When you think of meditation do you have an image of a monk in a religious experience?
Meditation is actually a practice that anyone can do to improve your mind, your spirit and your overall health.
It’s one of my favorite stress relieving techniques because it’s simple and powerful and provides tremendous benefits in as little as 5 to 10 minutes either in the morning, throughout the day or in the evening.
Meditation has been proven to reduce stress levels and to help prevent more severe health issues related to stress such as anxiety, burnout and depression. Once you’ve become more calm and peaceful through meditation, your life will open up to more opportunities and you’ll find it easier to make healthy choices.
And when you’ve gotten into a habit of meditating often, you’ll discover that it’s easier than you think.
What Exactly Is Meditation?
Meditation is a way of clearing the mind.
When you meditate, you place your body in a kind of sleep state. You’re still awake, but your body can begin to repair itself in the same way that it does when you sleep.
To get started, find a quiet place and get comfortable. Find a comfortable position for you, either sitting in a cross-legged position, on a chair or laying down. The key is to maintain a good posture.
Then start taking deep breaths in and out. Pay attention to your breath. You might find it helpful to say a “mantra” to yourself as you breathe in and out. Your goal is to keep your mind clear of thoughts.
As you relax, thoughts may distract you for from paying attention to your breath. The best way to replace your thoughts is to recognize that you’ve had a thought and then focus on your breathing and clearing your mind again.
Stress and the Body
Stress exists for a reason; you need to have the hormonal adrenalin rush and increased breathing and heart rate in order to escape threatening situations. It’s simply how you’re able to handle threats.
When you feel too much stress though, you put your body into overdrive. When your body is overworked, it’s more open to various diseases and illnesses. Stress also leads to mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. The absence of overwhelming stress improves your health in many ways.
Stress arises when you think about something in the past or future.
When you focus on breathing and clearing your mind, you’re actually centered on the present moment. Since you have little stress when you have a clear mind in the present moment, you exude calmness.
This is why it’s important to give your body a much needed break from all the stress. When you learn to meditate often, you’re giving your body the energy and rest it needs to prevent illnesses and disease. When you practice this often, you’ll bring a calm and relaxed appearance to your everyday life.
Meditation is a powerful exercise for a healthy mind and body so that you remain calm in stressful situations. You’ll feel refreshed and rejuvenated in as little as 5-10 minutes.
Would you like to know more on how meditation can enrich your mind body and soul?
You’ll want to check out my new Art of Meditation Ecourse Free Gift
Jill Celeste
11 Nov 2015What a wonderful blog post! I love meditation. I meditate at least twice a day, and it helps me feel so grounded and centered. Thank you for writing this post. I also pinned one of your images to my Pinterest account. =) ~Jill
Josee
12 Nov 2015Thank you Jill. Keep up the good work!
Andrea
11 Nov 2015I like this description. I am not one of those people to whom meditation comes easily, but I keep trying different methods. Sometimes, when I swim laps, I’m able to focus exclusively on my breathing and it’s wonderful. Also starting to experiment with yoga nidra.
Thanks for an encouraging post.
Josee
12 Nov 2015You’re welcome Andrea. You’re on the right track with focussing on breathing. Do the same for meditation; it will take you to where you need to be. Guided meditations are also a great way to help quiet the mind.
Martha
12 Nov 2015Great insights on meditation. I try to meditate daily, it helps ground me for the rest of the day. Thanks for this post!
Josee
12 Nov 2015You’re welcome. Meditation is certainly a good way to stay grounded. It’s a great stress reliever and energizer. :)
Patricia Young
18 Nov 2015Great post Josee! you’re so right, meditation has so many benefits! I do meditation every morning, before I start my day, and usually take a 5 or 10 minute break during the day just to breath and center myself again. Thanks for sharing!
Jill Greinke
18 Nov 2015Great post Josee! You bring up some great points about meditation, it definitely has so many benefits. I meditate 3 times a week. It clears my mind, relaxes me and gives me focus.
Josee
19 Nov 2015That’s terrific Jill. I meditate at least 5 times a week myself. Just can’t get enough of what it does for me. Keep up the good work.
Lea Tran
19 Nov 2015Thank you for this post, Josee. The benefits of meditation sound enormous and you’ve inspired me to do more of it.
Josee
19 Nov 2015Glad to hear that Lea. I’m sure once you see just how great it is for your health and wellbeing, you’ll wonder how you ever did without it. Wishing you great success!
Tina Games
20 Nov 2015Thank you for helping me understand the difference between a meditation and a visualization/guided imagery. Many people confuse these two. ~ I’m a lover of visualizations, but have found the meditation exercises a bit more difficult to partake in due to my active mind. Your blog post, however, has inspired me to give it another whirl. :-)