Meditation

Meditation was something that was suggested to me many times in order to just help me relieve stress. It would be a quick, releaxing, mindful period of time where I could just clear my head and help eleviate the tension that was in my body. For a long time I opposed mediation, I thought it would be boring, that it was a dumb idea. It wasn’t until I was dealing with a lot of stress at one particular time that I decided I needed something to help me.

Finally I decided to give it. I didn’t know much about meditation, everyone seems to have their own opinions on what you needed to do while meditating. There was also such a thing as guided meditation, where a narrator would instruct you what to do. I had a lot of chooses but I decided to try something simple. I went on YouTube and typed in meditation music. My plan was to just listen to some relaxing soothing music, sit on my floor cris-cross-apple-sause, close my eyes, and try to steady my breathing. Super easy peasy.

That’s exactly what I did. At first I sat there on my floor, contumplating how this was supposed to help. Then I remembered the old saying, find your happy place. I am naturally someone who is very imaginative and very creative. As someone who is a Creative Writing major, I have to create scenes a lot, essentially I started with this blank screen. Cleared my mind and listened to what the music was telling me. It took five minutes of adding details in order for me to create it.

For me I really like nature, I find it beautiful and captivating, so my happy place has to do with being out in nature. I tend to picture walking along the trees and babbling stream, which could have something to do with the music I choose, it tends to have sounds of nature mixed in with them. This one is my go to, it’s probably my favorite of all the music I have heard. Click here it you’d like to listen.

I tend to meditate for around 20 minutes to 30 minutes depending on how much time I have. But by the time I am done, I just feel so much calmer, my body doesn’t feel as tense, my heart rate has slowed. Overall I feel like I have a much clearer head space. It’s a nice way to create some personal time to destress.

So take some time to consider meditation as an option to improve your mental health. If you have the time to sit down and clear your mind you will not regret it. There are also many apps and YouTube videos that will help guide you through a more structured meditation  if you don’t believe you can structure you own meditation. There are also many resources online that can help you learn how to meditate on a deeper level. There is a wonderful beginners guide to meditation if you would like to learn more at mindfulness. org, How to Meditate.

Give it a try! You will not be disappointed, you’ll have you a clearer mind, and a calmer body.