth.

Meditation For Grounding

Meditation is also a means to ground and reconnect when we are feeling disconnected from ourselves or the universe and its cyclical energy as a whole.

If this is the case, we can use meditation as a sensory, tactile experience for healing.

For this purpose of this style of meditation, you may want to perform this meditation outside.

Sit down with crossed legs or lie down with your hands to the ground.

Close your eyes and feel the ground beneath your weight, listen to the sounds of the wind and birds, feel the sun on your face, and establish a connection between your existence and the universe at its present.

If you believe there is energy flowing through all things, establish a sense of presence and try to connect and synchronize with this energy as a way to ground yourself.

Conclusion

Meditation is not as one-dimensional as is often thought.

It can be a versatile healing experience that can be anything you need to be, as long as you find a style and method that benefits you.

Above are just a few ways you can use meditation to heal, both emotionally and mentally.

Not all methods will work for you, but we hope this guide has provided one or two methods that you may find useful in nurturing, and improving, your overall mental health and quality of life.

 

About our Author Michelle Landeros, LMFT license# 115130
Author: Michelle Landeros, LMFT

Michelle Landeros is a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist (LMFT). She is passionate about helping individuals, couples and families thrive.

Last updated: March 26, 2024