Meditating each morning has truly enhanced my life. For such a quick and simple exercise, the benefits are quite remarkable. This post summarises a beginners guide to meditation, including tips on how I got started using a couple of easy, free, online resources.
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Table of Contents
Modern Day Meditation
Over the last few years, I’ve talked to many people about the subject of meditation around the world and I’ve found that:
- The stigma meditation has had – being some kind of religious ceremony – is over
- It is not reserved for monks or the spiritually enlightened
- It is a well-known practice amongst high achieving CEOs, elite athletes, farmers, fishermen, you name it.
In fact, most people in their daily life have some form of meditation that occurs without them even knowing about it.
What is Meditation?
Maybe it’s the moment you’re rolling out dough on a kitchen board, or dropping into a wave on a surfboard, or falling back into your favourite couch. For an instant, even if it’s a split second, your action becomes completely detached from what you’re doing and you’re a silent observer as your body and mind seem to just know what to do.
That’s you, the real you. You’re separate from your mind of running thoughts and separate from your physical form. Just watching in a complete state of calm for a minute period of pure relaxation.
That’s meditation in a nutshell.
It’s sometimes referred to as the “flow” state, in the “zone”, or a “pure state” or whatever you want to call it. Personally I get it (sometimes –if I allow myself) when I play guitar. I’ll strum away, lose where I am for a few minutes as my fingers and body roll along to a rhythm. I’ll ‘come to’ knowing what it sounded like but not really knowing how I got there.
The act of purposeful meditation (sitting down, letting your mind quiet & just breathing) is really just to exaggerate that “pure time” or “flow time” so that it lasts longer.
Why You Should Try Meditation
It’s like a recharge for your soul. Without getting too deep just yet, your soul is simply the part of you that is not your physical body and not the constant chatter in your brain. It’s the part that truly feels things, it is your essence of life, so to say.
If you think of your life as a three-tier “system”, mind, body, soul, and that the act of living uses up energy of all three. Then you will need to ‘recharge’, so to speak, in order to keep going.
The basics for human recharge are:
- Water
- Food
- Sleep
The better the quality of each, the better the recharge/sustainability potential.
We all know that if you’re tired, physically unwell, or mentally exhausted, if you gave your self truly enough quality sleep, water, and healthy food, you will generally bring yourself back to a familiar state of body and mind. But what of the soul?
It’s those “pure”, “in the zone” or “flow” moments that recharge the soul. And if you’re only getting a few microseconds a day (unknowingly), it may be the equivalent to under sleeping, or even being malnourished.
A Quick and Easy Way To Start Meditating
Everybody is different and therefore everyone will have their own way of doing things to which they prefer. Finding what works for you will be the best solution. Nevertheless, you need to begin to find out what works for you. Getting started meditating is easy and does not take long.
I started with a 14 minute guided meditation video by Alan Watts. Alan Watts, was a well-known author & speaker on all things related to living to one’s highest self. He was also one of the first people to bring “Eastern” teachings and philosophies to the “West”.
Try this guided meditation video for a nice entry into meditation (14 minutes). Alan Watts – Guided Meditation (Awakening The Mind)
I used this video each morning for about two weeks. After waking up, going to the bathroom, drinking some water, having a little stretch, maybe sticking my head out the window and breathing a little fresh air and before having breakfast, I would grab a pillow and sit crossed-legged on the floor, close my eyes with headphones on and listen to the video (Alan Watts) play out.
All you have to do is listen and breathe. I found that after only 14 minutes my mind felt as though it had been doused in some kind of a refreshing mint wash. It was really awake unlike never before.
I didn’t get into a meditative state right away. And when I did, it might have been for only a few seconds one day. Then a few more the next, until I reached a minute. Then a couple of minutes, etc. It was a gradual process. But I could feel the progress and the benefits of the extended durations.
Once you are comfortable, you don’t need guided meditation
After the two weeks, I decided to change to another video (this one without talking) however continued the same process of sitting, headphones on, breathing, etc.
The video is a series of sounds with an underlying frequency of 528Hz. Why? As everything in life as we know it is built out of vibrations on infinitely small scales (atoms are vibrating within your body as we speak).
There is a theory that this specific frequency has a very positive effect on your body and resonates with your DNA. Believe what you will, but it works for me. You can read more on the 528 Hz theory here.
528Hz DNA Upgrade Meditation
I allow 20 minutes each morning (which is really not much out of your day at all) to sit and meditate listening to this video – 528Hz – DNA Upgrade (20 Minute) Meditation.
After 20 minutes I am awake, really awake. I do not drink coffee, this to me is my morning kick. I might not be in a complete state of “flow” the whole 20 minutes, but I don’t let that bother me. Even a few quality minutes give me a good boost.
If you find your mind wandering, a trick that works for me is: I will say to myself “that’s great” and try to watch the thought play out. Then ask myself, “well, what comes next?”. It has a strange effect, where you stop for a second and realize that you are actually an observer to your mind. And just like that, you are detached. You are meditating.
Don’t rush it, and whatever you do, do not force it, just relax. Alan Watts has a great analogy of a pond with ripples (that’s your mind) and trying to force out the ripples (your thoughts) can make bigger waves….but I’ll let him explain it as you dive into a new way of regeneration!
Give Meditation a Go
That is the basis to get started. I hope that if you give it a go, that you really give it a go and see what the potential is for (really) waking up each day.
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Good tips man, and nice work on the site. Hope all is well with ya’ll. Peace and love from Houston.
Thanks! All is well here. Hope all is going ok on your end!