The Simplest way to benefit from Meditation...

Especially when you know absolutely nothing about Meditation and couldn’t be bothered learning…

The Ancient and Spiritual Practice of Meditation, -Right?

Makes your eyes roll into the back of your head with all sorts of negative comments and ‘head talk’... Blah, tried it once, couldn’t get it right, didn’t feel anything, what a lot of pish, does nothing for you, too hard to learn, only for hippies and grubby gurus, etc etc etc…

Ok, I get it, I was the same…

However, what if I was to tell you that with three simple techniques you will:

• Improve your sleep patterns
• Lower your stress levels
• Develop a level of calm and focus usually reserved for Ninjas and Gurus and it’s something you currently don’t have...

What if I said you can easily achieve all this, with the only investment being 15 minutes of your day, and other than that, it’s absolutely free? 

Would it be worth it? 

Of course, it would!

I had similar thoughts about meditation like the ones above, and whether it would have any benefits at all until I took an introductory course in Meditation Practice with the Sri Chinmoy Centre here in Melbourne… 

It was a weekend beginners course of about 5 or 6 group sessions and initially a little skeptical, I didn’t think I’d achieve much from it myself, but even today, some 20 years later, I still marvel at how wrong you can be!

It was profound…

It taught me a lot about myself and my own ‘head talk’ (that we all have) the distracting rubbish we harbor in our thought processes and it forever changed my perceptions of the daily practice of Mediation!

So, what happened? What were the results?

We'll get to that in just a moment, but before I do, I want to share:

The 3 simple steps to starting your own 15-minute practice of Meditation

for improved sleep, concentration, and less stress...

Focus on the breath.

The first thing our teacher taught us was to 'do away' with all the stereotypes of what we believed meditation to be and to just find a comfortable position either on the floor or on a chair. Then to close our eyes and focus on our breathing and whilst doing so, any thoughts that came into our heads were just to be observed, not reacted to, and just left to dissipate away into the ether.

This was probably the most profound part of the whole learning process… just to completely let go of the anxieties of the moment, taking an ‘observer’s perspective’ of your body's position and it’s breathing, focus on breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth, slowly, calmly, with your breath moving almost in a circular motion… after a while it felt as if you were an 'empty vessel', breathing air into the base of your feet and back out again. Our teacher then introduced the idea that you were breathing in purity and calm and breathing out anxiety and disruption… I personally found this very helpful. 

2. Turning off the ‘chatter’ in your head.

Some students in the class seemed to struggle with the chatter in their heads and being able to turn off 'the noise', however, our teacher advised, the more you focus on the removal of the chatter, the harder it is to forget it! So, that’s why taking a position of observance with no acknowledgment of the thought, seems to work best.

It takes practice, but gets easier as you become more experienced in the 'quietening of your mind.' Once you get to the point of being able to meditate without any major thought disrupting your practice, it is a state of deep relaxation you are stepping into, and I'd advise, it’s well worth the effort.

3. Languishing in your happy place.

I wanted to leave this idea to the very last because it is the secret sauce, the whole reason for the practice of beginner’s meditation in the first place. Once you’ve been able to quiet the mind our teacher then introduced the idea of languishing in your happy place which could be a warm non-descript place of safety, it could also be by a babbling creek, with the sun your back and a slight breeze on your face, it could be on the sand, with the sound of the ocean breakers in the distance, as the warmth of the sun surrounds you.

The 'one thing' that makes this 3 step practice so useful: 

When stress and pressure come your way in the ‘day to day', a practiced meditation student finds it increasingly easier to ‘slip’ into the now familiar feeling of your designated ‘happy space’ as required, making pressure at work and in life much easier to tolerate, and with practice and time, a lot less of a bother as you become a more centered, peaceful being.  

After your 15 minute meditation.

When you’re ready, open your eyes, refocus your thoughts on what you have to do today from a much more positive, relaxed and observant perspective, have a stretch, enjoy the feelings of invigoration and calm and get back ‘into the stream’ of your busy day knowing you’ll get up tomorrow, looking forward to your own personal time of meditation… 

I experienced this level of calm and some 20 years later, continue to seek it out daily, almost like an addiction, it’s a life changing time of self reflection where I’d suggest you cannot get anywhere else other than from the peaceful sanctuary within...

 If you take me up on my challenge, follow these 3 steps and reclaim those 15 minutes daily, before long, you’ll be extending your meditations, making more time for yourself, have better sleep, less stress, treat yourself and those around you better… and maybe even be shopping for sandals and growing your hair! 

Heck, why not I say? It’d be a much better world for everyone if we all practiced our own personal form of meditation, Don’t you think?

Stephen McNamara is a conversion content creator, media specialist, voice talent, kitchen table counsell?or, father and husband to the best family in the world. Oh, and two dogs and a magnificent British Blue Cat. 

If you’d like to know more about Steve’s content services get in touch via: Linkedin, www.stevemcmedia.com or email [email protected]