Self Healing from Stress: Mindfulness Meditation
“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.”
— Amit Ray
What Does Mindfulness Mean?
Mindfulness is the practice of being fully present, focusing our attention on the here and now instead of the past or future.
It is the practice of stepping into our role as a witness of our body and mind, rather than being our body and mind. This means observing our thoughts, emotions and surroundings through our senses and without judgment or attachment of meaning.
In today’s world, mental health maintenance is more important than ever. Anxiety & depression keep so many locked into a mental prison of past and future.
Practicing mindfulness takes your thoughts away from past mistakes and unpleasant memories, allowing new thoughts to bloom. It also allows you to more fully enjoy the present and worry less about the future.
What Is Meditation?
Simply put: meditation is a journey from activity into stillness and silence. It can also be described as a practice in focusing your attention, or a process of letting go.
There are different styles of meditation, but this post focuses on mindfulness meditation.
All styles share this aspect: sitting or lying down in stillness. From there, you might listen to a guided meditation with someone speaking, silently chant a phrase or word, listen to music or sound, or you might have total silence.
While meditating, you reconnect to the infinite potential of the universe, and to the part of you that is untouched by trauma, stress, and societal influence.
Benefits of Meditation
The benefits of meditation are nearly endless!
Meditating turns on your parasympathetic nervous system, also known as rest & digest. That means that you’re producing less stress hormones and more feel-good hormones. Your body and mind are both allowed the time and space to relax and heal.
Through a consistent practice, meditation offers many benefits:
Decreased stress & burnout
Alleviation of anxiety, depression & insomnia
Improvement in memory, focus, & ability to learn
Better, more harmonious relationships
Improved creativity & problem solving skills
Deepened calmness & inner peace
Tips for Success
While you can practice any time and anywhere, mindful meditation is most effective as the first activity after waking up, and again after the most productive part of your day.
It’s ideal to practice twice a day for 30 minutes each, but any meditation is better than no meditation, so fit it in when and however much you can!
Set a timer for however long you want to practice. When your timer goes off, turn it off and remain still with your eyes closed a few moments more as you prepare to come back to your surroundings.
Remember: meditation will help with mental clarity and ease of thoughts, but it does not magically erase all thoughts the first time (or even the 230th) time you practice. So don’t feel like you’re “failing” if you still experience thoughts throughout practicing - it’s completely normal and expected!
If you live with friends, your partner or family, don’t be afraid to ask them to not disturb you during your meditations. This is a sacred act of self-care and you deserve to have that honored.
Because this is a mindfulness meditation and your focus is on perceiving the world through your senses, this practice is effective anywhere, regardless of noise. You could practice in a waiting room, on a plane, in a park, on a car ride. Wherever you feel safe closing your eyes is fair game.
“Meditation means letting go of our baggage, letting go of all the pre-rehearsed stories and inner-dialogue that we’ve grown so attached to.”
Mindfulness Meditation Process
Find a comfortable seat, or lie down comfortably. You could sit on a chair, on a pillow, on your bed, etc. It is best to have a straight spine, but work with your body’s needs.
Make any adjustments you need to and settle into stillness.
Extend your inhales and exhales, and slow down your breathing.
As your breath is calming, complete a mental body scan, from the crown of your head to the tips of your toes. Notice if there is any tension in each area of your body, and give yourself permission to relax, or soften.
The most common areas of tension are the shoulders, eyebrows, jaw, and hips.
Any time you notice yourself tensing again during practice, simply relax that spot again.
After your body scan, notice the quality of your thoughts, and if there are many happening. Imagine your mind as a sky and your thoughts as clouds. Just as you would objectively observe the clouds, observe your thoughts in the same way, without judgment.
As each thought comes up, just acknowledge it and give yourself permission to let it go, let it roll away like a cloud.
Practice noticing what you’re experiencing through sensation, in no particular order:
your breathing, how it feels going in and out, how your body feels expanding and contracting
touch: the air against your skin, your clothes, where your body meets the support beneath you, etc.
sight: what is it like simply relaxing into the darkness behind your eyelids? Are there any shapes, patterns or colors present?
smell: any scents you perceive
taste: any tastes you perceive
hearing: any sounds you perceive, near and progressively farther away
Notice all of these things without emotion. Simply acknowledge them and accept them as they are. There is no right or wrong amount of time to spend on any one sense.
Once you’re satisfied with observing physical sensations, come back to your breathing until your time is up.
Throughout the practice, thoughts will likely come back up. Once you realize you’re thinking, gently let the thought go and return your focus to your meditation. Let go of the urge to judge yourself.
When your timer goes off, turn it off. Remain 30 seconds or so longer in stillness with your eyes closed. Express gratitude to yourself for making the time for this self care.
Open your eyes again when you’re ready, and resume your daily activities.
Ready to Meditate
So now you’re ready and prepared to have a successful meditation practice!
By the way, no matter how each meditation session goes, it’s always a successful practice.
You’ll notice short term benefits to meditating like calmness, but the really juicy benefits come out with time and consistency. It’s hard at first to make the time to practice in a full schedule, but you’ll be able to handle that full schedule and its challenges way better with meditation in your back pocket, so stick to it!
You’ve totally got this. Your mind and body deserve the rest and restoration, and you deserve to live the fullest expression of yourself.
There’s no time like the present.
Questions or Feedback?
Be sure to reach out at my Instagram, @root.to.love. I hope you found this guide helpful - I’d love to know your experience with mindfulness meditation!