The Power Of Meditation To Improve Your Well Being

I knew nothing about meditation. Over the years, I guess I had developed some misconceptions about it. The next few paragraphs are a brief insight into how I overcame those meditation misconceptions and subsequently discovered the power of meditation to improve my well being.

Early in 2016, I started to be intentional about improving my well being. It had been 3 years since my wife had died and I needed to start building a new life for myself and my boys. I decided that the makings of a new life, started with an holistic approach to well being. Having already started some physical exercise here and there, I wanted to discover other solutions that might be helpful for me.

I can’t quite remember why I decided to try meditation. But I do remember thinking given that it’s been around for so long, it was definitely worth taking a look at. I also had a number of questions about it.

• How old is it?
• Who invented it?
• Do I need to be a Buddhist monk to be able to do it properly?
• Do I need to be able to sit in silence for hours?
• How can I even get started?
• Is there a wrong or right way to do it?

Exploring The Power Of Meditation

Being a life long learner, I did a lot of research about the power of meditation. This includes reading, what in hindsight felt like an inordinate number of blogs and listened to a lot of podcasts about it. In the end I reached paralysis from analysis. I had far too much information and was confused by it all.

So I went back to basics with the information that I had found. Here are some of the things that I learned.

• There is no single right way to meditate
  • Meditation is a very personal thing
  • No two individuals will or have to meditate in exactly the same way
  • It’s about finding a way that works for yourself
• Meditation isn’t just about sitting in silience with a completely blank mind
  • It’s entirely possible to meditate while walking, running or swimming etc.
• Meditation doesn’t have to go on for hours for it to be effective
  • Unless you’re following a divine/spiritual path, you can meditate in as little as a few minutes a day

Building My Meditation Practice

So how did I start meditating?

• I downloaded the Headspace app
  • It’s guided meditations for beginners are great
• I would meditate for up to 5 minutes every morning before my boys got up
• It took me about 3 – 4 months to properly build the habit
• I didn’t beat myself up when I missed a day
  • Although I tried to never miss more than one day in a row
  • The Headspace streak functionality helped, as it encouraged me to keep going.

Having realised all of the above about meditation, I was able to build my own daily habit, that was just right for me. Over time this evolved into a ritual that I do at different times of the day. One of the key realisations for me was that there is no perfect end state to reach for meditation. It’s called a meditation practice for a reason. I also learned a lot about mindfulness. I noticed that the 2 terms are sometimes used interchangably. The truth is that while mindfulness can be done as part of a meditation practice, it can be done separately from it too.

What Meditation Now Means To Me

Meditation has provided me with a way to slow down from the busyness of life. To be present for a period of time and really be in the moment. It’s now a core element of my daily well being & resilience practice.

I now meditate several times throughout the day and not just in the mornings like I used to. This gives me the opportunity to hit the reset button several times throughout the day.

Whatever you do on a daily basis and however busy you are, maybe there’s a way to build the time and space for you to slow down and discover the power of meditation. Even if only for just a few minutes