This is the third video of the series about meditation and today I'll explain
how I meditate and how you can meditate as well.
Well, the first thing I'd like to do is debunk what is perhaps the
biggest myth about meditation. Many people think, I too used to think, that to
meditate you need to be in that famous lotus position, but that's not
true. If you can stay in the lotus
position for several minutes, congratulations, because it's not easy.
But the reality is that the body of most people, especially in the West, is not
prepared to stay in that position for several minutes. In India, and
in a few other countries, people begin to meditate when they are
children, so their bodies is used to staying in that position, but
if you can't do that, don't feel bad about about it.
An alternative position, which is way easier, is the half-lotus position in which only one
leg is placed on your thigh. So if you can do this
pose, and stay in it without trouble,
you can use this position to meditate and this is the position I use
nowadays. Another position that you can use, and that I used for a long
time and I still use sometimes, is simply seating on a chair
with your feet well supported on the floor.
In those 3 positions that I've mentioned, your
spine should be straight, so even if you're seating on a chair,
you shouldn't use the back support, but maintain a straight spine, as if
there was a wire pulling you from your head and supporting you.
Ok, but what if
I'm not able to do even the chair position? No problem, you can also
meditate lying down. The positions with a straight back are the ideal positions,
but there's always an alternative, the important thing is not letting these
details stop you from meditating.
The position of your hands can also vary. Some people touch the index finger to
the thumbs and place the hand on the knee, others place one hand above the other and
lean them against the belly, other people simply place their
hands on the thighs. After you find a position that is
comfortable for you, you can take some deep
breaths; that is, breath in, filling your lungs and then breath out slowly
until you empty your lungs. I usually do this 5 times to calm the mind.
After that, you simply continue with a normal and natural breathing, concentrating
on it as much as possible.
It's that simply guys, there's no mystery to it.
Of course some random thought will come to you while you
are meditating, but the important thing is for you to focus
again on your breath as soon as you realize
you're thinking about something else. With time and practice, less
thoughts will interrupt you.
With regard to time, you can start
with 5 minutes or even less. When I started
meditating, I used to meditate for only 3 minutes and even 3 minutes was
hard for me, I would open my eyes all the time to check if the 3 minutes
had passed, so you can see how unfocused I was.
The important thing is for you to start with the time you have and try to
make meditation a habit, practicing every day.
Two apps that I used a lot when I started meditating were
Headspace and Calm. Today, I only use Calm,
especially because of the daily meditations they offer. But even if
you don't want to do guided meditations, you can also use
the timer from these apps, so you set how long
you want to meditate and then when the time has passed, a Buddhist
bell will sound or another sound, so it's really good to set how long
you will meditate. The only bad thing about these apps is that they
are in English. I don't know any good
meditation apps in Portuguese, so if you have any
suggestions of apps in Portuguese, leave your comment below.
If you liked this video, leave a thumbs-up, share it with your friends, subscribe
to the channel if you haven't yet and see you next time.
Kisses! :)