Should I Meditate in the Dark?

Meditation is not really about becoming a new person, a different person, or a better person. It’s more on training in awareness and gaining a healthier sense of perspective. When meditating, you don’t have to shut off your feelings and thoughts completely, but you must observe them with no judgment and eventually understand them. Do you know you can meditate in the dark too?

Meditation produces a deep and ultimate state of relaxation and a peaceful mind. While meditating, you focus your attention and get rid of jumbled thoughts that might be bothering your mind and resulting in stress. Meditation comes in different types, such as focused meditation, mindfulness meditation, mantra meditation, movement meditation, and more. 

Another type to add to the list is darkness meditation. You might wonder what darkness meditation really is and end up asking yourself should I do meditation in light or dark? Read on to know the reasons why you need to get started with darkness meditation and know how to meditate in the dark now. 

What’s Darkness Meditation Anyway? 

Darkness meditation intends to connect you with a sense of your belief and life in general. This also aims to minimize the fear of the unknown and the darkness. So, should you meditate in the dark? Yes, you definitely should, and make sure that you do this the right way.

To practice darkness meditation, the first thing you must do is cultivate a mindset that doesn’t fear the darkness. It may take several weeks and even months to master this unique kind of meditation. 

By making use of a specific blindfold that will allow you to stay in the darkness with properly controlled sound and open eyes, over 80% of sensorial inputs often processed by your mind will be removed. This experience enables the mind to instantly quiet down and experience deeper relaxation conducive to numerous benefits. 

Darkness Meditation Benefits 

Darkness meditation is beneficial and it delivers the following benefits: 

Profound Sense of Calmness and Self-Control 

 One of the biggest benefits of darkness meditation is a deep sense of equanimity. This refers to the state of psychological composure and stability undisturbed by exposure or experience of pain, emotions, and other phenomena that may result in other people losing the balance of their minds. 

Deep Relaxation Favorable to Meditative State

If you feel tense, worried, or anxious, consider darkness meditation. Spending some time in a dark room and meditating can restore your inner peace and calm. Anybody can practice this kind of meditation. It’s inexpensive and simple and does not require grand and special equipment. 

Enhanced Problem-Solving Skills and Creativity 

Darkness meditation can enhance creative thinking and problem-solving skills. Practicing this meditation even for around 25 minutes can boost brain functions linked to thinking patterns, actions, and goal-directed skills. 

Increased Performance and Well-Being 

Darkness meditation is proven effective in achieving optimal performance and improved well-being through decreasing ruminative thinking, and level of anxiety and boosting the experience of ideal flow. 

Improved Eating Behavior and Sleep 

Eating behavior and sleeping directly affect both your physical and mental health. You can therefore turn to darkness meditation if you want better sleep and somehow overcome your sleeping disorder such as insomnia. When you meditate, various physiological changes happen. These changes initiate sleep and good behavior, such as good eating behavior. 

Transformation of Attitude and Thinking Pattern 

Meditation can change your mindset. This practice allows you to develop a thought pattern and then transform this into positive thinking. If you think positively, you also tend to act and behave positively. 

Deep Healing and Stress and Pain Reduction 

Darkness meditation can reduce anxiety levels and stress and heal your body. Since this helps you not to be stuck in pain, you’ll be able to experience ultimate pain relief. 

Direct Energetic Body Experience (Prana, Chi) 

As yoga moves, pulls, and pushes inner winds towards the central channel by physical means, meditation can also do the same through influences of the mind. Prana is more apparent during peak experiences such as meditation. 

Pineal Gland Activation 

You can begin amplifying the power of your pineal gland now with the Pineal Gland Activation. This meditation brings tremendous effects on the pineal gland which usually dries up from exposure to chemicals found in the environment and because of psycho-emotional traumas. 

Opening to the Altered States of Consciousness 

The altered states of Consciousness refer to non-formal states of mental experiences and awareness. Darkness meditation is believed to be opening to such a state and change one’s experience profoundly. 

Short Session’s Immediate Effects

It has scientifically been observed that after about 20 to 30 minutes of sensory deprivation, the brain shifts from Alpha to Beta and up to Theta brain waves. This is the state that typically happens before sleeping and waking up. The Theta state was used to boost problem-solving and creativity. Through building up your exposure to longer sensory and darkness deprivation sessions, you’ll be able to open to deeper, un-ordinary, and metaphysical experiences. 

The Healing Effects 

Stress and pain reduction are effects of sensory deprivation and darkness meditation’s effects that are frequently reported along with reduction of disorders that are stress-related such as sleeping disorders and insomnia. The healing effects usually include positive effects on one’s addictive behavior such as substance abuse like alcohol consumption and smoking, and eating disorders. 

Impacts on the Psychological Functions 

It has also been shown scientifically that sensory deprivation poses effects on common psychological functions such as memory, mood, motivation, thinking, perception, and even appetite and sleep, along with the other psychophysiological processes. Sensory deprivation and darkness have been used to improve blood flow and lower blood pressure. 

Insight of the Dynamic Body 

Without the visual body, darkness meditation seems to be the quickest way of perceiving and understanding one’s energetic body and begin learning ways to move and manage energy all through the body. Energy management is the vital key to managing self-healing and emotions and increasing longevity as well. 

Effects of the Longer Sessions-Altered Consciousness States and Un-Ordinary Experiences 

Darkness is helpful in experiencing un-ordinary experiences such as psychedelic experiences, deep meditative states, conscious sleep, lucid dreaming, and more. Darkness is also recognized for its role in facilitating access to altered consciousness and near-death experiences.

With the benefits of darkness meditation and all the positive effects of this type of meditation in terms of overall health and wellness, practicing how to meditate is worth it.

You’re actually given 10 solid reasons, which are mentioned above, to incorporate darkness meditation in your routine now. You don’t necessarily need to be in a dark room when practicing darkness meditation. You can also use a meditation device to help you feel more relaxed.

Still, some types of meditation, such as darkness meditation, aim for a room that’s literally dark for ultimate benefits and experience.