The Art of Meditation
In today's world, we seem to focus a lot of attention and energy on looks, body, work, things we need to do and often we look for happiness outside of ourselves. We work out few times a week, go to work, try to eat better, keep up with the busy pace of today’s life and keep all of those around us happy. All of those are great, except we forget to take a few minutes in the day to just relax, giving yourself a break and a chance to connect with your inner self.
Why meditate?
In order to make the best use of your time and be the best version of yourself, I found it is important to be at peace with yourself and most importantly with your thoughts. While mind is a wonderful tool that helps us in so many ways to make decisions, calculate tasks and think rationally, it can also become our biggest enemy if we don’t use it right.
How many times were you not able to sleep because your mind just wanted to keep going? How many times were you not present or not able to focus on the task because your mind wanted to wonder somewhere else? How many times has an unpleasant situation become more stressful because of your thoughts? How many times did you held back your feelings or compassionate nature because your mind told you so? Or how often have you overworked yourself to a point where you could no longer be the best you?
In order to be truly happy, you first need to have a peaceful mind. I invite you to take back control of your curious and wonderful mind, and bring awareness to your thoughts. I invite you to give sometime to yourself and learn more about yourself. I invite you to meditate.
Meditation is a means to transform your mind. While many use it as a tool to quiet the mind and find inner happiness, there are many physical benefits to it as well. Studies found that meditation reduces stress while helping you take charge of your nervous system and emotions as it improves concentration, cardiovascular health and the immune system.
How to meditate
While there are many different ways to meditate, I would like to introduce you to a basic one to start.
Sitting Meditation “Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There”
The practice can involve sitting and focusing on your breath, gazing at a candle flame or focusing inside.
- Find a comfortable sitting position. Most prefer cross-legged position maybe with a blanket to sit on. Elevating your hips makes it more comfortable to sit for longer periods of time. If it is not comfortable, it is fine to start learning to meditate by sitting on a chair. However, regardless of the position you choose, make sure your spine is upright.
- You can close your eyes or leave them open. Experiment and find what works for you. Find what makes your meditation effective – and, by effective I mean you being comfortable and staying present.
- There is no need to control your breath, but sometimes focusing on it and noticing it can help you stay present.
- After getting comfortable, relax and invite your mind to be still. It is okay for thoughts to pass by. Just try to notice them and don’t get emotionally involved with them. Maybe see them as clouds just passing by, you might even find a recurring pattern, which could be an interesting self-discovery. Notice a thought and then let it pass by, focusing back on your breath or on being still.
- Start with 5 minutes a day or however much time you feel comfortable with while gradually increasing the length each mediation.
- Most importantly ENJOY! This is the time of the day you choose to give to yourself. The most important part is to smile and be kind to yourself!
As a last and final note, I would like to suggest an app called “Insight Timer”. It is a great app that can be helpful to network and get in touch with the community of people who practice meditation in your area. Here you can share your thoughts, ask questions, discuss subjects of interest and keep track of your daily meditations.
