Meditate - Don't Medicate !
Meditation really is one of the best forms of recuperative and preventative medicine available ! Through meditation you gently and effortlessly reduce stress levels, helping you to find peace and live joyously.
I wont go into the scientific facts behind all the many benefits of meditation because I am not a scientist !
But I do practice regularly and I can tell you that:
- Mediation gives you better concentration
- Headaches Decrease
- Stress levels Reduce
- focus Increases
- Self-Confidence Increases
- Pre-menstrual Syndrome Reduces
- And most importantly it promotes a sense of peace and joy
So below I have laid out the simplest way for you to start meditating - enjoy
Learning Meditation Techniques
This all starts when you find time at some point in your day to switch off the phones, and retire to a corner of your own, somewhere you are unlikely to be disturbed.
Make sure you are comfortable, don’t restrict blood flow by crossing your legs, as after a few minutes you may end up with a “sleeping foot or leg”. Sit in an upright chair, not an arm chair that you might fall asleep in, but a comfortable upright chair, with cushions if necessary and just let your hands be where they feel most at ease.
You can set an alarm for 3 minutes on your first few attempts, building up to 10 minutes over a few days or weeks. Be patient with yourself, don’t force meditation. Practice maybe 3 times a week for 3 minutes, build on it from there. The point is not to make this a chore, rather something to look forward to, this is your time to re balance, heal. So just you make yourself comfortable, allowing deep full breaths, and here we begin.
Meditation
Close your eyes and listen to your self breathe. Gently listen to the sounds of your breath as it enters you, through the nose, down your windpipe and into the lungs, filling your body with life giving oxygen. Follow the sounds out again, as the air leaves your body up through your neck and out of the nose. Continue to gently listen to the sound of your normal breathing.
After a time bring your attention to an object such as a flower, a star, or a landscape, some thing that soothes you. If thoughts enter your mind just let them pass, do not get carried away with them, and calmly bring your attention back to your object of focus, staying there for a short while. After 3 minutes or so open your eyes and stretch. A meditative practice has begun!
Meditation Explained
This all takes practice as it is the minds nature to think, but if you practice with patient persistence, you will find it becomes easier and even second nature. Soon you will discover yourself sitting in mental silence, which essentially is all you are aiming for.
In a meditative silence, while the mind is quiet and the body still, your body mind and soul have a chance to re-align. This is highly beneficial to your health, no matter what your complaint is, (if any at all). After a week or so of meditation you will notice you are less stressed, the normal day to day bothers are less bothersome. You begin to enjoy life more.
A meditative Practice
The reason you only need 10 minutes a day is because once you accomplish that effortlessly, you naturally want to meditate for longer, which is when deep meditation begins !
The normal evolution of your meditation;
- Start with Guided Meditations or soothing background music *
- After a while you will want to practice in silence.
- Then after some time you are able to meditate in the loudest and most distracting of places.
* music specifically for meditation or any other soothing melody, if they have lyrics then they need to be in a language you don’t understand so you don’t get carried away and find yourself too evolved with the music! My favourites are Enya (those without lyrics), Andrea Boccelli (when singing in Italian!) and a prayer sung in Hindu called “love and devotion” that I found on the Yoga C.D. “Themes of India”
The Lotus position and other similar advanced meditative positions are wonderful, but they are Advanced Positions that can take months, or even years of practice, and are not vital for deep meditation.
