What the heck is meditation?

Meditation, what is it??

Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state. It has been used in cultures, spiritual traditions and healing systems throughout the world. It is a mind - body practice with many different methods. Most are grounded in silence and stillness, but the most important aspect is mindfulness or awareness of the present moment.

The goal of mindfulness is to be in a moment by moment experience, not judging or reacting to what you are thinking. You are not trying to be anywhere but where you are at the present moment. You’re not trying to turn off your thoughts or feelings. You’re learning to observe them without judgment. And eventually, you may start to better understand them as well.

Often we think of meditation as sitting on a cushion, folding the legs in a lotus position, closing the eyes and focusing the attention on something such as a candle or chant. There are so many more forms of meditation.

Prayer is a form of meditation, as well as breathing exercises. You can have movement in meditation - yoga, contemplative or mindful walking, dance or just strolling in nature

(including long distance biking, running, hiking or skiing).

It is a learned behavior. You get better with practice. I am still such a beginner. I start and just keep trying. You just want to learn to be able to turn of all that noise in your head and JUST BE.

I have a hard time sitting still, so I am a fan of moving meditation. Anything that keeps you in the moment and connects to that parasympathetic nervous system that lowers your blood pressure and calms you. (Note - Please Reread that Flight or Fight post on the blog. https://www.wellnessmadeec.com/post/stress-fight-or-flight-with-the-occasional-freeze )

It is one of those ways we can turn off that stress in our brain!!!

There are so many good sources and apps to learn various methods of meditation. I have listed some of my favorite. Just try some and see which fits you.

Phone apps

1. Headspace https://www.headspace.com/

2. Calm https://www.calm.com/

3. Insight Timer https://insighttimer.com/

4. RunSpace by C25K - For you moving mediation people https://apps.apple.com/us/app/runspace-by-c25k-meditation/id1485559769

5. Abide Bible and Sleep Meditation https://abide.co/

Here is a good review of some on the market -

https://www.verywellmind.com/best-meditation-apps-4767322

Other resources

1. Guided Mindfulness Meditations by Jon Kabat-Zinn

2. Meditations for Beginners by Jack Kornfield, PhD

All material gathered and researched through my amazing fellowship program, The Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine.

https://integrativemedicine.arizona.edu/

and

https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/integrative-medicine-health/sections/overview/ovc-20464567

and

Rakel, David. Integrative Medicine, Fourth Edition, Philadelphia: Elsevier, 2017. Print.