Meditate for at least 10 minutes per day

WHY: Did you ever notice how your mind works? We would be flattered to think that it creates complex and beautiful ideas, but the truth is, in most cases it is simply repeating anxious brief thoughts: I am hungry, I am thirsty, I need to pay this bill, I am late… Worse, each thought provokes an emotional response and makes you feel sad, angry, excited, disgusted, sad again etc.

Meditation is a perfect way to finally take control over your brain for at least 10 minutes per day. Meditation means not thinking. You can compare the way you feel in meditation to how it feels after a couple of glasses of good wine – everything becomes very clear about your life, doesn’t it? No hangover though.

It has been scientifically proven that daily meditation practice helps reduce stress and stimulates brain activity and creativity. Half an hour of meditation gives better relaxation to a brain than 4 hours of good sleep. Some scientists even say that group meditation can create world peace  – so it definitely can help you as an individual be at peace with yourself!

WHO CAN DO IT: You don’t need to be a yoga practitioner or follow a particular religious teaching to meditate. I personally don’t like the word meditation and prefer to describe it as ”sitting down with myself in silence’. Everyone can sit in silence, can’t they?

All you need to do is to switch off your mobile phone and remove all your electronic devices for at least 10 minutes every day. And be in a place where nobody will disturb you. I teach meditation to people with no experience at all, most of them working with computer. They all manage to relax from the very first attempt if they are willing to.

HOW LONG:

The key is not the timing, but how well you are doing it. I personally practice meditation twice a day – 30 minutes first thing in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon, but I recognize not everyone has this luxury in terms of time. However, everyone can do it for 10 minutes per day, but these 1o min need to be of a greatest quality. Imagine you were given 1mln pounds for not thinking for 10 minutes – could you do that really really well?

WHERE:

You can practice meditation on your own, but most people need some company to start meditating, as it feels betters in a group. London offers numerous places where one can meditate for free – for example, here are a couple of groups on Facebook that meet regularly to meditate for free - 1 and 2, or check local meetups. They sometimes organize meditation flashmobs, the next one in London should be on the 31 March.

HOW IT WORKS:

The goal of meditation is to calm your mind down and let yourself be in peace and not worry about anything. Meditation is about learning to watch what happens to you and what your reactions are. There are numerous meditation techniques you can use or you can create your own. The key thing is the regularity and the intention.

WHAT TO DO:

How to sit

Comfortably. You can sit in a lotus pose or on a chair, or on a floor with your back leaned against the wall. If you are tired, it is better not to lie down as you may fall asleep. The only limitation is not to cross your legs unless you are in a lotus pose as this ruins the blood circulation (and energy circulation, if you believe in such things).

Take a couple of long deep breaths, close your eyes and concentrate on your chest space. Watch what’s happening to you and don’t judge – any experience is a good experience.

Using a mantra

The purpose of using a mantra is to distract your brain from processing the same thoughts over and over again. Your brain doesn’t care what to think about – so give it some food for thought.

You can get your mantra from a teacher, repeat the word ‘om’ or invent your own mantra. To do so, just think about things that are really important for you in this moment of your life – love, support, friendship. Such words are said to have very powerful vibes.

Pronounce them inside yourself as if somebody were singing these words to you, try to listen rather than visualize. Your task is to repeat these words up until you don’t have any thought left. If you notice thoughts are coming back into your head, gently come back to repeating the words. Ideally you want to be in the space where you have no thoughts and your head is absolutely empty – that’s where all things start.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a technique when during the meditation you slowly move your attention from one part of your body to another, looking for any tension in your body and releasing it. Start from your head and go down slowly, breathing in and releasing the muscle tension.

Sitting in silence

I prefer the simplest meditation technique – think of something or someone nice, and feel what this thing or person makes you feel – love, gratefulness, warmth. Concentrate on a physical feeling rather than on a person, and try to keep this feeling inside letting go the image of the person. Just be with this nice feeling, feel the warmth in your chest. You’ll be surprised how well you will feel even after 10 minutes of such an exercise.

Walk or draw

Meditation is not only about sitting in a lotus pose. You can meditate when you are walking or painting – as long as you just stay with yourself.

KEY TAKEAWAYS – how to start meditating

- make a commitment: you can sit or work in silence at least 10 minutes a day with no thoughts. Make it your daily exercise, like using a brush

- don’t judge or make expectations. Sometimes you’ll feel great and sometimes nothing will happen. What matters is how regular you do it.

- look for support if you are struggling to relax – groups or friends.

PS No, I don’t know how to levitate during meditation – but I’ve met people how said they did

Tagged: creativity, Health, London, Meditation, Mindfulness

Posted in: For free, Health/Body