As discussed in part 1, there is no right or wrong way to meditate, what matters is that give it a go.
The fact that meditation has stood the test of time and been practised for thousands of years in many forms across the globe proves it is at least worth giving a go.
Research show that you can derive many health benefits from practising meditation but the clincher for me is that it helps me feel happy and relaxed, improves my clarity of thought and gives me an overall sense of wellbeing.
Of course, when you begin to learn about meditation all the information and varying styles can prove a bit confusing, so I’ve developed a “Meditation Made Easy” guide to help simplify the process and give you a good idea of things to consider when getting started.
Meditation Made Easy Guide.
Choose a time and place – any time is good to meditate but initially it is wise to meditate in the same place at the same time without the possibility of interruption. The act of turning off your phone and setting up your chair in the same place each day is enough of a ritual to give continuity.
Set a schedule – a good starting baseline is 1 formal 10 minute session 5 x per week. Of course you can also do informal sessions whenever you feel like it throughout the day. These can be done while waiting for a coffee, catching a train or sitting on a park bench at lunch time (you don’t always have to have your eyes closed).
Comfort and Posture - Make sure your wear comfortable loose-fitting clothing and are well rested. Sit in a simple chair with your legs slightly apart, feet touching the ground and with your body in an upright position, not slumped. If you are lopsided certain muscles will cramp and it will get uncomfortable.
Breathing – take two or three deep breaths and let go completely. Then let it flow spontaneously until it feels free and natural. This can encompass a whole mediation session and is one of the most popular in the world. Meditating on the breath can lead to tranquillity, self-awareness, and peace.
Choosing an object – this is where you get to experiment. Ideally choose something that is natural and beautiful. If your mind dwells on gloom and misery you will reflect this.
Coping with obstacles – you can expect some resistance from family, friends and yourself to any change in routine. As well as prompting from others you will have to manage your own excuses, doubts and uncertainties.
Attending groups – being around the energy of other meditators can be useful when starting out. It can help if someone else provides the time and space, and you know that this is your time for that one day of the week.
Realistic expectations – We often tend to set unrealistic expectations for ourselves. It is common phenomenon for your mind to wander and to be assaulted by endless chatter when you begin to meditate, so don’t feel as if you are failing or that you are doing something wrong, after decades of meditation I still experience days when my mind wants to wander and chatter away.
Building mental fitness - Meditating is like building mental fitness. If we want to train our bodies to run a marathon we start with short sessions and slowly build our fitness to be able to run for longer periods. Training to meditate is the same. Start with giving your total attention to say five breaths, noticing the start and finish of each breath, and bringing the mind back when it starts to drift away. As you get the hang of this, increase your focused attention to say twenty or thirty breaths and so on. The key in this process is to remove yourself from whatever distracts you and return to the breath without being annoyed or tensing up (I wish someone told me that when I started all those years ago). How you respond to these unwanted distractions is a major part of the work. Like many of the little distractions in everyday life, you may not like them, but you don’t have to let them make you unnecessarily angry. You change your response and you change your life.
Practice makes perfect - Above all remember meditation takes practice and it is common for the mind to wander during a session no matter how long you have been practising. Eventually you will come to see distractions like a plane flying across the sky. It may take your attention away from what you are doing for a second but you don’t have to stay with. Experiment and find out what meditation works best for you.
And as I said at the beginning of this article, there is no right or wrong way to meditate, what matters is that you give it a go. Meditation can help you feel relaxed, happy and give you an overall sense of wellbeing.
So go on, give it a go, you might just surprise yourself.
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