5 Reasons Why I Learn To Meditate

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Everyone has their own reasons why they want to learn to meditate. Some people seek meditation because they are experiencing health issues or other personal issues. Many want to learn to meditate to be better at their jobs or other endeavors. I will give you my reasons.

1. To be happy.

The practice of meditation cultivates more positive feelings that leads to happiness. Research has shown that meditation permanently alters the brain to generate positive thoughts. Meditation is one of the best ways to achieve happiness with consistency.

2. To be in touch with my higher self.

When you meditate, you get in touch with the higher parts of yourself. Your higher self is the inner voice that knows what is right from wrong. When you have any problems in life, you can get quiet and let your higher self give you the answers. For every problem a solution exists. When your mind is clear and you are in a state of peace, solutions appear.

3. To reduce stress.

Meditation has been proven to reduce stress because it promotes peace and inner calm. This is the main reason why people want to learn how to meditate. Meditation helps reduce stressful feelings in two ways. First, it helps you relax, and naturally release those stressful feelings. Secondly, by making you more aware of yourself and your environment, you become more aware of the triggers that can generate stress.

4. To be more focused.

Meditation will help you to focus and concentrate. Meditation helps calm the brain of the random thoughts that constantly run through your mind. When your mind is calm, you will be able to focus on your tasks much more effectively. You will be able to maintain this mental clarity over longer periods of time.

5. To be a more creative.

Meditation is a doorway between the conscious and subconscious. When the mind is calm, the creative process can go to work more effectively. A mind cluttered with thoughts lacks the spaciousness needed for creativity. It helps to be still for a few minutes before starting a creative endeavor. The more we can learn how to relax, the more we will be able to bring out our creativity.

4 Ways to Be More Mindful

May12

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Most people can only devote a few minutes each day to meditation. This is a good start because a regular meditation practice will provide you with the foundation of being mindful during your waking hours. There are a few things you can do throughout the day to retain the meditative state that you picked up during your meditation.

1. Spend a few minutes monitoring your breathing.

The practice of paying attention to your breathing will help to center you during the day. Most of us are unaware of it. But once you notice it, it helps to calm the body and mind. It will help anchor you in the awareness of your body in the here and now. Throughout the day you can practice watching your breathing. When your mind starts to wander, bring it back to the breath. The more often you can do this the better you will feel.

2. Focus on the present.

People are thinking all the time. Most of our thoughts are about the past or the future. We get so lost in our thoughts that we are not enjoying the present moment. When you are mindful you realize that you are not your thoughts. When you focus on the present moment, it forces you to stop over thinking and to enjoy life. To practice mindfulness, you need to bring yourself to the present. Whenever you catch yourself with unproductive thoughts about the past or the future, you need to snap out of it and be aware of what is happening now.

3. Focus on happiness.

When we are thinking we have a tendency to focus on the negative or unhappy thoughts. When you find yourself doing this replace it with happy thoughts or emotions. Happiness is a moment-to-moment choice that you make everyday. You can be happy or unhappy. This is a personal decision you make everyday. When you focus on the positive aspects of your life, you will feel better about yourself. People who appreciate small moments of happiness, laughter and joy during the day are living life to the fullest. Remember, positive thinking is better than negative thinking. No thinking is better than positive thinking.

4. Take breaks during the day.

Even if it is for 5 minutes, get up from whatever you are doing and relax. You can use this time to practice on being present or focusing on your breath. During your break you shut off all distractions like your phones, computers, TV, etc. This is your moment to just do nothing. Sit at your chair and practice listening to the sounds around you. Be aware of everything that is happening in your environment. An important part of doing nothing is being able to completely relax. Being mindful is finding peace in the chaos of the day.

5 Tips for Happiness

May5

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Most people are unhappy. People are unhappy for various reasons. Perhaps their reasons are legitimate. Maybe they just lost their job, have some health issues, struggling with money, lost a loved one, etc.

