Meditation
I have been brought up with the principles of Yoga to try to find compassion, love and kindness in all but trust me even Yoga Teachers can get stressed. Find the time to do what you enjoy. Take a warm bath with lavender oil, listen to music and dance, read a book, but better than all of that sit and do nothing. We need to lean to find stillness and that way we can move towards realising that things are not as bad as they may seem and we can learn to accept and enjoy what we have.
Meditation takes time, patience and energy. Meditation makes us face and be confronted by those things we don’t necessarily want to think about; states such as suffering and unpleasantness can lead the mind to distraction itself as a way of coping with life. But those parts of the Self need to be addressed so that we can learn how to live life with awareness and clarity rather than with fear and doubt.
Meditation is a learnable skill and there are times it can be difficult. But it doesn’t take long to find our seat, and with faith on the Self, we learn to look at things from a different view point, we learn not to live in ignorance, we acknowledge fear, anger, frustration and doubt but rather than those unwanted guests of suffering taking over our lives we learn how to breath them away. We learn to see the world clearly, acknowledge relationships beyond bad and good. It is then we can start to live our life for two main reasons – to be content and at peace.
With a couple of moments each day, when nothing else matters we feel as if time has stood still, and we embrace the pure bliss of silence and for that reason I cherish the moments of sitting and just being.
Start slow, be gentle and kind with yourself and once you have accepted who you are the rest will follow…I promise
Benefits of Meditation
1. Lowers oxygen consumption and decreases respiratory rate.
2. Increases blood flow and slows the heart rate.
3. Calms the mind and develop inner peace.
4. Reduces anxiety attacks by lowering the levels of blood lactate.
5. Decreases muscle tension (any pain due to tension) and headaches.
But it does take time and that’s fine. There are not many ‘rules’ to meditation but try to follow the guidelines below and always seek the support of a qualified Meditation Teacher:
- Before you start the practice, write down how you feel don’t think about it too much its a quick way to de-clutter the mind.
- Sit on a chair or floor – if this isn’t possible lie down but you may fall asleep!
- Breath naturally (in and out through the nose)
- I find that writing down how I feel at the start and end of each practice can help me to ‘sift’ through clutter and unnecessary thoughts.
- It must be noted that although some meditation practices can seem quite simple, it is advised that you learn seek guidance from a Meditation Teacher so that they can guide you through your practice.
- Dont sit for too long at the start, 5-10 minutes is a great start
Mantra Meditation
Mantra Meditation
- sit comfortably and place hands on lower belly
- close your eyes
- start to gently inhale from nostrils to the belly ( feel the belly filling up like a balloon)
- exhale from belly to nostrils(as if you are gently letting air out of the balloon)
- with each inhale say to yourself – I am breathing in
- with each exhale say to yourself – I am breathing out
- each sentence should take 3-5 seconds to say