Today’s topic is Mindfulness Meditation and it’s amazing ability to transform your life! Ever since I started meditating daily, I’ve noticed that I am much more calm, clear and compassionate towards myself and others. If I can do it, so can you!
To have total health and well-being, we need to have balance in all aspects of our lives. Nutrition, exercise, healthy relationships, career, as well as a spiritual or meditation practice that helps us to reconnect with ourselves and feel inner place.
If you haven’t meditated before or tried and it didn’t go well, then you may feel a bit skeptical about implementing it into your daily life. However, it’s much easier than you think once you find the form of meditation and guidance that suites you. Some popular forms of meditation are Mindfulness, Guided Visualization, Transcendent, Qi Gong, and Kundalini.
For beginners, Mindfulness Meditation may be a good place to start as it’s simple and really effective. This meditation comes from he Buddhist tradition and helps us to observe the natural state of where we are at the present moment with loving kindness and understanding. The practice is done by sitting comfortably on a meditation pillow or a chair with your eyes closed and having your attention on breathing in a out. You may choose to listen to a guided meditation or have soothing music in the background to help with relaxation. As the mind wanders, allow your thoughts to flow naturally without judgement or control, and slowly come back to focussing on your breath. A consistent daily practice of 10 or 20 minutes can help you reduce anxiety, stress, feel calmer and more grounded. In addition to mental and emotional well being, mediation can help with allergies, anxiety, asthma, binge eating, depression, fatigue, heart disease, high blood pressure, sleep issues, and substance abuse. And the list goes on….
Meditation comes in many forms and doesn’t need to be done while sitting down in a quiet place. Some people find joy and inner peace while being with nature, praying or chanting, doing yoga or tai chi, or immersing in art or music. If one or more of these resonate with you then practice them daily, rather than once in a while. Consistency is key to your success with meditation.
To help you get started, here are some wonderful resources:
- Phone Apps: “Insight Timer” & “Calm” – Just download on your phone, there are hundreds of great guided meditations and calming music.
- Deepak Chopra – via iTunes or www.chopra.com
- Paul Epstein’s Happiness Through Meditation – http://geti.in/WJT7pr
- www.wildmind.org
- www.mindspace.org.uk
- www.mayoclinic.org/meditation
- Dr. Weil’s Breathing Basics http://geti.in/1bjcAy7
and Audio Collection http://geti.in/18ge0Gv
- National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
http://geti.in/17Mos9v
I hope you will give meditation a try, it will shift your body, mind and soul in ways you can’t even imagine!