Meditation has been a practice used for centuries for healing. This is more than just healing the mind, but healing the whole soul and being. I have been wanting to start meditation for a long time but did not know where to begin. With my stressful career and trying to juggle work-life balance, it should only take 5 – 10 minutes out of my day but immensely beneficial and it doesn’t cost anything to start!
Just how good is meditation? Does it really offer the benefits you hear about? Once you’re settled in this being something you want to do, you’ll be ready to start your journey into using meditation to your advantage. I know I’m ready.
Many people view meditation as a Buddhist or Hindu practice. While many religions do incorporate meditation as part of their practices, the actual process of meditation has nothing to do with religion.
Chance to Turn Off the Mind
Meditation is an age-old practice that gives you more control over your mind and increase self-awareness. This leads to more inner discovery and offers many health benefits. Spending just a few minutes a day for meditation has been shown to help with being calm and discovering inner peace. Many use meditation as a way to recharge the batteries and calm the mind, either before they start their busy day or after a long day at work.
By turning off the mind, you can eliminate many of those negative thoughts in the head that start off your day. Rather than ignoring your anxieties or worries, you find more ways of dealing with the rising stress levels, which lead to the negative thoughts. You can manage your mind better and find alternate ways of coping with stressful situations.
Even if you are an overall happy and positive person, meditation can be a powerful tool to be more centered and focused in everything you do. You have this tool at your disposal to prevent negative thoughts seeping into your mind. We never know what stressful situations are around the corner, but meditation can prepare us to deal with it all.
Boost your Immune System and Other Health Benefits
Many research supports the health benefits of meditation. It can reduce stress and improve your overall cardiovascular and immune health. With a strengthened mental health comes a strengthened physical health. It is well known that those who live a more positive life—those free from stress—tend to have stronger immune systems. They suffer from fewer illnesses and ailments, especially those that are worsened by stress, and recover faster than others. Meditation has also been shown to help relieve some symptoms of chronic medical conditions, including but not limited to depression, anxiety, asthma, chronic pain, heart disease, high blood pressure, insomnia, headaches, and irritable bowel syndrome.
Stress leads to inflammation in the body, putting pressure on every part of your being. When you decrease the stress and the negative thoughts in your life, your immune system is not put under as much stress, which leads to a healthier mind and body.
How Do You Get Started with Meditation?
Now you know the benefits, how do we get started? Meditation is not natural for most people and can take some practice. There are many meditation techniques and methods that have meditation properties for relaxation and breathing. Again, I am not an expert, but I have been reading a lot about how to get started. This blog is only the beginning as I start my journey into meditation.
Guided meditation
As a novice, I hear this may be the best to started with a guided meditation. There are two great apps I found that you can download on your smartphone to help you get started. This may be the only cost to starting meditation (downloading the app, but there is a free trial)!
One is called “Headspace” and the other is called “Calm.”
I initially downloaded Headspace and looks FANTASTIC. There is a “Basics” guided mediation pack to start your foundation of meditation with sessions ranging from 5-15 minutes. When you browse through the app, there are guided meditation packs with the following categories:
- Health – managing anxiety, stress, sleep, pregnancy, coping with cancer
- Brave – sadness, grief, regret, anger, change, restlessness
- Happiness – self-esteem, relationships, patience, happiness, acceptance, appreciation, kindness, generosity
- Work & Performance – prioritization, productivity, finding focus, creativity, balance
- Students – leaving home, distractions
- Sport – motivation, concentration, training, competition, communication, analysis, recovery, rehab
I have done a few meditation sessions on Headspace before sleep and it has definitely been relaxing and helped calm my non-stop mind at the end of the day. The voice that is on Headspace is very soothing. Now my next goal is to wake up earlier and start these guided meditation sessions first thing in the morning before the kids get up, and I am off to my crazy day at work. Once you get more experience, then you can try the “unguided” mediation sessions, and eventually, you may not need any guidance at all as it comes more naturally to you.
Pick a convenient time and place
Once you decide you are going to start meditation and have a guide to help you get started, you need to find the best time and place for meditation. Look for quiet space and a time when you are the least distracted. No TV, cell phones, or children/people around you if possible. This can be difficult if you have a busy work and family life, but again, just 10 minutes to yourself will be beneficial.
Morning meditation makes the most sense to me (but I am NOT a morning person). This will take practice by waking up at least 30 minutes earlier. Some choose the evening, just before they go to bed. You get the chance to unwind from the day, release the thoughts that fill your mind, and hopefully help you sleep better.
Again, once you get more experience, you should be able to meditate in any space and with more distractions, but this will definitely take more practice.
A comfortable position
You can meditate in all types of positions, whichever feel the most comfortable for you. Comfort is the most important part of this. Many people will choose to sit, some will lie on their back with their feet straight out, and some may decide to take a walk in a quiet and beautiful scenery. We should all aim to keep good posture in whatever comfortable position we choose.
Focus on your breathing
Deep and focused breathing is the most important part of meditation. Focus on using your diaphragm to take deep and slow breaths. Imagine the air expanding your lungs to take in more oxygen, and breathing out slowly and efficiently. Focusing your attention on breathing helps free your mind of negative thoughts and get you relaxed for your meditation.
Let’s get started….today!
Honestly, I am not consistent with meditation and am a true beginner, but I DO plan to start doing this on a regular basis. Although there is already a lot on my plate, I need to dedicate 10-15 minutes a day to this. As I progress in my journey with mediation, I will continue to share my personal experience and hope you can benefit too.
