There are as many different types of meditation as there are people, but the principle is always the same: to quieten the mind, to slow down your thoughts, and to stop the constant chatter that goes on inside your head.
This perpetual inner conversation causes anxiety, as it revolves around the past and future. As you go over former events and analyse your mistakes and lost opportunities, you simultaneously project yourself into a future that is full of apprehension. You go round and round in circles and tear yourself apart with guilt, fear, jealousy, insecurity, anger, frustration and unfulfilled desires... Fortunately, meditation helps dissolve this type of stress.
You don't need much to meditate. Ten to twenty minutes of your time will do, while you sit or lie down comfortably.
If you want to do a guided meditation, you can use an audio recording, which will take you on a relaxing journey through a soothing place of beauty and harmony, where you can commune with nature. Visualise your surroundings, and incorporate as many senses as possible: soak in the colours, sounds, smells and textures. Breathe deeply from your diaphragm.
If you want to meditate without a recording, progressively relax your muscles and focus on your breathing. If your mind wanders, bring it back to your breath. You can't think about nothing, because the mind can never be totally empty. But you can detach yourself from your thoughts, and decrease the number of thoughts you have. When they crop up, put them on a virtual conveyor belt. Alternatively you could picture yourself on a boat, drifting down a stream and throwing your thoughts into the river. Or you could imagine your thoughts as balloons that you pop one by one.
Focusing on your breath alone might not be enough, as it is easy to become engrossed in your thoughts, while paying attention to the air flowing in and out of your lungs. All you really need to do is to let go of your thoughts and worries. Relax and pick an object around you. While you look at the object, a tennis ball for instance, don't think about the last time you played, how well or badly, or what brand this ball is. Just look at it non-judgmentally, without forming an opinion about it. While doing that, you will feel that you are in the present, and you will have a Eureka moment. You will suddenly understand what meditation is all about!
This awakening will lead you to mindfulness meditation. When you add mindfulness to your life, you become aware of things and stop being on auto-pilot. You live every single moment in full consciousness and embrace life as it is. As you stop and smell the roses, your stress levels diminish. Fear of the future and regrets about the past simply melt away like snow in the sun.
It takes a bit of practice, of course. But you don't need to fight. You don't need to put much effort into it. Just let go. Meditation then becomes an integral part of your life: natural, easy, and so so beautiful.
Don't rush to get there. Meditation is an ongoing process that can last your entire life. To kickstart your practice, do only one thing a day with absolute mindfulness. In can be anything, from chopping vegetables to watching the sun set. Dwell completely in that moment, without getting distracted. Feel everything intensely, every physical sensation, every subtle emotion welling up inside. Breathe in slowly, and smile as you breathe out. Smile at the stillness. And once you've mastered one thing, add another, and another, until your whole life becomes an expression of your true inner self.
With much love,
Bella
Painting: "Golden Afternoon Meditation" by Laura Iverson
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