Meditation is something which I truly believe that everyone should do for at least 15 minutes per day. People have false ideas around what meditation is and how it can help, so hopefully we can clear some of that up for you. Meditation is a simple mental exercise which can help you to reduce stress, control anxiety, enhance self awareness, improve attention span and can also help in reducing memory loss. All told this is a great daily exercise which will benefit you in many ways, and here is how to get started with it.
Tech Support
One great way to help you on your meditation journey is to use an app on your phone or your tablet. Many of these apps will talk you through your first couple of sessions to help you to properly exercise and avoid some pitfalls which many beginners make. There are a number of choices here so look online for the best meditation app for you, and get started in this way.
First Steps
The first steps to getting started with meditation is to find a quiet corner of your home or your office, don’t worry if this place is not completely silent, background noises are fine, as long as you won’t be interrupted by a loud noise or by someone coming to see you. Once you find your quiet space sit down upright and comfortably, you don’t have to cross your legs as you see some doing, you just need to be upright and in a position which isn’t uncomfortable.
Getting Into It
Before you start, set a timer on your phone for 5 or 10 minutes, this should be enough time for your first sessions. Once that’s done simply close your eyes, take a moment to get used to your position and then start taking in large breaths and breathing out whilst counting to 10. Whilst you do this focus on what your body is doing as you breathe, feel how the stomach inflates or the chest pushes out as you breathe in, and then as you breathe out how various parts of the body feel. Continuing with the breaths, start to do a mental scan of your body, from head to toe, take some time to think about how each part of the body feels, get in contact mentally with your body.
Once you have completed this mental body scan, allow your mind to do whatever it likes, allow thoughts to roam freely through your head, and let the mind go wherever it wants to. Meditation is not about banishing thoughts from our heads, it is about learning to focus and organize those thoughts. After a short while take things back to the body, back to deep breathing and focusing on how the body is moving. You’ll find that when you are in touch with the body like this, thoughts will be slower and you’ll have zoned out everything going on outside your mind.
Once the alarm goes off, slowly open your eyes and sit for a moment before you are ready to get up, first session done. Continue this each day and you’ll find sooner or later that as soon as you close your eyes and begin to deep breathe, you will enter into this deep state very quickly.
To read more on topics like this, check out the health category.
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