What is meditation and why should we practice it

Meditation is about training your mind, body and soul in becoming aware of the present moment. It’s about achieving a clearer emotional and mental stability and level of calmness. 

Meditation has been practiced from cultures all over the world for thousands of years and religions such as: Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism and Islamism practice it as a tradition. However, many people who meditate do not necessarily have a spiritual and religious purpose behind their practice. In fact, these people mainly use meditation as a self-psychotherapeutic technique.

At first, meditation can result easier when guided by a teacher, as your mind will tend to wander and focus on other things going on in your head, rather than just being focused on the present moment (particularly during your first sessions). As a matter of fact, do bear in mind that it will take time to feel comfortable with your mind. Some days you will find meditating very hard, and other days you will find it much easier. Therefore, in order to increase your knowledge and confidence in meditation, you will have to be consistent in your practice and learn to get increasingly comfortable with it.

Benefits of daily meditation

The main reason why people start meditating is because of strong feelings of discomfort, anxiety, stress, insonnia, fear of not being able to be enough and to do enough, but also to cultivate peace of mind.

The positive effects that people feel and benefit from by implementing daily meditations in their lives are numerous and these include: significant reduction in anxiety and stress levels, improved emotional well-being, increased levels of immunity and lower chances of developing diseases, improved sleep and emotional health, lower blood pressure levels, improved metabolism and weight loss enhancement, increased levels of happiness and lower chances of developing depression.

Moreover, studies have proved that people who meditate for at least 15 minutes per day have lower levels of cortisol (hormone associated with physical and emotional stress). Additionally, people who meditate have shown to improve their relationships with loved ones, friends and family. This is because meditation stimulates a part of the brain which is directly associated with empathy. 

A LOOK INSIDE THE MEDITATING BRAIN

Thanks to the use of modern technology and to the development of science, the use of devices such as: fMRI scans have helped scientists to develop a detailed understanding of what happens in our brains when we meditate.

Frontal Lobe:

This is the most important and the most involved part of the brain during the meditation process as it is responsible for: reasoning, planning, feeling emotions and being self-conscious. As a result, during the meditation process, the frontal cortex is most likely to go “offline”. 

Pariental Lobe:

During meditation, the activity going on in this part of the brain tends to slow down. The parietal lobe processes all of the sensory information going on in the world adapting you through space and time. 

Thalamus:

This organ merely focuses on your attention, and it does so by channeling sensory data deeper into the brain and by stopping other external signals from disrupting your focus. Therefore, whilst meditating, the thalamus reduces the flow of information incoming in your brain.  

Reticular formation:

This part of the brain receives stimuli and is responsible for putting the brain on alert, ready to respond to any signals. The meditation process is thus, responsible for sending back to the brain any signals that do not involve the focus on the practice.

How to get started with meditation:

Choose a time and place that would work best for you

Most of the people who meditate on a daily basis prefer meditating first thing in the morning to benefit from the awakening source of energy that the practice gives to them, before becoming too busy. Others, prefer doing it before going to bed to calm their minds and improve their sleeping routine. 

However, regardless of your personal preferences, it is recommended to engage in any meditation practice every day at the same time, and in the same place.

Please note that if you want to use candles or incenses during your practice, you are highly recommended to do so. In fact, the release of calming aromas, encourage the mind to stay focused during the meditating session.  

Decide how much time you want to dedicate to meditation

The amount of time that you want to dedicate to meditation will change accordingly to your mood, daily routine and personal experience. However, if you are a beginner, we recommend to dedicate yourself to your practice for no longer than 30 minutes to stay focused and motivated throughout all of the meditating session.

Become confident with making yourself comfortable during the meditation process

When you meditate, you should choose a posture that best suits you, that could either be sitting with your legs crossed, laying down, sitting on a chair, sitting on your knees or standing. Regardless of your choice, the position that you will use, will help you to stay focused and concentrated during your meditation. Therefore, it is very important that you make yourself comfortable.

Specifically in the beginning use a guide (mentor or a smartphone app)

To become consistent with your meditation practice, we suggest to attend classes from wherever you find yourself in the world. Alternatively, you can use many different life-changing apps that can be directly downloaded on your tablets and smartphones. These are some of our favorites:

Headspace

This app will help you to find balance, calm and well-being. What we love the most about it, is that you can build personalised plans based on your records (consistency in your practice). 

Headspace offers a 7 day free trail and then it has a cost of €12,99 monthly.

Calm

This app contains a lot of calming and breathing exercises and techniques which will help you to stay calm and relaxed. The Calm app also offers a “Calm Kids” section for children from 3 to 17 years old. The app also features a “Sleep stories” section where famous movie stars such as: Matthew McConaughey and Jerome Flynn very calmly guide you to your sleep. 

Calm offers a 7 day trail and then it has a fixed cost of €49.99 per year.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness offers a lot of options for meditating (meditation on forgiveness, eating meditation, mindfulness for breathing, body scan etc.). 

The app offers a 7 day free trail and it then has a fixed cost of €59,99 per year.

Insight Timer

This app offers you to focus on different main topics such as: learning how to meditate, coping with anxiety, managing stress, improving your sleep and boosting your self-esteem. Moreover, it offers 10 new guided meditations every day.

Insight Timer initially offers a 7 day free trail like the other apps and then it has a fixed cost of €62,99 per year.