Meditation has become an important part of people’s lives these days and more and more of us are taking it up to help with the stresses and anxieties of everyday life.
It’s a big part of people’s health routines and is recommended by experts all over the planet, implementing it into cancer patients routine as a method of coping, while many rehab centre venues use meditation as part of addiction treatment.
However, millions of people around the world are now using meditation to ease stress from work, take a break from the hustle and bustle of family life and so much more.
If you’ve started to consider taking up meditation, then there are a number of things you should note to help you get started…
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You can have thoughts during meditation
Many see meditation as an activity that sees you completely switch off, but it is ok to have thoughts during your practicing of meditation. It might be that you’ve tried to meditate before but can’t stop the thinking process, ultimately deciding that you can’t do it.
That’s far from the truth. It’s more about settling your mind and over time as you continue to meditate it will make it easier to experience more subtle levels of thought or silences.
Let go of any expectations
Similarly, you may believe meditation doesn’t work for you if you go into it with certain expectations from it, envisioning it making you feel a certain way. However, going in with expectations will mean it fails.
You need to let go of those and allow you to feel what the meditation is telling you to feel. During meditation you may feel all kinds of experiences and emotions, letting the mind and body do what it naturally wants to do in order to remove any anxieties and stresses from it.
Be kind to yourself
One of the most important rules of meditation is being kind to yourself. Don’t beat yourself up if you find it difficult or if your mind wanders off. Perhaps you may even get a little bored in your first few attempts at meditation.
All these things are perfectly natural, so don’t get caught up on it and treat yourself a little more kindly. Don’t compare yourself to others, just focus on yourself, the path you’re taking and the progress you’re making, which will improve the more you do it.
Do stick with it!
You aren’t going to be an accomplished practitioner overnight. You have to stick with meditation. On occasions you may feel restless, your mind may wander or you may not be able to stop having wild thoughts. That’s ok.
Sticking with the practice will help you get closer to your mind and body, and over time you’ll find that over a period of weeks you’ll begin to see the benefits of what meditation has to offer.