Meditation: What and How?

Meditation Many people talk about meditation. It could help improve health by reducing stress, calming your senses and cooling down your daily fast-paced life. A lot has been discussed but what meditation is and how to start? Simply defined, (we don't need a dictionary to do this) it is an art of focusing your mind. What: The Exercise of the Mind While we need real physical strength and fast movement to exercise our muscles, our mind is exercised the opposite way. It is by NOT doing anything, focusing on just one thing. You can focus on a candle but the simplest one is to focus on breathing because everyone has that. Meditation is an art of concentrating your mind on ONE much focused item for a stipulated time frame. 75% of the people who have never meditated told SkyRocketMySuccess.com that meditation is so simple and can be easily done - if that is what it is - sit down and do nothing, but focusing on one item. However, when asked to really sit and focus on the breathing, most of the interviewees got their mind wandering out of focus within 1 minute. Less than 10% can meditate for a 10-minute session without the mind wandering to other topics. However, as difficult as it may sound, 90% of the participants actually felt great and like the feeling of calmness. How: Calming the "monkey" mind As we live in the world of fast-pace and everything moves as fast as the speed of thought, stress remains the number one silent killer of all diseases. Just as introduced, mediating is to simply focus on one object. So first, find a relaxing time and cosy corner of your home. Sit relaxingly. Do not sit up straight right at the first meditation session. You do not want your sore legs or back to spoil the wonderful experience. Preferably on a stool or even on the floor is alright. While you may want to relax, you do not want to be so relaxed that you fall asleep while meditating. Breathe in deep breaths three times, going deeper after each deep breath. As you breathe out, imagine all worries, sickness, problems and challenges are being exhale from your body. By the third deep breath, slowly close your eyes. Relax. Slowly relax your head - forehead, eyes, eyebrows, face, nose, mouth, down to the throat and neck - relax. Slowly relax from the shoulders, arms, fingers, finge ails, the body, tummy, hips, upper legs, lower legs, feet, toes and toenails. As you slowly relax from head to toe one at a time, you will realized that your muscles are not tensed up anymore. Just by mentioning the body parts in your mind and say, “Relax” is already enough to have good feel. Now, imagine that you slowly relax your internal organs - eyes, ears, tongue, throat, slowly down to the lungs, organs at the abdomen and slowly your bones. Once you are relaxed, start noticing your breaths. As you breathe in, tell it in your mind, "In". As you exhale, say "out" only in the mind. Do not force your breathing. At first it will be difficult but after a few rounds you find that you do not need to control your breathing and will notice the breaths. Picture yourself like a third party or a soul already away from your body thus noticing the body is breathing in and exhaling out. Focus on the breathing for 10 minutes. You may want to start with 5 minutes and slowly increase to 10 minutes. If your mind wanders and you start thinking of something else, just simply note, "Thinking, thinking" Stop thinking and say "come back, come back", focus back on breathing IN and OUT. You will be amazed that you could not last long and it feels as if you are sitting for half an hour but as you open your eyes, it will be only 5 minutes passed. When you are done meditating - whether you have an alarm clock to tell you it's 10 minutes passed, or your spouse to wake you up or just yourself feeling that it is enough - slowly take 3 deep breaths, slowly open your eyes and relax. SkyRocket your success, but bring your senses back down to earth through meditating! I will SkyRocket MY Success!