WHAT’S THE STORY WITH MEDITATION AND MANTRAS?
LIVE BETTER, LIVE LONGER, AND GAIN PERSPECTIVE IN 6 JUST SECONDS WITH MEDITATION!
Mantra and Meditation do not need to go together nor are they mutually exclusive. Each can be used without the other and each can be used together as well. For this article we are going to focus on Meditation, but you can read more about mantras here.
We think the most import aspects of meditation are gaining perspective and acceptance. Perspective changes according to who you are and what situation you are in, it also shapes your reality. Acceptance goes hand in hand with gaining perspective and does not need much explanation – accept who you are, what you are capable of, the situation that you are in, etc. If you can change your situation – great! If not – accept it! With acceptance, perspective WILL change. That is a guarantee you can take to the bank.
The beauty of meditation – real meditation – is that aside from giving you perspective and helping with acceptance, meditation can be done anywhere, anytime, and for whatever length of time you have available. Meditation will also center you, keep you mindful, and make you healthier. As with most skills (yes meditation is a skill) a structured meditation practice is far better than just winging it, however we all have to start somewhere, so if you’re just starting out, embrace being a beginner.
With a structured meditation practice you will also get longer and better benefits from it. A structured meditation practice is one where you pick a certain time of day, preferably every day but do your best, and for a certain amount of time (usually from 1 minute to 20 minutes but do what is comfortable to you). Just be with yourself and your thoughts. Oh, and accept things as they come and go. As you grow in your meditation journey, you will find that pushing disruptive thoughts out of your practice becomes second nature. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a meditation session – accept it.
Any other meditation that is non structured is just that – non structured meditation. It can be for 6 seconds or however long you have. It can be while sitting quietly, running, doing yoga, or even with a friend.
A key component to any meditation that you do by yourself is relaxing (this is hard to do while running or talking to a friend but you can take the concept and apply it in some function while doing those activities). Close your eyes, start at the top of your head and work your way down your body willing each part of yourself to relax. This can be as simple as “Head – Relax, Neck – Relax” or as complex as “I am now relaxing the top of my head, I am now relaxing the front of my head, etc.” all the way down your body – focus on as many or as little body parts you want. Take more time for “troubled” body parts if you wish. As soon as you finish relaxing (it is OK if you fall asleep or lose track or focus – just start where you left off or start again) just be – listen to the sounds around you, tune in to your thoughts, allow your thoughts to be released and flow down the stream, whatever “just being” means to you – JUST BE!
Did you know that you can live longer and happier in just 6 seconds? It is basically a mediation/relaxation/acceptance/gain perspective technique that works in 6 seconds. Here it goes – Take a DEEP breath and while you do imagine that all of the light and energy is flowing into you. At the top of your DEEP breath pause for a moment. As you let all of the air out SLOWLY imagine that all of the bad is leaving your body and as you do go down your body from head to toe and relax. At the bottom of your exhale pause and listen…tune in to the sounds around you – then resume whatever you were doing and enjoy the long lasting happiness benefits. Again, this takes some practice but it is a skill well worth learning.
Updated October 2021
