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One of the best things that you can do is focus on yourself. Often, the reason why your emotions are not behaving the way you would like is that you have some sort of inner turmoil, whether it is stress or something else, that makes it really hard for you to relax and let the little things go. One way that you can help focus the mind is through meditation and mindfulness. Let's take some time to look at these two techniques and how they could help you feel better.
Meditation
First, we will take a look at meditation. Meditation is a technique that has been around for thousands of years. Even though it is older, it has a lot of practical uses for de-stressing and calming you down even in our modern world. The main idea behind all forms of meditation (and there are quite a few that you are able to pick from), is to clear out the mind from all the things that are bothering you and just focus on slowing down your breathing.
There are a few different types of meditation that you can focus on, but we will take a look at one of the most basic types. To get started with this one, you will need to set aside about fifteen minutes each day, or twice a day if you feel you would benefit from it, where you won’t be interrupted at all. Pick out a nice quiet room and get yourself comfortable; you don’t want to have your meditation interrupted because you felt really uncomfortable in the process. A pillow to sit on, a blanket in case you get cold, and a timer to help keep track of time if you need to be somewhere (so you don’t focus on the clock), can all be tools to help you out.
When you are ready, sit down on the floor with your legs crossed and your back nice and straight. This gives you a good alignment that will help the air flow through your body as you breathe. If sitting on the floor is uncomfortable or you can’t do it, it is just fine to sit on a chair, as long as you keep your feet flat on the floor and sit up straight. Your hands can just rest in your lap.
Now close your eyes and start some steady breathing in and out. Your breathing may be a little fast at first, but try to concentrate all of your energy on getting it to slow down a bit. The deep breaths should help to fill your body with good energy while the exhales will dispel all that bad energy.
The goal during this is to try and just think about your deep breathing. For beginners, this is going to be hard. You are used to keeping the mind going all of the time and giving up on that and clearing out the brain completely is going to seem impossible. The good news is that this will happen, it just takes some time. If your mind begins to wonder, and it is sure to do this in the beginning, just gently bring it back to focusing on your breath. Don't feel bad that it went off, course, or get mad at yourself for this. Having these emotions will just make it harder to get the benefits. Things happen, so just bring the breathing back to normal and you will just be fine.
For some people, just concentrating on their breathing is not going to be enough. This is where some other forms of meditation can come in. Some people will repeat or think about a word that they can concentrate on, some will bring in some gentle music, or you can purchase a guided meditation tape to help you out. All of these can be great choices because they still help you to relax and get your mind off the things that are bothering it in real life.
You will find that meditation can help out in many different aspects of your life. Not only will it help you to get more in connection with your emotions and become self-aware of what is going on with you, but some people use it to help promote better sleep, to help them relax, and it is a great tool to help with anxiety and stress. No matter what purpose you use meditation for, you are going to see a ton of great benefits in the process. I would recommend you using the application called “Headspace” if you are new to the meditation. You can download that application from your App Store.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness follows a similar idea, but it uses this in a slightly different way. You can be mindful in almost any aspect of your life if you really want to. You can spend a few minutes walking around outside and just think about the sounds you hear, the smells around you and the things you encounter. You can practice mindfulness when you are eating a meal, taking slow and deliberate bites and savoring each mouthful.
The idea with mindfulness is that you start to take things a bit slower. Rather than rushing through life like most of us do, you will take a moment to really savor what is going on. You could pretend that you have been in a coma for twenty years and are finally coming out of it. How would you experience the world again?
While many of us are so busy with our daily lives that we barely have time to notice the things around us, mindfulness asks us to stop for a bit and start to see what is there. You can spend five minutes doing this a day or try to add it in as much as possible, but it won’t take long before you see the benefits.
When mindfulness is added into your life, even for a short period of time, you are going to see such a huge difference. You will start to enjoy things more in life because you will start to notice them more. You will start to appreciate the little things that happen and let go of some of the big things because they no longer matter. Many times, you will start to appreciate what you have and just enjoy life in a way that you never thought possible before.
If you would like to start with mindfulness, choose an activity each day that you want to use with this. Let's say that you want to practice mindfulness when you are brushing your teeth. So each day when you brush your teeth, you will start to pay more attention to the activity, rather than rushing through it to get everything done. You will notice the feel of your toothbrush in your hand, the taste of the toothpaste, the foam that forms, how the bristles feel on your teeth and even how clean the teeth feel when you are done. You only need to spend a few minutes on this each day, but it will make a big difference.
So let's take a moment to try out an exercise to see how mindfulness can work and to help you to get started. Pick one meal during the day where you don't have to rush to get the meal all done. Sit down at the table and keep distractions to a minimum. For this, it is also better if you are able to eat alone, but having a little light music is fine to help you out.
During this meal, we are going to try and take in as many different sensations as we can. First, we are going to concentrate on the food that we are eating. With each bite, we will notice the texture of the food, the taste, and how we react to it. Chew at least five times with each bite so that you can enjoy savoring the food rather than just rushing through it.
You don't want to just concentrate on the food though, take into account the other sensations that are around you. Think about the smells, whether they come from the food, candles that you light, or another location. If you turned on some music, enjoy the notes that are coming in your direction while you enjoy the food. Take a look at the table that is around you and just enjoy the sights.
This is meant to turn your dining time into an experience. We often rush through a meal, trying to get it done as soon as possible so we can hurry on to the next thing. But for this activity, take as much time as you can with the meal, really enjoying what is going on around you. It may seem a bit laborious at first, but the point is to help you recognize what is going on around you in the simple activities of your life.
By the time you are done with the meal, you will have enjoyed it in a manner that you may not have imagined in the past. Try to do this at least once or twice a week, if you don’t have time to do it every night. It is going to make such a big difference in your outlook on life and can help you to gain more control over the different aspects of your life.
Meditation and mindfulness can both make a big difference in your life. They will help you to take a step back from your life and focus on all of the good things, the important things that are there, rather than all the little things that often take up all of your attention. When you are able to add both of these into your life even if you can only do them for a few minutes each day, you are sure to see some amazing results in no time.
