Meditation
Meditation is a technique that helps to calm racing thoughts, sadness, anxiety, and essentially any emotions that bring distress. It is a way to increase your awareness and acknowledge whatever is going on in your mind. It teaches us to be more accepting of our emotions and to have a non-judgmental attitude toward our thoughts. When people are depressed or anxious, they often want their thoughts and feelings to disappear, which is neither realistic nor even needed. The more resistance you feel towards your emotions and the more you try to suppress them, the more clingy and painful they become.
Scientific research shows that when people practice meditation regularly, a certain area of the brain associated with alpha waves becomes active. Specifically, alpha waves are associated with relaxation and resting. At the same time, beta waves, which are associated with logic, concentration, and learning, are reduced. The main idea of the meditation is to become aware of the present moment and let go of any thoughts about the future or the past. Many people think that in order to do meditation, the mind has to become empty, and they experience frustration thinking that they are doing something wrong. However, meditation is not a competition. The person simply accepts whatever they feel in the present moment without any suppression or reactivity.
There are a few ways to do meditation. You can find a point of reference and observe it. For example, you can observe your breathing, the way your body feels, the way the water tastes, the sounds around you, and the colors of the flowers. The examples can be endless. Also, even though it is great to sit still and do meditation in a quiet place, you can meditate literally at any moment. For example, when you communicate with someone and start to become irritable or upset, observe your thoughts and emotions and accept them without judgment. Creating some space between yourself and your thoughts allows us not to become identified with anger, irritability, sadness, anxiety, and etc. When your thoughts begin to wander (or you have intrusive or repetitive thoughts that bring distress), acknowledge them and bring your attention back to the mode of being an observer.
Start your practice in a quiet place for a few minutes. Later, you can increase this time and find it possible to meditate even when the environment is not that quiet. You can do it yourself or use guided meditation, which can be easier for beginners. It is important to remember that there is no right or wrong practice and not to be strict with yourself. When meditation becomes a routine, you will notice that you let go of not only the judgment toward your thoughts and experiences but also become more accepting toward yourself and other people in your life.
April 14, 2023