While we tend to focus on topics like astrology, numerology, and the Tarot at Astrology Answers, today we’re going to switch gears a bit and focus on a little thing called meditation.
Maybe you’ve tried meditation before and given up a few minutes in, or maybe the process has always seemed to intimidating to attempt it at all. The idea of clearing your mind of your thoughts and focusing on nothing can be a bit daunting if this is not something that you’re used to.
However, there are many benefits of meditation, and the peace and harmony provided by a relaxing meditation session is beneficial and healing for every astrological sign under the Sun.
So, if you’re ready to learn more about meditation, its benefits, and its connection to astrology, keep reading!
What is Meditation?
While meditation can seem challenging, it’s actually quite simple: meditation is the act of clearing your mind and allowing yourself to relax into the process. Meditation consists of clearing your brain and letting the thoughts trickle out – which can feel difficult if you try to force it.
That’s why the key to meditation is going with the flow, allowing the thoughts to pop up – because they will pop up – and simply releasing them.
It can be useful to think of your mind as a river, and your thoughts as leaves falling into and floating upon that river. Don’t try to force the leaves away, but avoid clinging to them. Simply let them float by and eventually the river will be clear again.
Meditation & Astrology
Astrology and meditation are both powerful tools for getting to know yourself on a deeper level. In fact, practicing meditation before an astrology reading can clear your mind of any distracting thoughts that might prevent you from focusing on your reading and its results.
Imagine how much you might learn about yourself by simply meditating over your birth chart. Take a look at your chart, learn more about your astrological blueprint, and take a moment to simply close your eyes and meditate on the information you’ve learned.
You see, hearing certain things about yourself or your personality can trigger emotional or negative responses, especially as each and every astrological chart is going to contain information that you may not like or understand.
Meditation clears the mind and allows you to take in astrological information with a positive, relaxed outlook.
What Are the Benefits of Meditation?
Before you decide whether or not to try meditating, you probably want to know more about the benefits of such a practice. Let’s explore the positive, healing results of meditation further!
1. Increased Focus & Cognition
Slowing and clearing the brain helps you release any of the distracting or negative thoughts that might be holding you back. Think about it – if your mind is occupied with stress and worry, it can be nearly impossible to focus on the work or projects before you.
Meditation allows you to let these thoughts go, helping you focus on anything you want to.
This practice can also actually make you smarter over time as well. Meditation clears your mind of any worry or insecurities that may be holding you back from sharing your intellect with the world. When your mind is clear, it becomes much easier to express yourself – including your brilliance.
When you are stressed, the thickness of your brain cortex changes. It changes specifically in the brain structure we know of as the hippocampus. This brain part controls all of your learning and your memory. A Harvard University study from 2011 found that white light meditation and mindfulness meditation help to strengthen this part of your brain, contributing to increased brain function.
2. Less Stress & Anxiety
Does anyone on the planet enjoy being tense, anxious, or stressed out? Probably not.
Stress and anxiety are not only bad for your emotional well being, but they can actually lead to health problems. Meditation helps you let go of these worries and focus on the things that bring you happiness in life. This practice allows you to “let go” of your daily stressors.
This is great for Air signs – Gemini, Libra, & Aquarius – because they tend to overthink and worry more than other signs.
3. More Happiness
Speaking of happiness, when you combine all the benefits of meditation, it’s easy to see how practicing this exercise regularly can lead to more happiness overall. Letting go of worry and anxiety – even momentarily – on a regular basis helps you access the positivity and joy within yourself.
4. Pain Relief
This is one of the best and most overlooked benefits of meditation – it can actually relieve pain within the body. In fact, many spiritual activities are known to reduce pain within the body because that pain energy is being directed elsewhere. It helps with the release of negative energy.
The process of meditation thickens the cortical layers of the brain, which reduces the number of pain transmitter processes and sensitivity to certain types of pain.
This is especially useful for Earth signs – Taurus, Virgo, & Capricorn – because they’re always working and pushing their bodies to the limit.
Have a headache? Try meditating!
5. Improved Memory
Have you ever had a word stuck on the tip of your tongue, or had trouble remembering certain details of the previous day, like what you ate or who you talked to? When we’re stressed out or anxious, it can be more difficult to recall certain facts or details.
Meditation, as we know, releases stress and anxiety, clearing the mind and helping your memory recall improve. This is especially useful for Water – Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces – and Fire signs – Aries, Leo, Sagittarius – because they can be scatterbrained or easily distracted.
