Namaste! Unconventional Tips For Mastering Meditation 🧘‍♀️

Wanna make meditation work for you? Master the art of meditation and achieve mindfulness. Start your journey to inner peace today!

Do you have a friend who keeps on telling you how their life has become better since they started meditating? Meditation has become a buzzword for anyone trying to make positive changes in their routine.

As a practice and tradition, meditation originates from religious conventions. However, it has now turned into a modern wellness method to lead a healthier and happier life. It comes in numerous varieties ranging from mindfulness and mantra chanting to focused breathing and loving-kindness meditation practices.

While meditation cannot solve all your problems and make you instantly healthy, different neuroscience researches show its potential benefits.

How does meditation help you?

Let's delve into actual reasons why meditation helps you.

1. Meditation helps improve attention

Do you ever feel like you have lost control over time – going on auto-pilot mode every day? Meditation can help you get in touch with yourself again. Columbia University researchers found that it can help you focus and improve your attention span.

As you observe your body and breathing, they can sharpen your attention to new information and improve your overall executive function.

2. Meditation promotes physical and mental wellness

All claims about meditation improving health and wellness are not hocus pocus. Like other positive steps – practising a balanced diet and fitness regime – in your daily routine, meditation also helps boost your well-being.

It can improve your anxiety and depression to some degree and reduce the stress hormone (i.e. cortisol) levels in the blood. It also aids in enhancing the quality of your sleep.

3. Meditation boosts positive feelings

Meditation can also be helpful in developing more positive feelings in response to everyday life situations. It can keep you focused and connected with the people and world around you. The practice may seem daunting to begin, but you can develop it gradually and revel in the changes that come along.

Some research (albeit with small sample sizes) suggests that meditation helps in growing compassion towards yourself and others. It can even improve your relationship with your romantic partner.

Meditate the right way

Meditation doesn't mean that you close your eyes and start chanting. Meditation has to be done right if you want it to give you the above-mentioned effects.

1. Choose the right time and place

Before you embark on the process, pick the right place. It can be your study or living room, where you can sit comfortably without distractions. Also, choose the right time.

You cannot meditate in the middle of a busy work day as your mind will be elsewhere or when there’s the hustle and bustle around you. Perhaps, the best times would be early morning or before you go to sleep.

2. Settle down for meditation

At the stated time and place, settle down comfortably. Put an alarm clock or timer for practice initially. Sit straight on the floor or a chair, keep your hands on your thighs or knees (palm sides up), and relax your muscles.

Keep your neck loose, chin tucked in, and take deep breaths. Inhale through your nose, feel it in your chest and abdomen, and exhale through your mouth. Continue to breathe and defocus your gaze as you look in the distance.

3. Observe your body

Now, close your eyes and focus on your posture and the weight of your limbs. If you feel any tension or stress in your muscles, let them loose.

Let yourself be at ease with your environment and pay attention to what you smell, taste, and hear. Notice if you have any thoughts that come up or if you feel any discomfort.

4. Focus on breathing

Once you have scanned and witnessed your body, start focusing on your breaths. Let yourself breathe naturally; you do not need to extend or hasten it. Feel your chest rising and falling with every breath. Try clearing your mind of any thoughts about what happened earlier or what lies ahead.

5. Bring your wandering mind back to your breath

It is natural to get lost in one thought or another as you sit in this space. Do not be hard on yourself for losing your attention. Instead, bring your mind calmly back to your breaths. If it happens again, do the same thing. It’s okay!

6. Conclude your practice

Once your timer rings or you feel you have done enough, return to your physical surroundings. Focus on your body and your senses before opening your eyes. Give yourself time to sit and carry whatever you felt or observed during the practice as you go on with the day.

You may want to get up immediately because your thoughts are too loud and give up on it too soon. But you need to be patient with yourself and let the practice build slowly.

Quick tips to make meditation work for you!

• Start by taking some ten minutes in your daily routine for meditation. Once you become comfortable (it may take a week or even a month), you can gradually increase the time.

• Have patience. You are not a monk who needs to master all your senses and your thoughts. It’s okay if your mind wanders time and again. Bring your attention back calmly.

• Make changes in your surroundings that can help you – play soothing music or light a fragrant candle for the ambience.

• Use guided meditation or mindfulness apps to help get in the zone. In the end, do whatever works best for you!

Meditation is one of the best ways to good mental health. You can also get the Individual Health Plan from Kenko, which offers you mental healthcare. You get up to 50% off on doctor consults, lab tests, medicines, daily healthcare, at-home care and much more.