Weekly Wellbeing: Meditation
This week I wanted to get a discussion going about something that a lot of people find difficult. Meditation is a pretty broad term that covers many activities that focus on relaxation - some people say it’s like exercise for the brain because over time it can rewire neural pathways.
There is much research that reveals the long list of benefits of practising consistent meditation, to mention a few:
- Improved mood and focus
- Better sleeps
- Increased self-compassion
- Reduced anxiety
One of the most popular types of meditation that you may have heard of is - mindfulness. Mindfulness is all about engaging your senses in order to ground yourself in the present moment. If you haven’t heard about mindfulness read on here to learn more about it.
While meditating for the first time may seem daunting or hard there are some easy ways to get started - you may already be doing some activities that you can easily turn into a mindfulness practise.
Some suggestions from me are:
- Mindful cooking: When I’m cooking I feel very “in the moment” and find that my brain is quite and calm. Chopping vegetables, smelling ingredients, combining flavours and finally eating the meal - all these activities stimulate your senses and focus which keeps you in the present. It’s also a very self-nurturing task to make yourself a yummy and nutritious meal.
- Mindful tea drinking: It’s nice to sit somewhere comfy with a cup of tea and take a few deep breaths. Feel the heat from the cup between your hands, the steam rising from the tea, the subtle flavours as it passes over your tongue and the sensation of the warm liquid sliding down your throat.
- Mindful showers: Showers are a good time to be mindful, you might even do it without realising. Y’know when you’re just standing there staring at the tiles and you’re not really thinking of anything? That is a perfect example of mindfulness. You’re simply feeling the sensation of the hot water on your skin. You aren’t flooded with thoughts or emotions but are more connected your physical senses.
- There's also a great article here called "5 ways to be mindful without meditating".
If you want to check it out we have a bunch of guided mindfulness meditations:
"My WiFi is a Piece of Crap meditation"
"My flatmate ate my leftover pizza meditation"
Activity:
1. What daily task/activity do you think you can make "mindful"?
2. If you tried meditation, how did it make you feel?
Comments
Hello friends! Reviving this thread for tonight's Weekly Wellbeing 😀
1. Lately, I've been mindfully brushing my teeth. I know it sounds odd, but I've been trying to make sure that I brush each and every tooth front and back, and some mornings/evenings I focus on particular parts of my mouth. It's a nice way to wind down in the evening AND it's good for my oral hygiene. My dentist is going to be so proud 🤣
2. I've tried meditation before, and actually used to do it every day for about 3 years. At first, I knew nothing about how to meditate, so I used some guided meditations from the Headspace app. It was great! They took me through some different techniques for meditating, like noting - where you acknowledge when your mind wanders to other thoughts/worries while you're meditating (which it inevitably will). Doing these guided meditations helped me to realise that I wasn't doing meditation 'wrong' if my mind wandered sometimes, and that losing focus is a natural part of the process. You don't need to meditate perfectly for it to have an impact!
Meditation is great for the body and soul . when i do meditation i normally put on relaxation music that i bought and i will like to share it with the people who are interested in meditation
Hi @Emanuela thats great that you enjoy meditation! Just a friendly reminder that we don't post links on the community. You are more than welcome to share your experiences and tips though 🙂
1. What daily task/activity do you think you can make "mindful"?
- Typing. I try to feel my fingertips against my keyboard, and how fast or hard I'm hitting the keys
- Sorting out clothes before putting it in the laundry
- Walking. I love feeling the ground under my feet
2. If you tried meditation, how did it make you feel?
Urghhhhh 
I feel relaxed and accomplished after each session, but trying to get myself to do it is a pain! I normally just tell myself I'm allow to stop any time I want, and that helps me get started.
I love this thread omg!!
1. What daily task/activity do you think you can make "mindful"?
Yoga practice. I got into yoga last year as a form of gentle exercise and I think because I went into it without overthinking it too much it became a really relaxing and meditative practice for me. I always feel really zen after doing yoga and I think this is because I do it with the intention to have fun, copy the poses where I can but do my own thing where I can't/ if something else feels good!
2. If you tried meditation, how did it make you feel?
At first it really frustrated me, I felt like I couldn't do it right. I'm trying to teach myself that even sitting down to practice meditation is technically doing meditation correctly. There is no wrong way to meditate. Headspace suggests that when meditating "You’re not trying to turn off your thoughts or feelings. You’re learning to observe them without judgment." Looking at meditation from this perspective changed my thinking in the sense that I know that the act of meditation is just recognising that I'm having thoughts, which I have all the time anyways. So being aware of them by sitting down and choosing to "have a look at them" in a way is meditating in and of itself. For me anyways. Meditation can be different for everyone.
Hey i recently was wnating to know the ins and outs of meditation and how powerful it cna be after seeing seeing this video it changed my whole life i just had to share so im going to drop the video below:
Oooh, thank you for the reminder @Bre-RO I'd been intending to do a meditation on the Smiling Mind app and had forgotten until I saw this post 🙂
1. What daily task/activity do you think you can make "mindful"?
I'm trying to make driving more mindful, by noticing and even verbalising if I have to, landmarks or features that I pass, such as a park or a particular shop, to keep myself more aware of my surroundings as I drive.
2. If you tried meditation, how did it make you feel?
I've tried it a few times, with varying results. The last time - a few days ago - it left me feeling calm and proud of myself because I'd carved out the time to do something that I knew can be good for me 🙂
Getting a good relaxation music can make your task mindful, It good as well for meditation
@letitgo Oh mindful driving is a great one! You're also having to focus on driving so it keeps you in the moment and focused. I also having varying results when I do meditation - I think that's very normal. Part of the process is getting better at it, like any other form of exercise. Also the smiling mind app is good, headspace is also great.
Nice! Meditation seems so simple yet so hard to practice!
What daily task/activity do you think you can make "mindful"?
For me I think I can make brushing my teeth mindful and connect with my physical sensations, like the smell of the toothpaste and feel of the bristles of my toothbrush. It's great feeling to have a clean, food-free mouth before sleeping!
If you tried meditation, how did it make you feel?
I haven't done meditation since high school when I did yoga, but I remember it feeling quite relaxing and calm, especially when paired with soothing ambiance in a quiet room. I also remember feeling quite drowsy after doing so. These days I haven't had much of a chance to meditate, but I think I will try setting aside some time before bed to meditate and relax.
Hey I'm currently stressed out due to family loss from covid so I've started to practice meditation and its going good so far but for me I can't seem to fully clear my mind but with this product is like a hack for meditation
Hey @Nojokes
So sorry to hear about your family loss. That is really lovely you've started practicing meditation and have found a way it works for you 
@drpenguin You're so right - how I learnt to get around finding meditation hard was not to panic if my mind wandered. Instead just notice it without judgement and then gently my attention back to my breathing or a sensation in my body. The more you do that, the bigger the gaps between getting distracted and refocusing get 🙂
Teeth brushing is a good one I haven't tried - I will give it a go!
