Meditation
'I can't meditate because I don't have the time!'
A daily practice calms the busy mind.
Time spent meditating creates more time because a calmer mind doesn't stress about the small stuff. It’s also cumulative, so it’s better to do ten minutes a day rather than an hour once a week.
There are many meditation apps with free podcasts. I now look forward to meditating every day.
Experienced meditators have recognisably different brain wave images on an MRI scanner.
I started with the standard 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course created by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Courses are found in many countries so I found one near me and I’ve never stopped meditating.
What are the benefits?
When to be cautious
Any inner work can bring difficult thoughts and feelings to light. This can be particularly true if you have a history of trauma or PTSD. By going inside, we may address the hurts that have been hidden away. The pain felt when we were hurt may be experienced again when it is comes out. This means we may feel a worse before we feel better and that it is wise to have emotional tools to help cope with such experiences.
We may experience pain three times: when it enters, when it's present and when it leaves.
References
| Media | Author/Director | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Website | Mindfulness Association | Mindfulness Courses |
| Book | John Yates Phd, Matthew Immergut PhD | The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science for Greater Mindfulness |
| Website | John Kabat Zinn |
