Make this the year that you experience the benefits of meditation, which include:
- Reduced Stress, Depression, and Anxiety
- Improved Sleep
- Improved Focus and Concentration
- Improved Emotional Regulation
- Lower blood Pressure
By now, there’s an excellent chance you have heard about meditation. There are apps, books, podcasts, videos, and how-tos. You can try guided meditations, silent meditations, and meditation retreats. And many health insurance plans offer discounts on apps as well.
But what is meditation really? And what are its benefits? How long do you need to meditate to see results? Read on for some answers, and an opportunity to try it yourself!
Meditation and Mindfulness
First, some clarity about two words often mentioned together: meditation and mindfulness. Meditation is a “practice”, the use of specific techniques (of which there are many) to focus attention and awareness. Mindfulness is a “quality, a state of being present and fully aware in the moment. Mindfulness Meditation is a practice that uses techniques to assist in developing the quality of being Mindful: present and fully aware of the moment.
Types of Meditation
Although many types of meditation have mindfulness as an outcome, there are MANY different types of meditation, including body-scan/body awareness, visualization, loving-kindness, chanting, TM (Transcendental Meditation) and more.
Many of these meditations use one of your five senses to keep you in the present and help you stay focused. Other types of meditation are body-oriented, such as a walking meditation, while other focusing on one single thing like the breath, or a word or mantra.
All of these can bring about a state of mindfulness, or any of these other experiences: stress reduction, sleep enhancement, focus building, healing, opening the heart, and more. Many people love how it makes them feel and practice it daily.
Anyone can Meditate
The most important factor in incorporating meditation in your life is committing to a regular practice. Even if it is just for 5 or 10 minutes a day to start, the benefits come with time and regularity, just like any other positive habit. Imagine someone expecting their fitness to improve after just one trip to the gym! The same is true with meditation. Some people say they “can’t meditate” because they tried it once and their mind was too busy. But that would be like someone saying “I can’t exercise” because they got tired after 5 minutes on a treadmill after never having done it before. We all have to start where we are at!
How to start a meditation Practice:
Once you have made a commitment to start a meditation practice, there are lots of tools available to help you. One of my favorites is a phone app called Insight Timer which has thousands of guided meditations, including specific meditation to help with sleep, anxiety, focus, anger, and more. It is a great tool, but can be a lot to navigate if you are brand new to meditation. As a result, a novice can get easily frustrated, or feel like “meditation doesn’t work”.
From my experience, the best way to assure your success is to take a class, where there is a live teacher to ask questions of, and a group of students that create a community and a support system. In this way, you can get answers to questions may come up, and reassurance that you are on the right track.
Interested?? We’re offering an introductory class to mindfulness meditation starting Thursday January 12th at 9:30am and you can find out for yourself!