6. Increased Creativity & Compassion
When your mind isn’t distracted, it’s much easier to be kinder and more compassionate with both yourself and others. On top of that, your creativity will begin to skyrocket with regular meditation.
Our thoughts can often distract us from who we want to be and what we want to accomplish, but meditation clears those thoughts and helps you focus on the things you want to pay attention to – like kindness and self-expression.
Meditating puts you on a higher vibration. When you are stuck in the rut of worry and frustration, you can not access the information available to you at that higher vibration. When put your brain in a meditation mode for a little while, the only thing there is room for there is love.
Read this one next: The Best At-Home Hobbies for Your Zodiac Sign
7. Youthfulness
As you begin to practice meditation regularly, you will find that the combined benefits lead to a more youthful, exuberant energy flowing within you. The lack of stress, anxiety, and pain coupled with the relaxation and compassion that meditation provides will put a spring back into your step and help you feel more childlike than ever.
If you want your inner child to come out and play, it’s time to start meditation on a regular basis.
6 Different Types of Meditation
Now that you know more about the benefits of meditation, you might be wondering what types of meditation exist. Let’s dive in and take a look at the different kinds of meditation there are to choose from!
1. Guided Meditations
This is one of the easiest types of meditation for beginners. This type of meditation allows you to follow the instructions of a meditation practitioner or healer, allowing you to turn your brain off and simply go with the flow.
During a guided meditation, an instructor will likely ask that you close your eyes, clear your mind, take deep breaths, and imagine certain colors or visual images that bring peace to the body and the mind.
The best part about guided meditations is that you don’t have to do much or try too hard because all you really have to focus on is following instructions.
The only thing to be sure of is that you’re completely comfortable with your instructor. If, for any reason, you don’t feel comfortable with them, try a different meditation or instructor. Meditation won’t be as beneficial if you’re not feeling safe and aligned.
2. Chants & Affirmations
Sometimes we don’t have the energy or the time for a full meditation, which is why chants and affirmations can be so useful. And while the idea behind meditation is clearing the mind, chanting perfectly aligns with the act of meditation because it requires you to sit comfortably and quietly and concentrate your mind.
Transcendental Meditation is growing in popularity, and during this kind of meditation, the instructor gives the students a mantra to focus on. Primordial Sound Meditation is a silent version of this practice wherein you are given a very specific mantra that is linked to and based off of your Vedic astrology chart.
You can also practice chants and affirmations from the comfort of your own home.
Simply find a quiet, sacred space where you feel safe and comfortable. Create a mantra or a chant that connects to the outcome that you desire. Focus on this affirmation and imagine the feelings you most desire out of life. You can repeat these words a certain number of times or for a certain amount of time.
3. Zen Meditation
Many types of meditation focus on silently focusing on your breath and the present moment. Zazen, also known as Zen meditation, is quite popular and involves an instructor helping you focus on the here and now, as well as rhythmic breathing.
No-mind – also known as breath-awareness – is a form of meditation that helps you calm the mind through counting your breath and attempting to empty your brain as much as possible. If and when thoughts pop up, you then simply acknowledge and release them.
4. Mindfulness & Movement
If the idea of sitting still and attempting to meditate feels too intimidating, you could try meditation while moving! One way to do this is to practice mindfulness, which entails paying full attention to whatever you and your body are doing in the present moment.
If there is a certain movement or exercise that helps you slow down and focus, active meditation may be your best bet. Tai chi and yoga are two very well-known types of this movement meditation. The movements involved in these practices require deep breathing and concentration, and they help you release tension and negativity.
Get excited about movement! Read: Your Perfect Yoga Pose, Based on Your Zodiac Sign
5. Visualization
Visualization is another great way to get some meditative action and good vibrations – and it’s extremely useful for manifestation. Instead of chanting, trying to clear the mind, or being active, this form of meditation involves visualizing how you want a certain aspect of your life to be.
Visualization helps you attract the things you want, whether that’s financial stability, love, peace, or calm.
If you want a certain car, visualize every detail you can about it – the color, the finish, the interior, the stereo. Close your eyes and picture how it will feel sitting behind the wheel, how the seat feels underneath your body.
In fact, visualization is so effective that many athletes use it before practices or competitions.
6. Vipassana
Vipassana is thought to be the oldest form of meditation. The word Vipassana means “to see things as they really are,” or “insight into the true nature of reality.”
While traditional meditation asks that you clear the mind and focus on the breath, Vipassana meditation asks that you pay attention to yourself, your surroundings, and reality as it is.
