Life is a little on the crazy side right now… I mean, if you’d have asked me back in January what I thought I’d achieve this year, you can bet your bottom dollar I wouldn’t have said building a loungewear collection and not leaving my house for months other than to go food shopping and walk the dog.
No socialising… holidays… going to work…
Life has literally been flipped upside down for most people and it’s more important than ever to look after our mental health right now.
Spending most of your time alone, or with the same one or two people in your household can also be hard, especially if you’re a social butterfly.
The whole situation can cause frustration, worry, anxiety and stress among lots of other emotions. And when life goes back to normal, the transition from lockdown to normality might also be challenging - it’s something no one has ever done before.
Meditation can help with all of that.
What is meditation?
The thought that appears in people’s minds when they hear the word ‘meditation’ is usually sitting cross legged on the floor, arms resting on the knees, palms facing the air, and humming an ‘ohm’ sound.
Whilst you can definitely meditate in that position, meditation is way more than that.
Meditation is a way to train your mind to focus on a particular thing and train your attention and awareness. It’s an incredible way to clear the mind, give the emotions a refresh and make you feel calm mentally and physically.
If you’re still not convinced, take a look at some of the benefits of meditation:
1. Reduces stress
One of the main benefits is the reduction of stress. Practising meditation helps you stay calm and helps you deal with stressful situations.
2. Controls anxiety
The practice of calming the mind and emotions reduces anxiety and helps you to focus on being present.
3. Lengthens your attention span
Most people could benefit with this. In this day and age with modern technology and information available to us instantly at our fingertips, we find our attention spans shortening. Meditation can help improve this and also increase the ability to focus and complete tasks.
4. Improves sleep
Not only can it improve your sleep, but also reduce the pre-sleep anxiety that can creep up on us as we lie in the quiet before going to sleep.
5. Improves memory
As well as improving focus and attention span, meditation can also improve your memory and the ability to process new information.
6. Improves overall health
Meditation is said to reduce blood pressure and joint pain whilst improving the immune system and increasing serotonin levels in the body.
7. Pain relief
Practising meditation can also reduce physical pain.
So How Do I Meditate?
Meditation is something which can be done anywhere, once you’ve got the hang of it. If you’re new to meditation it will be beneficial to find a quiet space and get comfortable. Once you’ve mastered it you could do it anywhere, on your lunch break, on the bus, or even in the park.
There are loads of books and apps to help you meditate and provide you with meditations to do. You can even find some on Youtube. Headspace is a great app with some short meditations for when you just have a spare 10 minutes or so.
Some people find it difficult to meditate, but don’t give up if you don’t get it right away. It can take time to train your mind. Remember, your mind is a muscle so it needs to be trained, just like any other muscle in your body! It can be challenging but the benefits definitely make it worth it!