Meditation to Calm Your Wild Mind!
To help support your well being and vibrant health. So, we'll focus on meditation and ways to enhance mindfulness and focused intention. Meditation can help combat stress, fosters physical health with chronic pain, can make you sleep better, feel happier, be more peaceful, as well as be more present. It does not negate your current religious/spiritual beliefs and practices. it can help us get a sense of the mystery of who we are. When you start meditating, you’ll notice how unruly the mind is. You may notice your mind is all over the place. Profound thoughts about your past or future jostled with mundane thought clips about what groceries, to do list. So, if you’re starting out with meditation, please don’t beat yourself up about your wild mind. It is a natural condition. In time you will learn to work kindly with the barrage of thoughts and you will find some clarity and peacefulness. If you're already familiar and practice meditation regularly, maybe your goal the new year is to increase the time and/or frequency (from a couple of times a week to at every day or twice a day depending on your schedule. Here are some simple tips on how to meditate from the Good Life Zen
1. Posture
Whether you sit on a chair or cross-legged on the floor, make sure that your spine is upright with head up. If you are slumped your mind will drift. Mind and body are intertwined. If your body is well-balanced, your mind will also be in balance. To straighten up, imagine that your head is touching the sky.
2. Eyes
Try and keep you eyes open. Open eyes allow you to be more present. Just lower your eyes and let your gaze be soft. If you close your eyes you will be more likely to drift away on thoughts and stories. However, it’s important to do what is comfortable for you. Some people find closing their eyes much more effective. It’s good to experiment and see what feels best for you.
3. Focus
In ordinary consciousness we are hardly ever present. For example, sometimes we drive the car on autopilot while being preoccupied with thoughts. Suddenly we arrive at our destination and don’t remember anything about the drive! So, meditation is a wonderful way of waking up to our life. Otherwise we miss most of our experiences because we are somewhere else in our mind! Let's take a look at what focus is. In ordinary life, we tend to equate focus with concentration. That's like using the mind like a concentrate beam of light. But in meditation, that kind of mind isn't helpful. It's too sharp and edgy. To focus in meditation means to pay soft attention to whatever you place in the center of awareness. Try using the breath as a focus. It's like a natural door that connects inside and outside.
4. The breath
Paying attention to the breath is a great way to anchor yourself in the present moment. Notice your breath streaming in and out. There’s no need to regulate the breath – just let it be natural.
5. Counting you breath
If you are having difficulties settling, you can try counting the breath – which is an ancient meditation practice. On your out-breath, silently count “one”, then “two”, and up to “four”. Then return to “one”. Whenever you notice your thoughts have strayed far away or you find yourself counting “thirty-three”, simply return to “one”. In this way, “one” is like coming home to the present moment. It’s good to return without a backward glance. In case you are more kinetic, instead sitting in silence maybe try some movement as your form of meditation. Here is a short video highlighting some yoga movements to help you get centered and reduce stress.
Most of all, it's important to enjoy your meditation practice. You might like to try sitting with a hint of a smile. Be kind to yourself. Start sitting just a little each day (5 minutes and increase as you feel more comfortable) and make 2016 the best year ever!
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