CURRENT OBSESSION: MEDITATION

I’ve thought that including this “current obsession” series is a cool way to touch on lots of different topics!

I am someone who becomes super obsessed with different topics which interest me! My friends will vouch for me when I say I literally dive head first into everything about a certain topic until I feel like I’ve gotten my head around it, so I thought having this series is a cool way to share all the things I learn along the way.

Starting with meditation!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, somewhere along the line im sure you’ve heard of meditation!

Meditation is misunderstood by a lot of people – including me! I have never been a big fan of meditation simply because I didn’t understand it. Since delving deeper into the science behind meditation and the benefits of it I’ve literally fallen in love with it! I definitely haven’t been practicing meditation long enough to tell you its changed my life or anything crazy but what I have learnt is that it is such a simple practice which is so easy to incorporate into the busiest of days, with huge benefits on my day to day focus, mood and happiness!

I have 4 points to share with you that are the points which were enough to convert me (and I’m hoping you to)!

First of all.. What is it?

There are so many different types of meditation, which is great because meditation is a very personal thing and its important to find one which works well for you!

“Meditation refreshes us, helps us settle into what’s happening now, makes us wiser and gentler and helps us cope in a world that overloads us with information and communication”.

From what I’ve gathered, and of course put in super simple terms, meditation is like training your brain. Just like we train our bodies physically at the gym or playing sport, meditation is like exercise for the brain.

Focused meditation is a type of meditation asking you to focus on one thing, usually your breath. Doing this kind of meditation trains your brain to focus strongly on one thing and is consistently asking you to bring your attention back to this focus point, promoting growth within this area of our brain.

Growth within this area means increased ability to focus in our daily lives, less distractions and less procrastination, it also supposedly allows us to practice shutting out other thoughts such as anxious or negative thoughts more effectively.

I don’t know about you, but I need allllllll the help I can get to decrease distraction and procrastination.

Anyway, here are the four reasons to start meditating STAT!

1. Meditation is a productivity tool!

If you feel like you don’t have enough time to meditate, then you NEED to meditate.

Regular meditation practice supercharges our minds and teaches us focus. Meditation emphasises bringing out mind back to a point of focus, lets say our breath, when it wanders. This practice strengthens this part of our brain and can be translated into real life scenarios. With practice you will feel more able to let go of the non-essential tasks and have more of an unwavering focus on the important tasks at hand – leaving you feeling super productive and motivated (Love that). Meditation also teaches us to get better at resisting the urge to engage in counter-productive activities and strengthens our willpower muscle!

2. You’ll gain a refreshed perspective.

Do you feel like throughout the day your productivity and focus is a bit like a downward slope? I can relate!

I use meditation as a mental break to refresh and recharge my mind and give me a more refreshed perspective on things. Meditation gives our brains a break, and allows us to de-concentrate. Meditation also takes a lot of the pressure off our brains and encourages us to be gentle with ourselves when bringing our focus back to our breath if our minds wander. It’s a small fraction of the day that eliminates pressure and intense focus supporting our minds to come back refreshed and rejuvenated and with a clearer perspective on things! Next time your suffering from serious brain fog and feeling a bit overwhelmed I challenge you to try a 5 minute guided meditation! Game changer – trust me!

3. More clarity on the bigger picture.

Practicing mindfulness regularly gives us more clarity on what is important to us in life, what is a priority.

To me achieving success is about implementing daily habits which are going to propel you toward the ultimate goal everyday and meditation is one of those habits. Meditation, although not directly related to the end goal allows us to be more focused on the end goal, driving us toward success – does that make sense?

Regular meditation for me allows me to feel more calm and realigns me with what it is that I want to achieve in life. Its like a gentle reminder to just keep plodding along at the things that are important and the things that matter in the bigger scheme of things.

4. Meditation de-stresses, decreases anxiety and allows for more emotional control

In previous blogs I’ve mentioned the impact diaphragmatic breathing can have on decreasing our stress levels (super important) and meditation encourages a lot of this kind of breathing which directly (and immediately) positively influences our stress levels.

In terms of feelings of anxiety – I personally wouldn’t consider myself an overly anxious person, however we all have our moments!

We fuel this anxiety with about a million thoughts a day whether these be self doubt, guilt, resentment – or all of the above!

Meditation teaches us to experience our mind in its truest form, it allows stillness it teaches us to be more mindful of our thoughts, experiences and to be more non-judgmental and understanding of them. Practicing mindfulness and understanding around our thoughts and feelings allows more non-judgmental clarity when faced with situations which trigger anxiety or negative feelings or emotions. It allows us to step back and understand first why we are feeling like this, and gives space for more time to see the situation for what it is and critically think about how to respond before blowing up.

This is a super valuable skill to have and a huge benefit of meditation in my opinion.

Those are the four factors which really converted me from my meditation-is-woo-woo mindset to literally being obsessed with it! I really hope this has shed some light on meditation and also intrigues at least some of you to give it a go.

I use the app “headspace” which allows for meditations as short as 2 minutes per day. I shit you not I spend five minutes a day meditating (which does mean I sit with my legs crossed with my hands on my knees – its not actually that weird believe me) and it makes a world of difference – what is your excuse?

I’d love to hear your guys thoughts and experiences with meditation and am honestly so excited for you guys too to reap the benefits of such a simple, easy exercise!

Happy meditating!!

Vaida xx