Meditation can improve your whole outlook on life. You’re likely to feel a sense of joy, peace, enthusiasm and clarity after meditating.

Meditation can help you to:

• Relax
• Calm your mind
• Have some time-out
• Tune into yourself
• Improve your personal development
• Restore your health, strength and wellbeing
• Heal and repair
• Reduce stress
• Support your immune system, and
• Achieve a mental detoxification.

Mediation tells our bodies where we’re at. It shows us what our patterns are and gives us insight into our body. We spend most of our life putting our energy to the outside. We also have to draw some energy in, in order not to topple over. Meditation is a great stress management tool. It allows us to withdraw from the external world for short and truly restful intervals.

There are many ways meditation can fit into our busy lifestyles. A little bit of down time each day can make a very big difference.

Not sure how to start? We have listed some tips to help you meditate.

1. Make time in your diary…actually write it in so you are committing yourself to giving meditation a go.
2. Start by trying just five minutes each day…build it up to 20.
3. Find a quiet place because distractions can impact how effectively you meditate.
4. Make yourself comfortable. (the best position is the one that’s right for you and everyone is different)
5. Focus on your breath…this will help you reach a meditative state.

There are lots of different forms of meditation. Don’t be disheartened if the first method isn’t the right one for you. You have to get past the perception of what meditation is supposed to look like. It doesn’t matter which style you use, because when undertaken as intended, the same results are produced.

Use mindfulness techniques when meditating. Allow yourself to think whatever thoughts come to mind, but don’t judge these thoughts, just acknowledge them and let them go. Let the mind play as it does, without judgement.

Use breath to gain a deeper sense of relaxation and to achieve a greater mental detoxification. While yoga is a physical detoxification, meditation is unlocking us mentally and emotionally. Make sure you always come back using your breath, helping you to slowly re-enter the external environment.

Latest research shows that effective meditation kicks in after three minutes. However, twenty minutes is the ideal amount of time for meditation. There can also be a positive cumulative effect if you do capsules of time (5 minutes for several sessions). Don’t get too concerned about the time you meditate though, as this will distract from the benefits of the meditation – just let it happen naturally.

You’ll be amazed how much better you feel if you meditate regularly.