How Do I Start Mindfulness Meditation?
Meditation is probably among the more common words that you hear on a daily basis in both traditional and social media society. Thousands of people are writing blogs about how meditation has helped them find the true meaning of life and their inner peace.
But is it as simple as devoting a few hours to a sit-down and relax session every day? Absolutely not. While meditation can come with an array of benefits, both mental and physical, you will need to go in-depth into the concept and understand the basic principles of this ancient Eastern practice to achieve the best potential results.
Don’t get us wrong, there is nothing scary or harmful about meditation — on the contrary, it is going to be a lovely, calming, and peaceful experience, but you can’t take it for granted thinking that within a few days all of your inner problems will be solved.
Meditation is a way of life and is something you should do for self-care purposes — it should and will affect your daily routine and the way you think and feel. With there being tons of different meditation techniques, the best thing to do is to follow some simple meditation tips, and start with the basics, and only later move on to more complex techniques like mindfulness meditation. But what is mindfulness in the first place?
The Art of Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a term that is often confused or exchanged with meditation. However, if you really look at it, it does have quite a different meaning. While meditation is a practice itself, mindfulness is more of a feeling that you can master and become comfortable with.
Meditation should be practiced in a specific setting and in a relaxed position, whereas mindfulness can be done in any environment at any point in the day. As you can see, it seems to be much more flexible, making it more attractive for certain practitioners, but is it all that simple? Of course not.
While mindfulness may be easy to achieve once you understand the concepts surrounding it, it is quite strange to the modern human to grasp. Why? Because it includes focusing solely on the present moment while neglecting what has happened in the past or what will happen in the future.
Quite strange, huh? Well, give it a try — you will be very impressed with the results. There is nothing as beautiful as being in the moment with all five of your senses, without allowing those worrying thoughts and feelings to overwhelm you. But if it is so great, why do some people have trouble with it? Because they are not sure about how to do it.
The Basic Mindfulness Practice
As we mentioned above, mindfulness can be practiced anywhere at any time, and so the basic practice of mindfulness has become quite common for those that are new to the concept. Believe it or not, mindfulness includes doing something that is a part of your regular daily routine like washing dishes, only this time you will have a whole new approach to it.
Instead of wiping those dishes with a sponge and some mild soap, while filling your head with all kinds of plans for the next few hours and days, stop and stay in the moment. Enjoy what you are doing and try to experience it with your all five senses. What does this mean?
Hear the lukewarm water running over the plates, smell the dishwashing agent, feel it on your skin, look at the dishes going from dirty to clean, and why not — even taste the agent and see what you feel (be sure to spit it out and rinse your mouth once you do).
Mindfulness Meditation
Once you are familiar with the concept of mindfulness, and you know the basic technique of meditation that includes staying aware of your breathing, while your thoughts wander around, it is time to move on and try combining these two concepts.
Sit down as you would usually do for meditation, only now, instead of staying aware of your breathing, you should focus on what you are thinking. While it may be quite scary in the beginning, accepting your thoughts and analyzing the pattern, it can become quite fun and can also provide you with much valuable insight on what to do or why something has happened.
Conclusion
Becoming a master of mindfulness meditation is not something that will happen overnight. It will take time before your body and mind get comfortable with the concept of staying in the moment, but once it does — well, you will be in for one calming, peaceful ride.
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