Meditation Made Simple: The 10-Minute Practice That Boosts Your Health and Focus
When seeking clarity of mind, meditation can be a great solution. While sleeping and walking are helpful too, meditation requires less effort and can be done in as little as 10-15 minutes.
It can provide relief from an overwhelming to-do list, refresh your nervous system, and even improve your health!
Here are a few science-backed facts about meditation:
A study conducted by the Harvard Medical School found that a mindfulness-based stress reduction program was effective in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression in patients with generalized anxiety disorder.
A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences discovered that short-term meditation can alter the interaction between the central and autonomic nervous systems.
Research from the University of California, San Francisco suggests that meditation can help improve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) by reducing stress and inflammation in the body.
The best part about meditation is that it can be done within 15 minutes.
Sit in a comfortable position.
Ensure that you won't be interrupted during your meditation session. This is important, as meditation is all about quieting your mind. You may find that headphones (with no music) help.
Set a timer for 10-15 minutes.
Focus on your breath. You can count inhales and exhales or simply listen to your breath.
Wait until the timer is done!
Remember that even if you find yourself thinking or worrying, it is 100% normal. Even Buddhist monks have to be aware of their drifting thoughts.
However, with practice, you'll get better at focusing your mind.
There are great meditation apps and podcasts that are dedicated exclusively to meditation.
Here are 3 great suggestions:
Calm - You can download it for free on the App Store or Google Store and use the healing sounds to help you focus. This is great for beginner and advanced meditators.
Hay House Meditation Podcast - You can find a huge list of guided meditations. Hay House (aka Lousie Hay’s publishing company) offers meditations from Dr. Wayne Dyer to Deepak Chopra. For free!
Yoga with Adriene (Youtube Channel) - Although this is a popular Yoga Channel, Adriene provides amazing guided meditations that you can do for specific needs. This one is for inner peace.
Hopefully, this post sparks a little curiosity in you to try meditation. Keep in mind that it is not about perfection but taking small steps towards feeling better.
If you liked this post, please share it with your friends and subscribe for more content like this!
