The Beginner’s Guide To Meditation
Five minutes isn’t much out of 24 hours.
Although you’ll get benefits from sitting down in a class to meditate, committing to a short daily practice of just a few minutes will enable you to really to reap it’s massive benefits, which include:
- Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations.
- Increasing self-awareness.
- Focusing on the present.
- Reducing negative emotions.
- Increasing imagination and creativity.
-Increasing patience and tolerance.
There are many different types of meditation, although they all take you to the same place of restful calm. As I was already practicing Kundalini Yoga, I was drawn to mantra meditation. Mantra gives your mind something to do, but it's more than that. The repetition of a mantra, which means ‘often repeated word or phrase’ in Sanskrit, encourages the brain to release feel good chemicals into the blood stream and causes the left and right hemispheres of the brain to synchronize.
Mantras also help oxygenate the brain, reduce our heart rate, blood pressure and assist in creating calm brainwave activity. Add that to the proven benefits of meditation, and you're on to a winner! You don't have to chant out loud either, it can still have a profound effect if you chant soundlessly inside your head.
The first mantra meditation I used was ‘So Hum’. As it happens, I stumbled across possibly the very best mantra for a first time meditator. For one thing it's so simple.
For another, it's very repetition encourages a slowing of the breath which tells your body it’s safe to relax.
Its meaning is also so beautiful. ‘So Hum’ is a phrase comprised of two Sanskrit words that mean ‘that' and 'I'. Therefore, So Hum means “I Am That" and symbolises that we are all connected to the universal energy that is constantly supporting and nourishing us.
So how to do it? First of all find a regular time that works best for you. I started by sitting up in bed after I woke up, as I knew if I set the alarm a little earlier, this was the best time of the day to guarantee that I'd actually meditate.
Sit quietly in a comfortable position, and place your hands on your knees.Close your eyes and take three deep breaths, slowly counting six on your inhale and six on your exhale. Then start to repeat the mantra “So Hum” to yourself silently.
Link your breath to the words, inhaling and silently repeating “So”, and exhaling and silently repeating “Hum”. Breathe slowly and deeply, resisting the urge to rush both the breath and the mantra.
If your mind plays monkey, don't stress about it. It happens to all of us. Just bring yourself back to the mantra without judgement or annoyance. With meditation we’re not trying to silence our mind, we’re trying to find that place of peace that always dwells within us.
There are some good tracks out there that you can listen to while you meditate. This is a good one https://insighttimer.com/carrieg108/guided-meditations/so-hum-3 but take a look to see if you can find any that resonant with you.
P.S. Insight Timer is a free meditation app for your phone that's a great resource for exploring meditation.