So You Want to Meditate?

When you think about meditation, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? People comfortably sitting or lying down - breathing and relaxed? Or does it bring up images of being annoyed, not being able to sit still and your mind forever wandering? Believe it or not, most of us have a hard time meditating, and just like everything else - the more you practice the easier it will become. The physical and emotional benefits we acquire from developing a meditation practice are vast were designed to calm the mind, and help you through any stressful situation.

The physical benefits of meditation: Through deep breathing, which is the root of meditation, muscle fatigue and tension due to poor circulation of oxygen to the muscles starts to dissipate. Meditation has also been known to strengthen the immune system, as well as induce a relaxation response which reduces the occurrence of pain, insomnia and headaches.

The mental benefits: Better mental focus and concentration. Less anxiety and stress for better peace of mind. The mental benefits of meditation can be long lasting and eventually permanent.

Emotional Benefits: Less irritability, reduction in fight or flight response, and more self control. Managing our daily lives can be quite overwhelming and stressful when you factor in things such as traffic jams, family issues, holiday pressures, etc. Taking a small amount of your time to meditate can be all the difference you need to remove yourself from the pressures of the daily life and bring your perception back into focus.

Most people feel mediation should be done for hours, however, starting out with 30-60 seconds a day and gradually working up from there makes it much more of an attainable task to get done. Here are some easy steps for starting to work on your meditation:
• Find a time each day that you can devote just a minute to meditation. It can be anywhere but try to keep to the same time each day. (When I started meditating, I used to do it in my car..it was very quiet there).
• Close your eyes and just listen to your breath moving through your body.
• Each time you breathe in, try to count to 4, and as your exhale for a count of 6 making your exhales longer than your inhales
• Each time you breathe, just pause your thoughts for a moment. Take about 15-20 breaths.

Starting a meditation practice just take time and persistence.