When it comes to productivity a lot of what we want is focus. Focus on the things that we believe will bring us the things we need, whether that is money, joy, or even health. Everyday we need to find the strength and motivation to wake up, do our work, exercise; however we avoid this work, and choose instead to be on social media, go to the fridge and eat whatever snacks are available. Basically, instead of us controlling our minds and body, we let our mind control us. We, as humans, are aware of this, so we make up ways to come back to the task at hand, such as building a strict routine.
People that have been able to master the art of meditation are able to control emotions, and carry on life with much less stress than the average individual. It has been proven even scientifically, where neuroscientists have performed MRIs on people that meditate and people that don’t and the difference is remarkable. People that do not meditate hold on to pain much longer than those that practice mindfulness.
How do I incorporate meditation in a busy schedule?
There is a saying that even 5 mins a day of meditation, has amazing long term effects. Follow these quick steps to get started yourself.
- Find an app that you feel comfortable using, if you don’t feel like paying, there are many free options available.
- Create a routine, what I have found is that if I want to go the distance, I have to 1. Schedule it and just do it. Do not be too strict, remember there are days when we might miss to brush our teeth; we do however come back to that task as soon as we are able.
- Start small, don’t attempt to meditate for long periods of time when you start, begin small and increase as you see fit.
Benefits:
- Sleep: For some, when it is time for bed it is either difficult to fall asleep or fall back to sleep if awakened in the middle of the night. There can be many reasons for this, even medical, but on average people have thoughts that become disruptive for the body to naturally do its thing. Meditation can help without meditation.
- Feelings: One of the core structures of humans are the feelings that we experience, such as joy, sadness, anger, fear and disgust. While we enjoy the feelings of happiness, fear and sadness in high dosage can be problematic. They can take over and impede us from moving forward. Meditation allows for the feeling to happen, but does act towards it, and it does not give additional energy to it. In exchange we become resilient and are able to move on.
- Self Awareness: We are always caught up with everything happening, that we forget to enjoy the moment. The here and the now, the food that we eat, the flowers, the air. There are joys that we can enjoy now and not dwell on the past or the future.
- Increase patience: When we don’t practice mental health, our minds become overwhelmed, which leave little to no room to analyze the situation. We let emotions like anger get the best of us, to only come back and get the feeling of regret. Meditation allows us to watch the emotion, label it or for the feeling to pass before we act.
- Increase tolerance: Patience is similar but tolerance allows you to take on more without the emotional baggage. As the famous saying from the bible says “ if you are slapped in one cheek to offer the other”. Meditation allows you to see beyond the physical pain and focus on perhaps the goal that you are trying to achieve. In case of violence you may be the reason for de-escalation.
- Reduction of stress: When our minds are overwhelmed with thoughts on things we need to do, or things we should have done, we become paralyzed. This paralysis causes us to feel like we are unable to function or do anything. It is like we are always full and nothing new can be added. Meditation can help by allowing our thoughts to flow without taking any action towards them.
- Reduction of Anxiety: Anxiety happens usually when fear has taken over, we are so overwhelmed by its effect that it impacts us physically. Meditation can help, perhaps not immediately at the moment, but it can help us recover faster.
A little meditation practice.
Find your favorite chair.
- Seat with your palms at your lap, and close your eyes.
- Begin noticing your senses, such as what you are hearing, taste, touch, seeing, and smelling. Start becoming aware of these feelings without the need to change, just take notice.
- Then slowly bring your focus to your breath, how it flows from your nose, through your belly, try not to change your breathing pattern, just notice its presence.
- Gently open your eyes
And that’s it. The magic of following those four simple steps is the first step and making monumental changes for your life.