Why You Need Mindful Moments: Meditation

simple meditation, benefits of meditation, meditation month
What is a Mindful Moment?

Many of us are living mindlessly these days instead of mindfully. As we race through our busy lives our minds can race like an out of control train on its tracks. Our minds and bodies were not created to maintain our mental and physical health at our current rate of speed. A Mindful Moment is when you stop your mind, body, and soul, for a moment in time and focus on one thing only. No multitasking but intentionally focusing on something for a moment.

Two examples of Mindful Moments.

Mindful Moment 1
National Meditation Month

Tons of research shows that meditation transforms and heals our mind, body, and soul. You don’t have to go to a class, teacher or guru. Just sit in a place of peace, get silent and clear your mind. Open your senses and slowly breather in light, love, and healing into your body, mind, and soul. Sign up for a class and get ready to meet some wonderfully kind people. Talk about types of meditation.

I have been meditating for over 30 years, and it is the anchor of my life. Through losses, deaths, betrayals, financial challenges and family crises, meditation has been the Divine Grace in my life. It has been my life raft, taproot, center, of my life. I have struggled with anxiety and depression my entire life. My childhood was immersed in constant violence, fear, and tremendous suffering. This was the womb I was created in, lived in it and carried it with me into the world.

I tried to pray it away, church it away, drink it away, work it away, exercise it away and the list goes on. The day came when I ran out of rope, excuses and exhausting journeys to alleviate the hell I was experiencing within me. After a torturing week of struggling with massive anxiety, a kind neighbor invited me to go with her to a meditation class taught by a loving, compassionate and skilled teacher. I went with Wanda and that was the door, the light, and the hope I had prayed for my entire life. For the first time in my life, I experienced pure peace, calm and surrender. Meditation is a source of heaven on earth.

My meditation practice transformed our marriage, our family, and my career path. I invite you to try it. Find a meditation teacher. Keep trying until you find a teacher you trust and care about deeply. You might begin with a meditation app such as Calm or Insight Meditation. Also, Gaia.com has great training and teachers online. I like their choices and have taken many classes on Gaia and enjoyed them all. Don’t give up. You may enjoy silent meditation, guided imagery, music meditation or nature sound meditations. Meditation is an invitation to your purpose, your life’s journey and to your calling.

The Benefits of Meditation

There are many benefits of meditation for your mental and physical health. It’s a practice that relaxes the body, calms the mind and creates greater awareness. Research shows meditation helps with many health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia. It can also help prevent or reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, hypertension, and diabetes.

Guide to a Simple Meditation
  1. Go to a quiet place. Go to a Quiet place This can be your bedroom, a room in your home, close the door to your office, in your car, in a garden, or anywhere.
  2. Relax. For the next minutes choose to surrender and accept your experience, having a passive attitude.
  3. Your body position. Uncross your legs and arms. Close your eyes or at least gaze down. You can sit in a chair, use a cushion, a meditation bench, or sit on the floor on some pillows. 
  4. Focus on your breath. Slowly inhale through your nose to the count of 4, and then exhale through your mouth to the count of four. Inhale, 1-2-3-4. Exhale, 1-2-3-4.
  5. Your thoughts. Your mind loves to think and talk to you. When you get quiet, you will realize how busy your mind is. When a thought pops up, you may want to imagine that a cloud is blowing your thought away or a stream is moving the thought away in the current. Always return to your anchor and surrender to your breath. Set the timer on your phone and practice your meditation for as long as you wish.
  6. The Meditation Room. I can help you meditate if you visit The Meditation Room on our site. Just follow this link. 
  7. Meditation Apps. I love to use meditation apps. They are great, especially for beginners. I like the Calm App and the Insight Timer App.
  8. A Meditation Teacher. I have had many meditation teachers throughout my life and learned many different meditations. Find a good meditation teacher, and it will transform your life.

Check back later for the second example of Mindful Moments.