Meditation is able to improve your overall health. By learning to meditate, you can gain the benefits of this body state which include relaxation, energy and perspective on your life.

Improve Your Health with Meditation

Improve Your Health with Meditation

Meditation is often used by people that suffer from such medical conditions as anxiety, insomnia, pain, stress, depression, and emotional problems. Meditation is also the ultimate brain workout.

What you need: quite place to sit, timer, 20 minutes per day

What you have to do:

meditation1. Sit
Choose a place where you can sit comfortably. Make sure that nobody will interrupt you for about 20 minutes. You have to remember that the most important thing is to sit upright with your back as straight as possible. Some people find that sitting on the edge of a pillow helps keep the back straight. You probably hear about special meditation stuff like cushions, statues, bells, candles, incense, and others. In facts, the most important thing is to sit comfortably and to practice meditation frequently. You can add in accessories whenever and whatever you want.

2. Set a Timer
At times when you are meditating, you may secretly be looking for any pretext to get up and do something else. One of the most insuperable pretexts is to check the time. It often happens that your sense of timing is lost during meditation. That’s why you may feel that you have gone past the time you set for meditation. Such feeling will often happen after you have been sitting for 1 or 2 minutes. A timer shows a real time of your meditation.

3. Breathe
- Focus your attention to your breathing
- Notice everything about your breathing: the exhale, the inhale, and the pauses between them
- Breath naturally
The only task in meditation is to be aware of your breath.

4. Label
The aim of meditation is not to have no thoughts (that is impossible) but to not interact with your thoughts. If, while you are meditating, you start think about when was the last time you watered your plants, that is pretty normal.  In such cases you have just come back to your breathing and try not to 'chase' the thought.

5. Don't Judge
While meditation your thoughts will drift. You will find that once you spend your entire meditation time thinking about your armchair. Your awareness will drift away and the time will disappear. That is fine. Whenever you drift, come back to being aware of sitting and breathing. Do not judge yourself. Do not think about how you can't meditate, how you are no good at this. Just turn back to your breath.

6. Do not Listen to Yourself  
While you meditate, you will hear a little voice inside your head. This voice will come up with great ideas that you just have to write down immediately. Don't listen to it. While you are mediating there is nothing more important for you to do.

7. Bring Meditation into Your Daily Life
Many of the skills learned in meditation can be used during your daily life. You can meditate when you are doing the dishes, feeling upset, etc. Make a two-minute breathing break several times during the day. Watch your thoughts and ideas, in conversation, or while you are solving a problem. Use the same experimental mindset and watch how you behave and think throughout the day.

8. Repeat Each Day
Meditation is a skill that requires more and more practice.  Schedule a certain time for meditation and stick to it. Your brain will benefit from the endlessly engaging trip into your own mind. Your body will benefit from the deep relaxation and stress reduction.