Have you ever heard about meditation and wondered why everyone does it… Meditation is a process that helps calm down the mind and helps you take note of what is surrounding you. The process of meditation is to help you focus on things and redirect your thoughts. It can also help you relieve stress and provide yourself with a positive mindset with a different outlook on a situation that you may be struggling with.
Now… how do you meditate??
Find yourself a nice quiet spot… (I like to sit outside with the sun on face and my feet in the grass), close your eyes and take some deep breaths using the diaphragm. Taking slow breaths in and out helps slow down your heart rate and really focuses your mind on your body and what it’s doing. When taking deep breaths (breathe in for 6 and then out for 6) it also makes you recognise your heartbeat and really concentrate on it. To get your mind into full meditation mode you want to feel your heartbeat beating through your whole body, this means you can really calm your mind and find the peace within you.
Once you are relaxed you can start to feel where your body has some tension. To flush out the tension there are 2 ways you can do it.
The first is to start from the feet and working your way up tensing each muscle group for 5 seconds then release. You can do each muscle group as many times as you like but I suggest 3 times you feel really tensed.
The other way (which is my favourite one) is to imagine a wave flowing through your body nice and slowly loosening off your muscles as it goes along. Starting from your feet once again concentrate on each muscle group but instead of tensing the muscle just feel the wave flow through it and feel the muscles become relaxed.
The wave flowing through your body keeps your mind still peaceful and your body still in relaxation mode throughout the whole session. Although there are many different types of meditation this one, I found has helped me get into the phase where I could fully relax and shut off the busyness that can so easily occupy my mind.
Meditation can be whatever you need it to be for you. There is no right or wrong when it comes to meditation as it’s the journey you go on while meditating. And don’t worry if you can’t shut your mind off fully to the worries of your upcoming day to start as this comes with practice.
I couldn’t turn my mind off when I was releasing the tension within my body and sometimes I couldn’t even feel my heartbeat, it all comes with practice and repetition.
And the reward is great! Clarity of mind, calmness and the ability to be able to feel & understand what my body is telling me on a day to day basis is a big bonus.
There is also no limit on how many times you should meditate in the week. If you can only meditate 1 day per week, then that is better than none!