Meditation Starter-Pack (10 min.)
- Jan 17, 2022
- 3 min read
Plenty of peer-reviewed articles continually report on the multiple benefits of meditation for well-being. Numerous institutions, among them Harvard and Mayo Clinic recommend mediation practice to reduce your body's stress response (1,2).
Mediation strengthens our relaxation response. Additionally, it lowers cortisol (an important stress hormone). These days it is almost seen as a normal thing to be anxious and stressed. If this resonates with you, mediation can be what you have been looking for(1). Just even a few minutes invested in meditation can restore your inner peace. In addition, anyone can practice meditation. Not only is it simple, but it is rather inexpensive(1–3).
Furthermore, this practice can be practiced wherever you are and wherever you go. Even in the middle of a business meeting! Although that might not be always entirely advisable(1).
Building your own meditation practice can bring you calm, peace and balance. Not only that, but the benefits also obtained by being consistent with your meditation journey carry over even after your meditation session ends(1–3).
Summary of some of the benefits
Encourage a positive and grateful attitude towards the day.
Build powerful skills for stress management.
Augment your own self-awareness.
Strengthen your capacity to focus on the present.
Diminish negative emotions.
Enhance your imagination and creativity.
Boost patience and tolerance.
A thousand-mile journey begins with a single step!
Meditation Starter Pack - 10 minutes step-by-step tutorial
Set up a calm and peaceful environment.
Add incense (optional), and your choice of white noise or relaxing sounds.
Get yourself into a comfortable position.
Set a timer for 10 minutes (can be 5 minutes at the beginning).
Gently close your eyes.
Begin breathing in and out slowly.
Breath in through your nose.
Imagine the air grazing your nostrils, and swiftly going through your windpipe.
Picture in your mind the air filling up your bronchial tree as a majestic green tree.
Visualize the energy going out through your breath as you exhale.
Feel the energy expand out into your surroundings.
Keep repeating this process.
While continuing to do this, start checking your body in your mind´s eye.
Start with the feet. Notice your feet, contract your muscles in both feet as you inhale; relax your muscles as you exhale.
Then move up to your legs; contract the leg muscles as you inhale and relax them as you exhale.
Continue this process progressively going up through your body.
As you contract your muscles in each segment picture what has been irritating you and imagine it being turned to dust.
As you exhale and relax, visualize what you are grateful for and breathe out.
Continue this process from your feet to your neck.
Once you have reached your neck and head, imagine your goals of the day being accomplished as you inhale, and sense the feelings you will get once you accomplish them when you breath out and relax your muscles.
Once this is done, take a deep breath, thank your body and breathe out.
Smile and slowly open your eyes.
If the timer sounds before you have finished, decide to finish the progression, or start getting a sense of how long it takes for you to engage in your meditation practice and time it appropriately in the following sessions.
Like any skill, your meditation practice needs continuous learning and practice. However, the return on time-investment is more than generous. Stay tuned for more specific tips, and more advanced practice elements and methods. Coming soon: guided meditation videos, relaxing sound videos, and deeper detail into more tools for you to master your meditation practice.
Kind Regards,
Jorge A Cevallos, MD
References
Meditation: Take a stress-reduction break wherever you are - Mayo Clinic [Internet]. [cited 2022 Jan 16]. Available from: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858
How mindfulness can change your brain and improve your health. 2016;
Anderson T, Suresh M, Farb NA. Meditation Benefits and Drawbacks: Empirical Codebook and Implications for Teaching. Journal of Cognitive Enhancement. 2019 Jun;3(2):207–20.
Comments