It is okay to feel sadness once in a while. But to be unhappy all the time is not a good way to live. Life is to short to always be unhappy. We all want to experience more happiness in life. Below are some tips to become happy.

1. Make happiness a priority.

It is a good idea to start your day by telling yourself that you are going to be happy. No matter what happens during the day, good or bad, you will remain happy. Happiness is not dependent on outside circumstances. Happiness is a state of mind that we can choose everyday.

2. Do things that make you happy.

I know this is pretty obvious but most people neglect this very simple tip. How many times during the week have you done things that make you happy? If you list less than 5, you need to add more happy moments in your life. Do something today tht your future self will thank you for.

3. Live in the present moment.

The present moment is the only moment where you ever truly live life. When you think about the past and future, you are robbing yourself of the opportunity to enjoy the present moment. One of the keys to happiness is live as much as you can in the moment. It takes some time and effort, but in the end, the act of living in the moment rewards not only you but the people around you.

4. Practice acts of kindness.

When life gets you down, the quickest way to cheer up is to do something for someone else with no expectations that you will be rewarded. Research shows that being kind to others increases our own levels of happiness as well as theirs. Making other people happy is the highest expression of gratitude.

5. Plan for happiness.

Everyone wants to be happy, but very few people achieve it. I think the problem is that we don’t consciously have a happiness plan. We have a plan for everything else but we neglect our own happiness. From the moment you wake up to when you fall asleep, you should make a conscious effort to be happy. Most successful people have a to-do list. Most successful and happy people also have a fun list. Develop happiness routines and make them a part of your everyday living.

Finding Time to Meditate

Apr28

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One of the biggest reasons why people don’t meditate or quit doing it is because of time. We have so many other things competing for our time in this hectic world that it can be very hard to meditate regularly. People complain that they just don’t have any time to meditate. Time isn’t the issue. It’s about priority, motivation and discipline.

Below are 3 tips to make meditation a part of your daily schedule.

1. List the reasons why you want to meditate.

You should have a few reasons why you want to meditate. Perhaps you have some medical issues that you feel meditation can help. Maybe you feel out of balance in your life and believe meditation is going to bring you back into equilibrilum. If you have a bunch of reasons why you want to meditate, it will keep you motivated and inspired.

2. Schedule your meditation time.

Before you can make meditation a habit, you should write it down in your daily schedule. Make an appointment with yourself like you would if you have an important meeting at work or a doctor’s appointment. When you write it down on your schedule, you are more likely to do it. We usually schedule something when it is important and we don’t want to forget it.

3. Start small.

When you first begin to meditate, you should only spend a few minutes each day. The goal is to build up your meditation muscles gradually. Telling yourself that you are going to meditate an hour a day is not realistic. But if you schedule a 5-minute appointment to meditate, you are more likely to stick with it.

The bottomline is that you got to make time for meditation everyday. You need to honor the time you’ve set aside for meditation. By committing to a meditation schedule, you are saying that you value your own well-being enough to take time during the day for yourself.

Doctors Are Asking Their Patients to Say Om

Apr20

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Many people want to learn how to meditate because of the numerous health benefits that it promises. If you suffer from stress, anxiety, depression, pain, high blood pressure, insomnia, headaches and other ailments you are a good candidate for meditation. While meditation does not promise to cure you of all your health issues, it can certainly help in coping with it better.

Nearly 40 percent of Americans use some form of complementary and alternative medicine. These practices include meditation, yoga, acupuncture and other types of mind-body-practices. Meditation programs are increasingly showing up at hospitals and clinics across the country. Doctors are recommending meditation to their patients as an adjunct to conventional drugs and therapies.

They emphasize that it should be use for symptom management, not to cure or treat disease. It is still very important to take your presciption drugs and see your doctors. Many experts say meditation is more likely to treat medical conditions successfully when it is used in conjunction with conventional therapies.

