Let’s get past the ‘Woo-woo’ perception of Meditation. What is meditation? Meditation involves bring your mind into the present moment. It gives your brain a break from the constant babble going on day in day out. Our complex thought processes helped us to evolve to where we are today. However, we experience great benefit from taking time to just be in the NOW. To have a break from the constant work stress, social pressure and daily mind babble.
The common preconceived notion of meditation is sitting cross legged chanting away chasing some very 'woo-woo' spiritual revelations. But in essence, meditation is a form of relaxation for the mind.
Meditation is different for everyone; it could be breath-work, yoga routines, or fishing. All we are doing when we’re meditating is focusing on one thing. My personal favourite is break-work. What benefits does meditation bring?
Meditation has many benefits when you commit to a consistent routine. It can be done anywhere and at anytime of the day. These benefits include: Lowered stress levels (cortisol)
Can help reduce blood pressure
Anxiety Control
Greater emotional resiliency
Greater self-awareness
Better emotional health
Reducing age-related memory loss
Improves sleep
Increased Productivity
My daily routine
My daily routine involves breath work after turning the end my shower to cold for 30 seconds first thing in the morning. Before any work or email checking, I use the ‘Wim-Hof’ method of breath-work and find its an amazing way to start the day. It helps me bring my attention to the now, and away from my to-do list for the day. I then follow this with a guided meditation on YouTube which is only 9 minutes long. This half-hour of mindfulness in the morning allows me to start my day with health and focus in mind. How to start
The easiest way to start is to search YouTube for a short-guided meditation. There are hundreds of thousands on there from 3-minute mindfulness to hour long sessions. But start small and make it a consistent practice. My favourite short 10 min meditation is here. Consistency is the key, as with weight-loss, muscle gain or health improvement. Commit to a week, and see how you feel… you have nothing to lose, and A LOT to gain!!
Let me know how you get on.
As always send your questions in this week for Tuesday’s Q & A!
Have a good week, and I’ll catch you Tuesday!
In health,
Joe
Comments