The No Nonsense Guide on How to Meditate
Meditation has incredible benefits. Neuroscientists and psychological studies have found that it not only lowers people’s stress and anxiety it also helps them focus and gain more attention, but most of all it increases people’s happiness.
Meditation isn’t about having a blank or empty mind, it’s about learning how your mind works. So when you are meditating and you realise that your mind has wondered... that is the meditation.
If you find that your mind is full of intense or powerful thoughts, try not to go into them, but acknowledge them by naming them. For example, if you started to worry that you haven’t received a reply from a message you’ve sent to a friend, you could label this “worrying, worrying” or “thinking, thinking”. Again, it is up to you how you want label these thoughts, or even if you want to use labelling at all.
A few simple steps on how to start meditating:
- Find a meditation app to use such as Headspace or Calm
- Choose a beginners program with meditation tracks that are guided
- Set up a place where you are going to meditate that is comfortable and free from distraction.
- You can choose to sit, stand or lie down.
- You are already a busy person, so you won’t have any spare time to meditate. You will have to make time.
- Mediation is like a fitness program for the mind. In the same way as physical exercise, you will only see results if you consistently do it. However, even a few times a week will help you see positive results in you life.
- The main goal of meditation is to become aware of your thoughts and feelings, NOT to delete/remove them.
- While you meditate you will have thoughts that pop up. That is good, it means you are a human being.
- Enjoy it. If you don’t, find a new meditation track/voice/app that suits you.