If one of your goals is to improve your health, you should give meditation a try.

4 Obstacles to Meditation

Apr15

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When you first learn to meditate, you will encounter all kinds of struggles and frustrations. This is normal, natural and part of the learning process that everyone goes through. If you are new to meditation, here are a 4 obstacles you might face.

1. You don’t know how to meditate.

Everyone who meditates for the first time thinks they are doing it wrong. They are their own harshest critic. The truth of the matter is that there is no one way to meditate. Each person will develop their own style and technique. People make meditation more complicated than it really is. There are some basic guidelines that each person should be aware of but that is about it. My teacher used to say that the only bad meditation is the one you don’t do.

2. You can’t find the time to meditate.

The biggest obstacle people will face in meditating regularly is finding the time. Meditation is like physical exercise. We know it is good for us but we rationalize why it can’t fit into our busy schedule. Meditation does not have to take a huge amount of time out of your daily schedule. You can get all the benefits of meditation by spending only 5 to 10 minutes each day.

3. You lack the discipline.

The second biggest obstacle that people new to meditation face is the lack of discipline. Everyone starts out with the best of intentions. They tell themselves that they are going to meditate everyday. After a few weeks, they start to make excuses and then stop meditating due to a lack of self-discipline. What you can do is to remind yourself everyday why you want to learn to meditate. What do you want to accomplish from learning to quiet your mind? This will inspire you to continue. Also, research has proven that it takes 21 days to develop a new habit. If meditation is new to you, stick to it for 21 days to see if it is something you want to make as a daily part of your life. It is important to make meditation fun. Don’t turn it into a chore you must do.

4. You fall asleep while you meditate.

This is actually pretty common problem when you begin to meditate. If you find yourself falling asleep during your meditation, you need to do something to keep yourself awake like getting up and splashing water on your face. Try to meditate when you are fully alert. Other techniques include chanting a mantra or focusing on an object with your eyes open. Over time, you will find yourself very alert and focused during your meditation practice.

Live in the Moment

Apr10

We are happiest when we are living in the moment. But researchers say we spend nearly half of our waking hours thinking instead of being present. This constant thinking also makes us unhappy. “A human mind is a wandering mind, and a wandering mind is an unhappy mind,” said psychologists Matthew A. Killingsworth and Daniel T. Gilbert of Harvard University in their article to Science magazine.

Human beings are possessed with a remarkable mind. But the way most people use it is for mundane and negative thinking. When we are thinking, our thoughts are about things that happen in the past, things that might happen in the future or things that will never happen. All of this thinking makes us unhappy.

When we are constantly thinking about past and future events, we are not living in the present. This mind wandering not only makes us unhappy but can rob us of the joy of being focused on what is happening now. “Mind-wandering is an excellent predictor of people’s happiness,” Killingsworth says. “In fact, how often our minds leave the present and where they tend to go is a better predictor of our happiness than the activities in which we are engaged.”

Below is a TED talk from Matt Killingsworth that is worth watching.

Meditation For Inner Calm

Apr1

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Did you know that stress is slowly killing you? We have all experienced stress. Some live with it on a daily basis. Having some stress in your life is actually good as it motivates us to take action. For example, your boss tells you to produce a financial report by the end of the week. The stress that we feel from this request will propel us to get that report completed on time.

There is another type of stress that is actually quite harmful to your well-being. This is the chronic stress that many people suffer from during their waking hours. It affects their physical health such as headaches, fatigue, insomnia, and high blood pressure. Chronic stress makes you anxious, tense, worry, unhappy, angry and upset.

You can reduce chronic stress by spending a few minutes each day in meditation to restore your calm and inner peace. Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years. Meditation originally was meant to help deepen understanding of the sacred and mystical forces of life. These days, meditation is commonly used for relaxation and stress reduction. Doctors are now prescribing meditation to their patients as a complementary medicine in addition to conventional drugs and other medical procedures.

