Meditation – your moment for you

For thousands of years, different cultures around the world have been making use of regular meditation. Often labeled as esoteric, meditation has recently experienced an upswing and more and more people are becoming aware of the benefits of meditation and the effect of daily meditation because it works even without any spiritual influence. Meditation can be seen as a mental workout and a kind of mental break for the body and mind. It has been proven to reduce the stress hormone cortisol in our body, making us more relaxed and more able to deal with stress. Reducing stress simultaneously decreases cholesterol levels and also blood pressure, thus strengthening the immune system.

At the same time, through more serenity and mindfulness, we learn to better understand and interpret our bodily sensations. The pain areas in the brain shut down during meditation and thus we are less prone to pain. So releasing tension with meditation is not an uncommon approach.

Meditation also has a positive effect on aging. Regular meditation strengthens the cognitive performance of our brain and the areas responsible for memory, sensory perception and emotional evaluation. 

Meditation is more than simply sitting cross-legged on your yoga mat. What you initially imagine to be boring and time-consuming can really do good for you and can be learned faster than you think. It’s not about meditating as long as possible and doing everything perfectly, because that’s not what meditation is about. 

If you are a beginner and want to learn mediation, here are some tips to help you get started:

1. Start slow and don’t take on too much. As already mentioned, meditation is not about meditating as long as possible. So feel free to start with small sessions of 2-3 minutes each. In the beginning, it is more difficult to switch off your thoughts and to devote yourself completely to meditation. Try out more and more as time goes by and when you become more focused you can slowly lengthen your practices.

2. Focus on your breathing. In order not to be distracted by your thoughts in the beginning, just focus on your inhalation and exhalation. If you find yourself drifting off in your thoughts, try to bring yourself back to your breathing and simply observe it. 

3. Make meditation a habit. Instead of always putting meditation off, try to make it a regular part of your daily routine, whether it’s a simple meditation in the morning right after you get up or a meditation in the evening in bed.

4. You can’t go wrong. Probably the most important point about meditation is that you can’t do anything wrong. There are no special professional tips and tricks because with a little practice everyone manages to get completely involved with themselves in a quiet place and take a break from everything.

Meditate in the morning

If you want to make meditation a routine in your day, it’s best to start with it right in the morning. This way you have already done your daily meditation and you can start the new day refreshed and positive. How you start the day determines your well-being throughout the day. If you are already stressed from work and all your to-do’s in the morning, it can help to have a few minutes for yourself in the morning, in which you can prepare for the day in peace. Starting the day with positive thoughts through meditation is a much better condition for a beautiful and successful day.

Morning meditation mindfulness

Monks are known for their balance and happy demeanor. This optimistic, cheerful way of life can be traced back to the fact that the left hemisphere of their brain is significantly more active. This area of the brain regulates emotions and can provide emotional balance. It is precisely this brain hemisphere that we activate during meditation. So we should learn a little bit from the monks in Buddhism and also live more with our body and learn to appreciate its abilities for us. It is always there for us and carries us through our life and for that we should thank it with a mental break. 

Morning meditation self-love

During or after your morning meditation in bed, you can say so-called affirmations to yourself to increase your self-esteem through meditation. These affirmations are short, memorable phrases to help us be more pleased with ourselves. They usually look different for everyone, depending on what the person just individually needs and with what point he/she is still in doubt in his/her life or with him/herself. Positive affirmations can come from all possible areas of life and can look like this, for example:

• I am loved.
• I believe in myself and my abilities.
• I am beautiful the way I am. 
• I am worthy of being loved.
• I have everything I need to be successful.

After a stressful day, you often lie awake for a long time and can’t really switch off from work. There are a thousand thoughts buzzing around in your head and you can’t really calm down. A meditation against negative thoughts in the evening can help to calm down and even demonstrably improve sleep. You can leave all the thoughts of the day behind and relax your body. Meditation to calm down leads to a state of inner peace, thereby lowering blood pressure and slowing the heartbeat. In this way, the body is optimally prepared for sleep. It is important that before you start your meditation for inner strength, you take care of everything that still needs to be done and is buzzing around in your head so that you can fully dedicate yourself to your meditation.

The meditation in the evening in bed should then be followed directly by rest and sleep. This way, with regular evening meditation, you are signaling your body that it is time to go to sleep and your body can better adjust to it. 

On the Internet, you can find numerous videos and audio sequences on a guided meditation in the morning, meditation for falling asleep, meditation for power and strength and meditation for more self-confidence. Such videos help especially beginners to learn to meditate properly and to concentrate better on meditation.