Cultivate Inner Tranquillity Through Meditation

People say the hardest part about meditating is finding the time to meditate. This makes sense: who these days has time to do nothing? It’s hard to justify.

When I sat down to meditate this morning, relaxing a little more with each out-breath, I was successful in letting all my concerns drift away. My mind was truly empty of everything that had concerned it before I sat. Everything except the flow of my breath.

For about four seconds……

Within a breath or two of emptying my mind, thoughts came galloping in — I felt an itch on my ear and wanted to scratch it. An idea for my next retreat came into my mind and I wanted to list it out before it left my mind. I thought of at least 5 things I needed to organize at the house and 3 people I needed to return phone calls to. What was I doing just sitting here, how soon could this meditation time be over? I wanted to open my eyes and look at how much time was left on my countdown timer. 

Here’s the key though: every time I had one of those thoughts, I brought my attention back to my breath, without judgment. 

It is normal (especially in the beginning) for the mind to wander away from the meditation, to be filled with writing a to-do list, or basically anything except sitting there breathing. Often in the beginning short guided meditations are the very best - setting the time limit to as little as three minutes can still be beneficial. 

• It’s estimated that 200–500 million people meditate worldwide.

• Meditation improves energy levels by 60%, Memory and Focus by 50%, and relieves stress and depression.

• Meditation improves anxiety levels 60% of the time after meditating for 6-9 months.

• Meditation can reduce PMS symptoms by 57%.

•  Meditation can reduce the wake time of people with insomnia by 50%, according to mindfulness meditation stats.

• Practicing meditation can increase grey matter in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that plays an important role in memory and learning.

• More women than men meditate, generally, adults aged 45-64 are more likely to meditate.

Research indicates that meditating for 20 minutes a day can be beneficial, however, you don’t have to meditate for that long to begin seeing improvements in your life. Shorter periods of meditation can be helpful too especially if you’re just starting. 

Some awesome meditation apps are: 

Headspace ~ Calm ~ Insight Timer ~ Ten Percent Happier ~ Buddhify ~ Unplug ~ Simple Habit