What is Meditation
Meditation is the practice of turning your attention to a single point of reference (Psychology Today). Meditation is not a complicated technique and is simply focusing on the moment and clearing your mind of outside distractions and chaos to really just breathe and relax.
Benefits of Meditation
There are many benefits to meditation. A few of the benefits include:
- Helping Normalize Blood Pressure
- Reduces anxiety, burnout, improves stress-related disorders
- Promotes the experience of relaxation throughout the day
- Decreases insomnia
- Improves concentration
A study from UCLA was conducted on individuals who had been meditating for an average of 20 years and found that they actually had more grey matter in their brains than those who did not meditate (Forbes). So beyond the immediate benefits of relaxation, meditation actually helps preserve our minds as we age. Read more here!
How to Meditate
Meditation is not complicated. Here are some steps to help you get started.
- sit or lie comfortably
- close your eyes
- breathe naturally, don’t try to force the perfect breath. Just breathe.
- focus on your breath and on how your body moves with each breath, each inhalation and each exhale, and if your mind begins to wander bring yourself back to your breaths.
Start this focusing of your mind for two or three minutes and then start adding longer times to your meditation. Once you have this method down and are ready for more, there are many methods of meditation.