Meditation is something that you can quickly learn and it requires no special equipment or instructions. You don’t need to spend hours each day on meditation. In fact, studies have shown amazing benefits by spending less than 10 minutes a day in meditation. And these benefits don’t end when your meditation session ends. Meditation can help carry you more calmly through your day and can definitely reduce the stress you feel on a daily basis.

The next time you are feeling stressful, take a few minutes to calm your mind by meditating. You will find that your stress will melt away and you will have a big smile on your face.

How to Make Meditation a Daily Habit

Mar20

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It’s no secret that meditation has a lot of benefits and can help you with many aspects of your life. That’s why it is important to include meditation in your daily activities. A lot of people out there have the misconception that they have to dedicate hours a day in order to successfully meditate, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. You don’t have to take up your entire day or go out and purchase hundreds of dollars in equipment; all you need to do is take a few minutes of time each day and meditate in a quiet and relaxing area. Let’s talk about some of the ways that you can include meditation into your daily schedule.

One of the things you’re going to want to do when you’re first starting out with meditation is to pace yourself. You don’t need to spend hours meditating, in fact its best that you ease into it because you can certainly burn yourself out if you try to spend too much time meditating. It’s best to keep it short and start out with 5 minute sessions to begin with. Just like lifting weights, you’re going to want to start out slow and work your way up. The quality of your meditation always is better than the quantity of time you spend in meditation.

It’s very important that you set a schedule you’ll be able to stick to. Put 5 or 10 minutes aside each day to have your meditation session. You don’t have to have your meditation session at the exact same time every day, but it’s best that you try to keep it generally at the same time of day. After you wake up or after you get home from work is a great time of day to base your meditation schedule around. As long as you’re making an effort to meditate once a day, at around the same time you are doing a good job.

A lot of people believe that they need to have a special room, incense and other meditation equipment to have a successful meditation session, but this is untrue. You don’t have to setup an elaborate area for meditation; it just needs to be somewhere relaxing and also free of noise. You have the option to sit on the floor or on a chair while you meditate; there are no rules as long as you’re comfortable. Try to find an area that doesn’t have a lot of noise and is free from distractions.

How to Reduce Stress With Meditation

Mar12

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It’s safe to say that a lot of our lives are filled with stress; we’ve got deadlines to meet, bills to pay and mouths to feed. These types of things can add up on our ‘list of things to worry about,’ and it’s never good to have to keep these things in our minds. When you let stress build up around you, it changes your outlook on life and can make you depressed or angry. One of the best ways to remedy these stresses is by using the power of meditation. Rather than let stress control you, take control and make sure that stress is no longer a part of your life.

Meditation has the power to give you all of the needed strength to properly deal with any stress that you may come across. You will notice a sense of inner peace and it will also make you much more aware of your surroundings. Because of this you’ll be able to see things from a different perspective which will allow you to find different ways to deal with situations. This can allow you to find the needed strategies to conquer all of your problems, or at least deal with them much easier.

You may feel that you’re surrounded by certain people who tend to get on your nerves or push your buttons. This is natural, and to be honest, there are quite a few people out there who have some not-so-likeable qualities. When we’re faced with these types of people it usually makes us upset and it can sometimes even push us to make inappropriate decisions, say awful things or have negative thoughts. Meditation will help you find the power to more appropriately deal with these types of situations. Because of that it will save you from dealing with the regret of doing something that you might not have done if your live was more in balance.

Meditation will give you the tools that you need to analyze and see things from different points of views. You’ll notice that you will be able to confront the people who are bothering you with constructive criticism rather than lashing out at them, which can in turn help them better themselves. Rather than keeping an enemy, you might even gain a friend. Perhaps you will notice that you’ve been doing something annoying that you didn’t realize that was getting on someone’s nerves. If nothing else you will notice that you’re far less stressed out with these types of encounters when you take advantage of the powers of meditation.