Meditation was difficult for me. When I was younger, the rapid-fire tempo of my ideas energized me. My mental world seemed stimulating, brimming with unexpected concepts and associations. In contrast, I found it unpleasant that mindfulness meditation training required detecting ideas and letting them pass. The skill appeared so unattainable. The accompanying sense of boredom was also detrimental. I was content to allow my so-called monkey mind, comprised of restless and disruptive ideas, to run amok.
However, the buzz surrounding mindfulness and meditation became unavoidable. My life has also evolved. Having became a father than a decade ago and spent years reporting on serious themes such as high-profile suicides and sexual abuse scandals — not to mention navigating the social and political turmoil of the Trump era — I eventually yearned for more tranquil interior waters. With the upcoming new year, you may be searching for ways to begin or renew a meditation practice. First, it is acceptable if your path to this destination is roundabout. In 2017, I wrote about my experience experimenting with seven different meditation apps in an effort to become "someone who finds time every day to calm their mind." After a few months of sustained dedication, my practice diminished. From that point forward, I only dabbled in meditation until the COVID pandemic, when daily practice for 10 to 15 minutes per day was required to deal with the ceaseless what-ifs. Then, I contracted COVID this summer and spent significant portions of each day meditating to pass the time, manage symptoms, and deal with the uncertainty of when I would return to normal. Recently, my go-to meditation app, Ten Percent Happier, revealed that I had reached a milestone that my once-skeptical self could never have imagined: 100 weeks of consecutive daily practice, averaging 10 to 30 minutes per session. True to every cliched conversion story involving meditation, I felt transformed. This metamorphosis taught me three important lessons. First, it is essential to practice daily for as long as is comfortable and without straining for perfection. Meditation's potential advantages can be reaped more successfully through consistent practice. Second, despite my initial reluctance and skepticism, I can attest that the aforementioned benefits, which may include stress reduction and enhanced emotion control, were real and extremely rewarding for me, despite the fact that they took a long time to develop. Even as you become calmer and less reactive, it is crucial to avoid utilizing this skill to circumvent intense emotions. Inadvertently leading to numbness or detachment, despite the fact that it's desirable to be better able to manage emotions. Here is additional information on each of the lessons I've learned: Stop striving for perfection and simply put in the time. If I could go back in time, I would gradually lengthen my guided meditations while letting go of the notion that there is a "perfect" method to practice. For the most of my first 100 weeks, I meditated for only five to ten minutes per day. I frequently argued that my schedule precluded lengthier sessions. While this is occasionally true, I will admit that I have occasionally relied on a brief practice to "tick the box." However, scientific evidence indicates that the advantages of meditation only manifest after weeks of persistent daily practice, perhaps 10 minutes or longer. In a 2018 study published in Behavioral Brain Research, researchers discovered that daily meditation practice for 13 minutes over a four-week period had no effect on meditators when compared to a control group that listened to podcasts. After eight weeks of the same practice, however, the meditators who continued their regular 13-minute practice reported decreased negative moods, enhanced focus, decreased anxiety, and enhanced working memory. Dr. Julia Basso, Ph.D., the study's principal author and an assistant professor in the department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise at Virginia Tech, informed me that the duration of the guided meditation was selected so that it could be incorporated into a participant's busy schedule. It had to be long enough to provide benefits, but not excessively so. https://rainyquote.com https://sakutekno.com https://arrosyid.com https://untoroproperti.com https://teknostan.com https://www.bulkmoz.com https://blogsantuy.com https://fullapkz.com https://kumpulansoal.id https://www.xiaomidriversdownload.com https://www.cakraloka.com https://www.quotesul.com https://canondriversupport.com https://www.geraifastpay.co.id https://ralph-laurenoutletuk.me.uk https://www.trikves.com https://www.jasatugas.net https://www.padangtours.com https://www.teknovidia.com https://chilibeli.id https://hpmanual.net https://www.inschord.com https://gedewarta.com https://edukasinewss.com
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