Adding Meditation to Your Life
I’ve wanted to start adding meditation into my daily life for as long as I can remember. I’ve flirted with it for years, meditating and then stopping and this summer I finally started making it a daily ritual, waking up at 5am to meditate every day. And then we moved from Oregon to California and the time when meditating would have served me best is when I was thrown out of my regular schedule, dealing with a preschooler that really, really wanted to go back to Portland and trying to create a home in a new environment. I needed, and still need, some stillness but sometimes the things we know we need the most are the hardest for us to incorporate into our own lives.
Why add meditation?
We are all so busy in our everyday lives that we seldom have any stillness to connect with our deeper selves. With the stillness come endless health benefits, including:
-improves brain function
-slows down ageing
-helps you feel more connected and gives you a better appreciation of NOW
– helps lower high blood pressure
-increases your attention span
– improves sleep
-decreases tension related pain (headaches, joint problems, muscles aches etc. )
– lowers anxiety
Here is some great reading on the benefits of adding meditation to your life:
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
Meditation: Change your Brain, Change your Life
Video: Meditation: What is it and what are its benefits by Deepak Chopra
How to Start.
I started adding meditation with a 21 day challenge created by Deepak Chopra and Oprah. Every day you get an email with a new link for a new meditation. It’s not quite a guided meditation, Chopra starts the meditation by giving you a mantra to repeat during the meditation and talking about it for a minute or two and then there’s music and you just meditate. After doing the 21 day challenge I purchased some more 21 day meditations from his website. There is even a iphone app so you can take your meditations wherever you go.
Luckily there happens to be a new 21 day challenge starting on Monday March 16th. Here’s the link to sign up.
If you’d like to try meditating on your own but are looking for a little guidance I highly recommend the book A Path with Heart by Jack Kornfield.
If you’d like to get your children to add meditation to their lives Sitting Still Like a Frog is a great book for beginning mindfulness and meditation for kids. Annabelle fought me the first time I turned it on and didn’t really follow but I’m confident the more she hears it and becomes comfortable the more she’ll be open to following along.
Are you ready to start adding meditation to your life?
I am! I’d love to hear about your experiences with meditation and if you have any favorite guided meditations, on you tube, apps, or books!
Jacqueline Banks is a certified Holistic Health Counselor and is passionate about helping families find vibrant health through here blog – JacquelineBanks.com where she provides useful information and great recipes. Jacqueline specializes in helping clients make small, easy changes that lead to big results! Follow her Facebook page to learn her latest tips and tricks.