Meditation: the How and the Why

is it for you?

Meditation is a ‘must do’ for everyone. Scientific evidence shows that connecting with universal energy via our subconscious mind affects factors in healing, in disease prognosis, and moreover makes even ‘spontaneous remission’ a possibility.

Thinking that walking, gardening, jogging or reading is meditation is wrong. The crucial point here is, when we are physically active our minds are more or less at rest; meditation, however, requires our body to be still and our mind to be active. And by active I do not mean thinking of what happened yesterday or what needs to be done tomorrow!

Here are the basic principles:
1. Find a comfortable position in a quiet environment.
2. Slow down your breathing.
3. Direct your thoughts to a phrase(s) or towards a calming/relaxing scenery.
4. Empty all other thoughts by allowing them to pass when they come into your head.
The key is to practice once or twice every day for 10-20 mins (not after a meal as digestion might interfere with the practice).

Here are some examples:
For beginners, apps like Headspace or Insight Timer are great as a starting point.
The Relaxation Response (Herbert Benson) or Metta Meditation, both based on transcendental meditation are also quite simple.
Heart Math, based on creating a state of coherence and balancing thoughts and emotions is another easy one.

My program is simple: before getting out of bed yoga Nidra to relax every part of my body (some use this for falling asleep), then Relation response 10 mins; afternoons Heartmath 10 mins.

Initially it’s trial and error to find out what suits you; just don’t judge yourself on how well you are doing; be consistent and do it every day. Trust me it’s transformative!