Meditation

Want to have healthy habits, sleep better, and be disciplined to exercise more? It’s all about your mindset and one of the fastest ways to upgrade your mindset is to meditate!

What is Meditation and Why Can It Help?

Do you feel like your thoughts are all over the place?

Do you have a tricky time letting go of negative thought patterns?

Do you wish you have better self control and discipline?

It’s all about training you brain and learning how to release thoughts which is basically meditation.

Sounds pretty mysterious, right? But the concept is actually simple.

There are a lot of misconceptions about meditations, but meditation is the art of letting go of your thoughts and logical mind. Many meditative training technics teach you to first highly concentrate the mind to drown out your thoughts, but the ultimate goal is too release your conscious thinking. The aim is to be in a “non-thinking” mode to access the subconscious state while your body is very relaxed but awake.

So how does it work on the physical level? It has to do with brain waves! Normally when you are alert and thinking you are in beta wave-length mode and your thoughts, worries and to-dot lists have full reign. If you are continuously operating in beta mode, you can also feel like you are in a “overdrive” which can cause your body to release stress hormones, disrupt sleep, and cause muscle aches and pains from contracting you body during the day. If you are constantly in this mode, it registers as a lot of stress for you body. Let’s face it, it’s nearly impossible to make healthy changes because the last thing you want to do is slow down and eat a salad when you feel your life is crashing down around you!

Meditation is like a vacation for your mind. Studies have shown that it’s also so beneficial for your body (and changing bad habits) because it actually changes your brain waves from beta to alpha (a more relaxed state), from alpha to theta (flow state), and from theta to delta (deep, dreamless sleep). This causes your entire body to relax and changes what neurotransmitters you can access. This also stops the release of stress hormones (because you are not longer in “stress-mode”), and allows for better sleep and also a calmer perspective on life.

Some research studies even show that regularly accessing more relaxed states like alpha, theta and delta has the ability to reduce depressive symptoms and increase creative thinking. This has been widely studied since the 1960s and 1970s when studies with biofeedback using EEG devices in advices of psychotherapy, and many scientists and health experts continue to study the effects of accessing different brain wavelengths.

Getting Started

It can seem daunting to meditate and it isn’t easy (at first) to quiet your thoughts and just relax. This is why it takes time and training, “brain training” as I call it. But the great news is that it’s a free practice that you can do in 10-15 minutes a day or more when you get more comfortable.

The key to getting comfortable doing meditation is jut to do it, each day. Find a time to do your meditation (preferably the same time every day) so you don’t forget or aren’t tempted to skip a day. Choose a quite comfortable location, where you can sit quietly. I don’t recommend laying down because you want to stay alert and some people tend to fall asleep too easily if they are laying down.

Start with some simple, slow breath work breathing in and out to calm the body to move into a deeper state of relaxation. You can begin with square breathing, inhale to a slow count of four, pause, and then exhale to a slow count of four and pause. Repeat this patterns to calm and center yourself. You may choose to use relaxing music or a guided meditation track to help you to relax. As you get into even deeper into relaxation while releasing all thought, you’ll connect to that quiet place that is meditation.

Want to kick-start your mediation practice? Take my free meditation course!

Take The First Step Today On Your Journey To Emotional Healing

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