Spiritual meditation, a universal tradition embraced by people worldwide. Whether seeking stress relief, inner peace, enlightenment, or a connection with higher realms, meditation offers a path to serenity. 

Wondering how to start your spiritual meditation journey? Discover the answers below. Begin your adventure toward peace and enlightenment—keep reading for essential guidance.

What Is Spiritual Meditation?

Spiritual meditation is one way to strengthen the connection with oneself, deepen one's affirmed beliefs, and enhance the relationship with the Divine Creator. 

Therefore, spiritual meditation is included in various religious practices, such as Zazen meditation in Buddhism, loving-kindness meditation (Metta) in Buddhism, Japa Mala and Mantra meditation in Hinduism, Kabbalistic practices in Judaism, contemplative prayer in Christianity, and Sufi Dhikr, which involves the remembrance of God.

As spiritual meditation is personal and directly related to the inner self, each person's meditation experience can be vastly different. Some claim to experience spiritual awakening, feeling the presence of spirits, or having visions. 

However, others may not encounter any spiritual events during meditation. Regardless of the experiences, experts, as summarized by Healthline, suggest accepting and not forcing anything during meditation.

Benefits of Spiritual Meditation

With consistent and meticulous practice, meditation can cultivate "awareness," allowing individuals to choose how to perceive and feel about every phase and event in life. 

This also applies to decision-making. Through regular spiritual meditation, the connection between the soul and body becomes stronger. Consequently, one can better understand the needs of the body and soul and make decisions accordingly.

In addition to helping individuals delve deeper into self-awareness, experiencing spiritual awakening, and getting closer to the Divine, spiritual meditation also offers several other benefits:

1. Improves Heart Health

Spiritual meditation can be used to enhance psychological balance, spiritual growth, and overall well-being. These three aspects significantly influence an individual's blood pressure stability. Hence, when meditation is well-executed, tension in the heart and arteries tends to decrease, reducing the risk of heart disease.

2. Enhances Sleep Quality

You might have encountered the weariness of grappling with insomnia, a state in which individuals wrestle with sleep despite fatigue or plenty of free time. 

When it strikes, insomnia triggers heightened anxiety as bedtime looms, exacerbating the challenge of falling asleep. Over time, this inevitably impacts both physical health and mood.

During meditation, you practice mindfulness, focusing on whatever is happening at the moment with an open mind and without judgment. Consequently, excessive anxiety that comes every bedtime will gradually disappear, allowing you to sleep more soundly.

3. Reduces Stress

A Healthline-summarized study reveals that properly conducted meditation can mitigate stress-induced inflammation in the body. Moreover, research findings suggest that meditation can alleviate other health problems triggered by stress, including urinary tract infections, PTSD, and fibromyalgia—a chronic pain disorder characterized by fatigue and sleep disturbances.

4. Aids Anxiety Control

Every deep breath and effort to focus attention during meditation can help overcome excessive anxiety. By focusing attention, you can free the mind from many things causing stress and worry. Let all the affairs of life pass through your head without passing judgment. 

Thus, you can focus your mind on the breathing pattern being practiced, the mantra being recited for the higher entity believed in, or the prayers and praises being offered to the Almighty God.

5. Improves Focus Ability

A review published by the National Library of Medicine indicates that research participants who meditated for about 13 minutes a day over eight weeks experienced a reduction in negative mood states, better working memory, improved recognition memory, and higher focus abilities. 

Higher focus abilities, coupled with a good mood and sharp memory, directly affect a person's success in completing various tasks they undertake.

How to Practice Spiritual Meditation

Practicing spiritual meditation is indeed not an easy feat. Often, it demands patience and nearly crumbles the consistency you're trying to build. Therefore, the key to success in undertaking spiritual meditation lies in patience and self-awareness.

For those attempting spiritual meditation for the first time, you can engage a professional coach, use a guided app, or follow the steps below:

1. Choose a Tranquil Place

To embark on your meditation journey, choose a tranquil haven like The Sanur for optimal comfort and serenity. With its alluring tropical garden, thoughtfully crafted to create the perfect ambiance for meditation, you can immerse yourself in spiritual meditation with utmost reverence and minimal distractions.

2. Define the Meditation Goal

Before starting meditation, take a moment to reflect on the true purpose of the spiritual meditation you are about to undertake. 

What do you want to discover within yourself, and what spiritual connection do you seek to form? Formulate positive goals and affirm them firmly to yourself. The firmness of heart in naturally attaining these goals will serve as a guiding light during the meditation process.

3. Find a Comfortable Position

You may often see illustrations of people meditating in the lotus position. It's essential to know that this position is not obligatory. 

Not everyone finds this position comfortable. Forcing yourself into it can hinder relaxation. Consider alternative positions such as standing, sitting in a chair, or lying on a mat for a more relaxed meditation experience.

4. Start with Short Duration

When just learning to meditate, you don't have to immediately go for a 30-minute or 1-hour session. This duration is too long and too demanding for beginners. Begin by meditating for 5 minutes a day. Repeat this three times a week. 

Initially, you might find it challenging to stay calm and focus your mind on a specific object. That's okay; it's normal. Keep trying to sit for 5 minutes in silence with thoughts that may still be uncontrollable. Examine those thoughts without judgment or force.

If you feel you've successfully completed a 5-minute meditation, then increase the duration to 10 minutes. Eventually, you can gradually increase the meditation duration or stop at a number that feels most comfortable for you. To make it easier to track meditation duration, use a timer.

5. Focus on Breathing

Have you found a comfortable meditation place and position? Is the timer set to your desired duration? If yes, let's begin meditation by focusing on your breath. 

Start spiritual meditation by closing your eyes, taking deep breaths, and exhaling slowly. Perform each breath with full awareness and gentleness. Feel each inhalation and exhalation.

When your mind starts to wander, be aware of what comes into your head. Then let those thoughts pass and try to refocus on your breath. Don't worry if your meditation process is periodically disrupted by various thoughts. Simply refocus on the breathing process.

When the time is up, and the timer alarm sounds, please open your eyes. Next, observe your surroundings, body, and feelings. You may feel a deeper sensitivity to the environment and yourself on the first attempt, or those feelings may gradually grow in subsequent meditation sessions.

6. Recognize When Meditation Isn't Working Well

You may have practiced meditation dozens of times and still often find your thoughts suddenly intruding amid the silence, wandering everywhere. 

Relax; this is entirely normal. The ability to realize and accept with an open heart when you can't concentrate on a particular object is a positive sign. It means you have self-awareness.

So, what needs to be done? Gradually, you only need to try to refocus inward. Do it gently; don't force your mind to focus. 

However, if you feel discomfort such as restlessness, panic, or worsening depression as you continue to practice meditation, you may need to pause. Consult with a certified therapist before continuing spiritual meditation.

The Sanur is one of the places where you can engage in meditation accompanied by certified therapists. But that's not all; The Sanur also provides a special meditation and yoga garden called the Ethnomedicinal Botanic Garden. 

In this garden, you will be greeted with lush foliage, fresh air, and the gentle trickle of flowing water. It's a serene atmosphere that helps calm the mind and body, allowing meditation to proceed with deeper focus. 

Furthermore, in the Ethnomedicinal Botanic Garden, you can complement your meditation session with a soul-cleansing ritual called melukat. Thus, you can find inner peace and rejuvenate your weary soul from the daily hustle and bustle.