INTRODUCING MEDITATION

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Do you need to clear your headspace and are curious about learning how to meditate?  What images come to mind when you think of meditation?  Do you think of some mystical, holy Guru sitting on a mountaintop chanting ‘Om’ in the lotus position?  Or perhaps of a lone monk meditating in some remote cave?  Do you think that you’re just too busy to meditate or that it just sounds too difficult or that your mind is just too active?  Do you think that meditation is only for mystics or spiritual people or for people in certain religions? 

Let me dispel such myths.  Far from being mystical, meditation is very simple, practical and down to earth.  Its benefits are available to everyone, regardless of religion or beliefs, not just an elite few.  And the ones who say they’re too busy, it’s too hard and their minds are just “too active” are often the ones who would benefit from meditation the most!

Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years and is now no longer the precinct of Buddhist Monks and New Agers.  It has now been embraced into the mainstream, with many Doctors now often recommending it to their patients as an aid to improve their health and wellbeing.

Meditation is defined as the practice of focusing one’s attention on an object and holding it there.  The ‘object’ can be anything, for example the breath, a word or phrase, a physical object like a candle or even sounds, like birds singing outside your bedroom window in the morning.  The attention on the object is usually held for a specified period of time, which can vary from five minutes to an hour or even several hours (think meditation retreats).

There are many ways to meditate, so you can decide which technique suits you best and stick with that or use several different techniques for variety if you wish.  There are several very common meditation techniques, such as focusing on the breath, but meditation can also be done creatively.  You can meditate while walking, sitting in a park or by the sea, coloring a mandala, or even walking a labyrinth.  It can even be combined with other practices, such as yoga, Chi Kung and Tai Chi to enhance it’s effectiveness.

Meditation can also be combined with mindfulness as a daily practice for greater happiness, inner peace and personal growth.  Whereas meditation can be defined as focusing one’s attention on an object for a specified period of time, mindfulness can be defined as deliberately and non-judgmentally paying attention to the present moment.  The practice of meditation provides a good training ground for the practice of mindfulness as with daily practice over time, it can enhance your powers of concentration (which comes in very handy when you’re trying to focus on the present, rather than engaging with your mind as it prattles on and on about the awful day you just had at work). 

You can take advantage of the several enforced waiting times in a day by doing quickie ‘spot’ meditations, for example in situations where you’re forced to wait, such as standing in a queue at the bank or sitting in your car waiting for the lights to go green.  Instead of fuming at the long queue or cursing at the red lights, try focusing on the ‘in’ and ‘out’ movement of your breath.  Quickie ‘spot’ meditations can last anywhere from thirty seconds to five minutes, depending on the situation you find yourself in. 

If thoughts come into your headspace while you’re trying to focus on the object of your meditation, don’t engage with their banter, rather strive to accept and observe those thoughts without judgment, then gently direct your focus back on the object of your meditation again. 

The many benefits of both meditation and mindfulness have been well researched and documented.   Well if it’s so good, you may ask, why isn’t everyone doing it and doing it every day without fail?  Because like achieving many worthwhile objectives, it requires work and self discipline but once persevered with, the benefits can be numerous and possibly even life changing. 

To gain the benefits of meditation, you should try and set aside time to meditate every day, or at least several times a week.  If you let weeks and months go by before you try meditating again, you’ll be mentally ‘out of shape’ and most likely find it harder to do. 

If you’re keen to start meditating straight away, I recommend reading "Hurry up and meditate" by David Michie.  Best of luck with the headspace clearing.