Life is often busy, distracting, and mind-numbing. Literally. The dull routine of workdays, the frantic hurry of errand days, and more keep the mind filled up with nonsense that can easily keep you from engaging with the world around you, or even from being much aware of it. In the long term, this can really suck all the joy and interest out of life, keeping you tethered to the least interesting, most mundane parts of it. Life doesn’t have to be like that. You can break your mind out of that rut by exercising it and get more out of life with mindfulness meditation.
What Is Mindfulness Meditation?
In a way, mindfulness meditation is the opposite of what most people think of when they think of meditation. It is not a matter of going into a trance and tuning out the outside world. Mindfulness meditation is instead a type of meditation that encourages you to be more aware of what you are experiencing and feeling, without getting caught up in reactions and judgments. It can keep you from getting distracted and overwhelmed, thereby helping you stay more actively engaged with your life and the world around you.
A Basic Mindfulness Meditation Technique
To start with, you should sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes. As with many other types of meditation, you should focus on your breathing, at least at the start. Breathe slowly and deeply, in through your nose and out through your mouth.
Once you get into an easy rhythm with the breathing and you feel like your mind is starting to calm down, it is time to move your attention off of your breathing and onto your body. Start by focusing your awareness on your head. Open yourself up you what you are feeling on your face and your scalp, let yourself feel how your head is oriented relative to the rest of the room, feel the blood pulsing through it. Just let yourself be aware of it without reacting to what you are feeling. After you have had your attention on your head for a couple of minutes, move it all the way down your body in stages, until you come at last to your feet.
The process of sweeping your awareness over your whole body should take several minutes. Once you are finished, open your eyes. Focus on anything in the room, it does not matter what. It can even be the walls or the ceiling. Just let yourself be aware of it without reacting to what you are seeing. After keeping your awareness on that object for a couple of minutes, move on to another object.
Going Further in Meditation
At first, it will not be easy to keep yourself in a meditative state while you are focusing on other things. It will also not be easy to focus your mind in this way for too long at first. You may not even be able to move your awareness all the way along your entire body at first. This is only natural. The key is to keep practicing until you get better. After you become able to do the basic exercise well, try to keep your focus on different things in your room while also maintaining an awareness of your body. In time, you can even take the practice to a whole new level by getting up and walking around in a meditative state, being aware of everything.
Final Thoughts on the Benefits of Meditation
By practicing mindfulness meditation, you are teaching your mind to have increased awareness of both yourself and the world around you and to do so with little effort. This skill can keep you from getting swept away by distractions and ground down by the mundane realities of life. It can help you to be more present and give yourself more fully to what you are doing, and to get more out of whatever you are doing.
How You Can Learn Meditation Techniques
Our very own Wendy Basden continues to bring her meditation knowledge and credentials to our Practice Care members and this month she is featuring Primordial Sound Meditation in a two-class series. Primordial Sound Meditation, or PSM, is a healing practice that will support you to experience inner calm and deep relaxation. This is a 2-part in-depth course covering 4 lessons to learn the basics of meditation, its history, the benefits of meditation, receive a personal mantra, learn how to create a daily practice, participate in a group meditation, and attend a lecture on higher states of consciousness. The second class is given as a private ceremony where you are given a personal mantra based on your date, time, and location of birth. Join our Facebook event to stay up to date with the class.
