Good afternoon Yogi’s
Let me ask you something…Have you ever tried thinking about nothing? No, seriously… Try thinking about absolutely nothing. Harder than it sounds, am I right?!
So, Meditation…What’s it all about, and how exactly do we get started?
I was asked if I meditate, and to be honest… I haven’t but I would love to try! Meditation is a mental discipline where a person needs to condition themselves beyond self-awareness. By this, I mean freeing one’s self from exclusively associating with the soul and mind. The first step to meditation is taming your breathing and controlling your mind. As you get better, you will find that you can practically meditate “on-the-go” and you will be able to quiet your mind and appeal to your inner calm, hence freeing your awareness. Meditation helps you to sustain and control what’s happening around you, as you become progressively aware of your thoughts. This is something that absolutely anyone can benefit from, and everyone should really be looking into this.
Step 1: Organise. Make your space look appealing and place random items around you that will strengthen your want for meditation. Use products like incenses, meditation wraps & mats, statues, music as pull factors which will induce you to start meditating. Check out Yogamasti’s meditation essentials here.
Step 2: Making Time. Where there is a will, there is a way! Many people actually practice it before going to bed as is cleanses and clears their mind; or even during a very busy day as a sort of retreat. However, morning sessions are easiest as it is the time of the day where your body is fresh and ready for a new start, before your body is tired from any exertions of the day. Start meditating 5 to 15mins per day to get your juices flowing!
Step 3: Sit Down & Relax. Starting from your bum, balance the vertebrae in your spine in a way that they support the weight of your torso, neck & head. You will know you’re doing it correctly when it feels as though you’re not putting much effort to hold your torso upright. Consciously relax your arms and legs, placing your arms on your thighs and crossing your legs together (as shown in the pic). Try to feel which parts of the body are tense, and attempt to relax these by either thinking about it or moving slightly into a better alignment.
Step 4: Breathing. Take deep breaths and pay attention to your breathing. Your aim is to calm the chattering going on in your mind by concentrating on an anchor like breathing. Reciting a mantra can help you, uttering “om” on a rhythm is best. Visualise a place that calms you (for me this would be up in the mountains, feeling the breeze against my body, breathing in the fresh and thin air whilst being completely alone).
Step 5: Silencing. And you thought it was over. Nope! Once you’ve trained your mind to think of step 4, step 5 is a challenge that requires a lot of discipline. Here you need to attempt to think about nothing at all! Not as easy as it looks. After focusing on one single point, try casting it away or impartially let it come and go, without labelling is as “bad” or even “good”. Any thoughts which come to your mind will require the same type of approach, and this until silence perseveres.
Good Luck!
Let us know if you found this interesting through the comment section below. Until next time fellow yogi’s!
Yogi Hugs from Yogamasti
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