This is a form of mindfulness. Helping yourself become aware of everything going on within and surrounding you allows you to focus on the present moment and live in the here and now.
To practice Vipassana meditation, simply pay attention to the sensations you’re experiencing, the emotions, the smells around you, the colors in the room. Try to make yourself as aware as you can be of everything happening in your body and outside of you.
The Best Meditation for Your Zodiac Sign
Now that we know more about meditation and its benefits, you might be curious about which meditation will be the most healing for you personally. Let’s take a look at each zodiac sign and the meditation that will be most beneficial for them!
Aries
Aries is a Fire sign with a feisty spirit, and you may experience aggression or anger from time to time.
Compassion meditation is one of the most powerful for you sign, helping you feel more loving and understanding of both yourself and others. To practice compassion meditation, just focus on phrases and mantras that help you feel more loving and understanding, such as:
- May I be free of pain and sorrow.
- May I be well and happy.
Taurus
Since Taurus is associated with the throat and the neck, Transcendental meditation is particularly useful for you.
By repeating certain words, sounds, or phrases, you’re sending healing energy to the throat, especially to the Throat chakra. Words are powerful, so take a moment to focus on or repeat words that are meaningful and healing for you.
Gemini
As an Air sign, Geminis tend to overthink things. You may experience more stress and worry than those around you, and you need to crawl out of your head every once in a while.
To do this, try engaging your senses through meditation. Vipassana meditation will help you connect to your sense and step out of your head for a while.
Cancer
Cancer is an emotionally sensitive Water sign that tends to take on the energy of others, so it’s important that you clear your aura from time to time to protect your spirit.
Close your eyes and imagine a wave of healing, golden light washing over you and helping you release any negativity that may have been planted in your aura by circumstances or other people.
Leo
Leos are energetic and fiery, and they may forget to take a moment to recharge every now and again.
Movement meditation, like yoga or Tai chi, will help you engage your energy while releasing any negativity that might be holding you back. When you clear this energy from the body, you have more motivation to go after what you want in life.
Virgo
As an Earth sign, Virgos can take themselves – and life – a bit too seriously sometimes. That’s why practicing joy meditation can be so beneficial for you, Virgo.
A guided meditation that focus on joy will lift your spirit and help you feel more grateful and aligned with the energy of the Universe than ever before.
Libra
Libras are an Air sign with a tendency to live in their minds, so it’s important to find grounding and balance so you don’t become obsessive with certain ideas.
Try sitting outside on a patch of grass, closing your eyes, and imagining the grounding energy of the Earth filling your body with balance and motivation.
Scorpio
Scorpio is ruled by Water, and your depth of emotions can sometimes result in envy or jealousy, especially when it comes to the things that other people have.
A guided gratitude meditation is just what you need to remind yourself that you have everything you need right here and right now. Focusing on what brings you gratitude will also help you attract even more abundance.
Sagittarius
Sagittarius is ruled by the benevolent planet, Jupiter, resulting in a deep connection to the giving nature of the Universe.
Visualization is especially useful for you sign, helping you manifest everything you’ve ever wanted in life. You can even make a vision board featuring photos and concepts that represent the things you want to attract.
Capricorn
Capricorn is a hard-working Earth sign that sometimes forgets to stop and rest. You have to slow down from time to time and allow your body and mind to relax and heal.
Yoga is one of the most beneficial forms of meditation for you, allowing you to sink into the present moment while continuing to move your body and ground your energy.
Aquarius
Aquarius is an Air sign that’s always on the go, and sometimes it’s hard for you to slow down and smell the roses.
Breath Awareness Meditation is an excellent way to remind yourself that there is peace and beauty in the present moment. Seated comfortably, focus on your breath and how it feels moving in and out of your body.
Pisces
Pisces is a dreamy, imaginative sign that spends a lot of time focusing on fantasies rather than reality. It’s important, however, that you bring your awareness to the present moment to attract those fantasies into your life.
Going on a mindful walk outdoors can help you feel more grounded in the here and now, allowing you to feel gratitude for the way things are right now.
How Will You Use Meditation?
As you can see, there are many benefits that come along with meditation and mindfulness, no matter what your zodiac sign is. So, if you want to build a deeper connection between yourself and the Universe, it’s time to start sitting down and letting the thoughts drift away.
The more you practice meditation, the more you’ll begin to feel like yourself – bright, beautiful, and brilliant.
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