Do you have fears when it comes to meditation? My thoughts won't stop, I can’t sit still, am I even doing this right, or I will be bored just sitting here. Do any of these fears stop you from trying meditation?
However, do you find yourself losing focus easily? For me, I could be sitting playing a game with my kids and suddenly I hear, “Mom, it’s your turn.” Wait, I think didn’t I just go. Where did my mind go? I am missing everything right in front of me. Has this ever happened to you? These instances, made me question why does this keeps happening?
I wondered how do I keep the mind and body together? The answer is to create more mindfulness throughout our day.
*Mindfulness as defined in the dictionary is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.
So basically, mindfulness allows you to be present and aware of what your body and mind are experiencing at the same time. However, many times the body is in one place and the mind is in another. For example, the body might be physically at work but the mind is off on a tropical vacation. This separation keeps you from being able to achieve mindfulness at that moment and you lose your focus. Now you find yourself needing to refocus feeling frustrated because of lost time, your work starts to pile up, and you feel unproductive and want to go home.
How do you work towards more mindfulness throughout the day? Meditation becomes the vehicle in which you can train your minds. People like Ellen Degeneres, Lady Gaga, Oprah, Susan Sarandon, Steven Jobs, 50 Cent, and Elizabeth Gilbert all have realized the power of meditation to shape their minds. Your mind is a muscle, and this is the exercise to keep it in shape. When you do the work toward strengthening, then it starts to work for you throughout the day.
According to Jay Shetty, there are three types of focus for meditation: breathwork, visualization, and sounds. In each one of these types, you pick a focus. In Breathwork, your focus becomes paying attention to your actual breath. It helps you to heal the body because breath is the one thing you will always have and by taking control, you change your state. In Visualization, you will focus on images that help put your mind in another place or create the sights, sounds, and feelings of your desired outcome. It helps heal the mind as we focus on these images, places, and desired outcomes. In Sound, you will focus on the sounds of mantras, sacred words, and song. It helps heal the soul as the sounds used will reach the vibrations of our heart and soul.
You’ve read this far, so let’s give it a try! But where do you even get started? You might have assumed that you need to find an absolutely quiet space, sit cross-legged with back nice and tall, hands properly on your lap with eyes closed, keep track of every breath, and make sure no thoughts come into your head. If you are like me, I thought all these elements had to be in place to have successfully meditated.
It really does not have to be that complicated. You simply need to make a choice that you’re going to practice clearing your mind while taking some deep breaths. When a thought enters your mind, you realize it and then return to your choice of focus: breathwork, visualization, or sound. There is no “if a thought enters” because it will happen, how often will depend on your state of mind at the moment. If you feel hurried, more thoughts will enter. If you are calmer, then fewer thoughts. The more you practice the easier it will become, but thoughts will always be there, so it’s a matter of what you do when they come.
These thoughts will enter your head, and you might be annoyed or frustrated because they won’t stop. Be gentle with yourself as they enter, as soon as you realize, simply and gently send your focus back to breathwork, visualization, or sound. It’s the gentleness that you allow to move back to your focus. For me, that is the hardest part to be gentle with myself and to accept that this is a process because I just wanted to be able to do this now. However, this gentleness gives your mind the ability to rest and learn to connect mind and body together which will then extend throughout the day allowing for more focus, more presence, and even more peaceful decision making.
Now let’s get started by picking a focus: breathwork, visualization, or sound and bringing your thoughts to that focus while taking some deep breaths. Then as thoughts enter, you gently shift your thoughts back to your focus. Now I know this sounds easier than it is, but having a guide will help you get started right. Join me this week on Instagram to give it a try. I post videos that will start with a 2 min meditation, and go up one minute each day. We will also cover all three types of meditations to help you become more familiar with them.