Interested in Meditation? Here Are the Basics
Meditation is a core mindfulness practice that you can customize to meet you where you are, bring your attention to the present moment, and engage in more compassion and connection. Here’s what you need to know to get started.
Why Learn to Meditate?
There’s a reason that we now regularly hear about the benefits of meditation or hear about the famous athletes, celebrities, or business leaders who rely on the practice: Over the last forty years, we have witnessed a revolution in research on this ancient practice. At last count, over 6,000 peer reviewed scholarly articles have been published that examine the benefits of meditation.
This vast body of neuroscience research has found that the regular practice of meditation leads to the following benefits:
Increased Resilience: Meditation is associated with a reduction in activity in the part of the brain that reacts to stress. This enhances our ability to stay calm and responsive in the midst of stressful situations.
Increased focus: Meditation activates additional circuits in the brain that allow for sharper and more efficient concentration.
Decreased mind wandering: Meditation reduces moments when our attention wanders away from what is happening here and now.
Enhanced pain tolerance: Mindfulness triggers a neurological, pain-relieving response. But mindfulness meditation also helps you cultivate a nonjudgmental, accepting attitude toward the pain, says Sara Lazar, PhD, Associate Researcher in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Enhanced immunity: Meditation has been found to reduce markers of inflammation in the body and to strengthen the response of the immune system.
Science tells us meditation changes the brain. We have experienced these benefits firsthand and have watched some individuals change aspects of their lives by meditating for a few minutes each day.
How to Meditate
Here are the basic instructions for focused attention meditation:
Sit with a straight spine, eyes closed.
Bring your attention to the sensations of breathing (either at your nose or in your chest or abdomen).
When the mind wanders, notice that you are thinking, shift your attention back to the breath, and then stay with each inhale and exhale.
Remember to also identify a convenient time and place to meditate. If you’re new to meditation, you can try starting with as little as one minute of meditation each day and then build up slowly to longer practice sessions.
Reference:
https://www.mindful.org/interested-in-meditation-here-are-the-basics/