Back to Basics topic post
Meditation / Mindfulness
My goal is to expose you to different forms of meditation and the great benefits they can have. Once you have been exposed, I hope you try some of the methods or research further. Meditation is an ancient practice with promising evidence for mental and physical health. It is not magic and it is not a cure-all. It is attention training. In a country where people are overstimulated, underslept, distracted, angry, anxious, and constantly pulled by devices, training attention is not optional. It is basic human maintenance.
Focused Attention
Focused attention meditation is when you focus on one object, like your breath, a mantra, or a phrase. For Back to Basics purposes, keep it readily available. Sit upright, lay down, or go for a slow walk if that is where you need to start. Start with five minutes and see how it goes. Nasal breathing, as we learned in the Breathing post, is an excellent entry point. Breathwork in itself can become meditation. Focus on your breath, and when your thoughts drift, bring them back. That is the rep. Do not get mad that your mind wandered. That is literally the training.
Another focused-attention method is to pick a mantra or word that brings you back to who you are trying to become. Positive mindsets can manifest themselves in your actions. I find focused attention meditation especially useful for focus, reset, and emotional control. It can be stimulating, so I like it in the morning or when I need to reset.
Open Monitoring
Open-monitoring meditation is the exploration of thoughts and feelings without grabbing every thought like it is an emergency. This type of meditation can improve emotional intelligence because it gives you space between stimulus and response. Take a seat or lay down in a comfortable quiet place. Close your eyes and take 5 to 10 minutes to acknowledge thoughts without judging them. You may notice your mind racing in a bad direction. Acknowledge it, then return to a breath, a positive thought, or the present moment.
This practice is great for creativity and kindness, both to yourself and other people. Many people are walking around reacting to old stories, old stress, and old wounds. Meditation gives you a chance to notice the story before it drives the car.
Five Benefits Of Meditation
- Immune system support: Meditation can help alleviate stress, and stress is connected to immune function. Research on mindfulness meditation and immune markers is promising but not final. The clean takeaway is this: meditation may help regulate stress-related biology, but it should not be sold as a cure.
- Better sleep: Mindfulness meditation can improve sleep quality for some people. If your thoughts race at night, meditation can help you separate from those thoughts and bring attention back to the task at hand: sleep.
- Anxiety and mood support: One of the hardest things to do when anxiety is high is meditate. Being alone with your thoughts can be overwhelming. But that is also why the practice matters.
- Brain function: Neuroplasticity can be simplified as the brain’s ability to change and create new connections. If we want gains in attention, emotional control, and awareness, then we need to train those qualities.
- Emotional intelligence: Meditation can help you become more compassionate toward other people and toward yourself. Emotional control is performance. If you cannot control your attention, the world will rent it from you all day.
What The Sources Add
The mindfulness sources do not make meditation a magic trick. They suggest it can influence stress, anxiety, sleep quality, emotional regulation, and psychological health for some people. That is enough to take seriously without turning it into a religion. Attention is trainable. Emotional control is trainable. Coming back to the breath is a rep.
How I Think About It
Five minutes is enough to start. Sit or lie down, breathe through the nose if that is comfortable, and put attention on the inhale and exhale. When the mind runs, bring it back. That is not failing. That is the workout. The point is not to become a monk on day one. The point is to stop letting every thought grab the steering wheel.