Get Some Peace of Mind
Meditation seems to be going through a resurgence in popularity currently, but it has been practiced for hundreds of years. Meditation trains the mind, just like working out trains the body. While mindfulness meditation is perhaps the most well-known type of meditation today, concentration meditation is another popular form. Are you ready to get started on your meditation journey and discover your inner peace?
The Benefits of Meditation
On the most basic level, meditation helps you by relaxing your body. Even if you don’t experience any additional emotional benefits, sitting in one spot and participating in meditation will relax you. Some of the many benefits of meditation include:
- Lower blood pressure
- Better blood circulation
- Lower heart rate
- Slower respiratory rate
- Decreased anxiety
- Less stress
- Deeper relaxation
Depending on the meditation philosophy you follow, the goal of meditation might lie outside of all those benefits. In Buddhist philosophy, the biggest single benefit of meditation is detachment of the mind from things it cannot control.
Easy Meditation Tips
To get started with meditation:
- Sit down or lie down in a comfortable place.
- Close your eyes and breathe naturally.
- Focus on your breath and the way that your body moves every time you inhale and exhale. How does your chest move? Your shoulders? Your belly? Focus on how your breath changes your body, not the way that you are breathing.
- Maintain this for 2-3 minutes before attempting to meditate for longer periods of time.
If you want help in your meditation practices, there are different DVDs and apps that you can purchase to help. Don’t get discouraged if it is hard for you to sit down and meditate for 3 minutes at first. 3 minutes feels like an eternity in our fast-paced world of Facebook and email! Every time you meditate, track the results in a journal or a tracking app on your phone. Write about what went well, what went poorly and how long you meditated for. This can be a valuable resource in measuring how far you’ve come.
Do you meditate? Are you interested in starting meditation practices? Share your experience in the comments!