"Meditating"
—it's a word that can conjure up extreme images for many people.
But in reality, it’s a technique with a long history that’s practiced by people
all over the world today, and is accessible to anyone who wants to learn!
It can also be a great way to improve your mental—and even physical—health.
We'll get to the "how" of meditating in a second, but let's start with the "why."
Meditation has been practiced for millennia, most notably in Hindu and Buddhist traditions,
and can be understood as one part of a larger cultural, social, and spiritual whole.
In recent years, as versions of this practice became popularized in the west, the benefits
of meditation have become something of a hot topic in scientific research as well.
What we're finding is that meditating can make you feel better, calmer, etc., while
you're doing it, but its positive effects on your health also last far beyond your individual
meditation sessions.
As Psychiatric Research Magazine put it, meditation is "associated with changes in gray matter
concentration in brain regions involved in learning and memory processes, emotion regulation,
self-referential processing, and perspective taking."
In other words, with a practice of just a few minutes a day, after just a couple months,
meditation literally changes and strengthens those parts of your brain that contribute
to your mental well-being.
And those are just some of the mental effects.
According to the Mayo Clinic, meditation also can help people manage symptoms of physical
conditions such as asthma, heart disease, high blood pressure, chronic pain, and sleep
problems.
We're not implying that it should take the place of traditional therapy or medicine,
and you may want to talk to your healthcare provider about the pros and cons of meditation
in your particular case…
...but in general, meditation can definitely be a positive contribution to greater health.
So, what exactly is meditation?
Well, it's kind of an umbrella term for different techniques that have the goal of achieving
a greater sense of inner peace.
There are numerous ways to meditate, but the kind of meditation we'll be covering today
is super simple and accessible, and has arguably been the most rigorously tested in the West:
Mindfulness Meditation.
Mindfulness Meditation was popularized by the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction courses
created Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn.
To quote the good doctor, “Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention,
on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.
It’s about knowing what is on your mind.”
Put another way, mindfulness isn't about doing away with all thought, but about having a
calmer, more compassionate relationship with the thoughts you have.
So, how exactly does it work?
First, it's best to do it daily, and when starting out you may want to begin with a
modest amount of time, such as ten to twenty minutes.
There are also apps, such as Headspace, that you can use to guide you through your mindfulness
session.
But if you want to go it alone, that's also totally cool!
Here's how you can do it, to paraphrase a guide from Mindful.org:
1) Set a timer for how long you'd like to meditate.
2) Take a seat.
It doesn't have to be anything special, just a stable, solid seat.
3) Notice what your legs are doing.
If you’re on a cushion, cross your legs comfortably in front of you.
If on a chair, it’s good if the bottoms of your feet are touching the floor.
4) Straighten—but don’t stiffen— your upper body.
5) Let your hands drop onto the tops of your legs.
6) Drop your chin a little and let your gaze fall gently downward.
You may close your eyes, though it's not necessary.
If you keep them open, maintain a nice soft gaze in front of you.
7) Feel your breath as it goes out and in: the air moving through your nose and mouth,
the rising and falling of your belly, and your chest.
With each breath, mentally note “breathing in” and “breathing out.”
8) Inevitably, your attention will leave the breath and wander to other places.
This is normal.
Instead of wrestling with or engaging with those thoughts, practice observing without
needing to react.
Just sit and pay attention.
Then gently come back to your breath over and over again without judgment or expectation.
9) Practice pausing before making any physical adjustments, such as scratching an itch.
When you do move, do so with conscious intention, allowing space between what you think and
what you do.
10) When your time is up, gently lift your gaze or open your eyes.
Take a moment to notice your environment: sounds, sights, how your body and mind feel.
Decide how you’d like to continue on with your day.
And that's all we have for you today!
If you have any meditation tips, please let us know in the comments section below; we'd
love to hear from you.
And if you want to learn more about adulting from Hank and me
subscribe to us at youtube.com/learnhowtoadult!
...people manage symptoms of physilcan–
Fudge.
Forgot to keep going!
And that's all we've got for you today.
If you have any meditation chi–
Chips?
[off screen] Give them to us.
Please give them to me, I love chips.
[gruff voice] We'd love to hear from you.
And if you want to learn more about adulting with–
Okay.
We did it.