Intro to Meditation – What is Wellbeing?
Intro to Meditation – What is Wellbeing?
Through my journey as a meditation and yoga teacher I have learned there are many definitions of stress and many definitions of wellbeing. Of all the practices, techniques, rituals and tactics I have attempted there is one that continues to bring a wealth of benefits without costing me a penny.
Meditation.
It has moved the needle the most with regards to my wellbeing. Many still ask – what is meditation?
There are thousands of ways to meditate. Every technique is different. Guided, silent, chanting, religious. Meditation is an ancient technology that has existed since the beginning of time.
Meditation is any mental practice that expands awareness.
The technique I practice allows the body to enter a deep state of rest and relaxation and triggers an unstressing. Things are released, and often without us knowing it.
Meditation has been a cornerstone of my wellbeing.
In the technique I practice, the Being Technique (from 1 Giant Mind), wellbeing is defined as:
The process of balancing our awareness between our capability and resources, and the demands of daily life.
What this definition suggests is that when we can sustain a continuum of awareness of the balance between the demands of life and our capability to respond to them, we experience a stable sense of wellbeing. Maintaining awareness of this balance point enables us to detect what our needs are and to respond to them in the moment we recognize the need.
Taking a few minutes every day to put your mind into deep rest helps you expand your awareness and increases your capacity to respond to the many pushes and pulls of life.
The Being Technique is completely effortless requiring no concentration or focus. It is practiced twice daily for 20 minutes at each session.
It establishes a baseline of awareness.
Here are some of the documented benefits of meditation:
- FEELING IN CONTROL
Controlling the important things in life improved in users by 16.6% - STRESS REDUCTION
A 17% reduction in stress and nervousness - MANAGING PROBLEMS
A 20% increase in the ability to handle personal problems - CONTROLLING IRRITATIONS
A 15% improvement in the ability to control irritations that arise - COPING MECHANISMS
8.7% improvement in coping with life’s demands and duties - FEELING ON TOP OF THINGS
15% improvement in feeling on top of things - REDUCING ANGER
16.6% improvement in reacting in anger to things out of their control - OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES
22% improvement in feeling that difficulties could be overcome
Note: these benefits were recorded within the first month of using the 1 Giant Mind Learn to Meditate app. It is suggested that with a regular ongoing practice, these benefits exponentially increase.
Meditation has helped me experience; better, more restful sleep, more clarity, less fear, deeper states of relaxation and more of a willingness to do things that may have previously scared me. I feel my capabilities and performance have increased, across work and with my home life.
Here are some top introductory tips for success in meditation:
- Do it first in the morning – sitting up in bed, before you start your day
- Find an accountability partner and keep checked in with them
- Set a timer for a few minutes to start and work your way up to 20 mins twice a day.
- Breathe deeply into your belly and up to your chest – three times slowly and exhale deeply to prepare for the meditation before you start.
- Once you begin, choose a mantra – in the Being Technique we choose the mantra A-HAM. This is a sound that we repeat softly, quietly and effortlessly in the mind during the meditation. The mantra allows our mind to anchor to something and makes 20 mins go by in a flash.
- Allow for whatever happens in meditation to happen – thoughts are normal. Witness them and allow them to float by – like clouds in the sky. Notice you’re thinking a thought and have stopped repeating the mantra and then gently bring yourself back to the mantra.
- All meditation is good meditation. Do not judge your practice.
When we meditate regularly, we begin to remove the layers of stress that mask our own sense of knowing and innate wisdom. Once removed, we are able to access innate intelligence to lead the way we want to live our lives.
Regular meditation deepens all of our relationships by first deepening our relationship with ourselves. It gives us the power to change things that may have felt too difficult to change before. A regular practice gives us the capability to make choices in the face of challenges and demands rather than to just react to them.
All we need to do is show up each day and give ourselves the time we deserve to nurture ourselves through deep rest and expanding our awareness. A twice a day practice is the most direct way of doing this. The natural result of this is more you more of the time, and greater capability to create the kind of life you desire most.`
Interested in learning how to meditate? Check out a previous event I hosted to get an idea of our future event discussing The Golden Sequence coming soon!
Favourite book: Untamed by Glennon Doyle
Favourite brunch dish: Shahsuka
