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A Simple Ten-Minute Mindfulness Meditation Guide What activities take you just ten minutes to do? This could be enough time for you to wash the dishes. This could be enough time for you to get dressed for work. This could be enough time to prepare a salad or a smoothie. The truth is, we do a lot of chores and work-related stuff under ten minutes. But in between, have you ever considered doing mindful meditation? Yes, ten minutes is ample time to meditate. It can keep your mind focused and healthy so that you can do your other tasks better and more precisely!
So what is mindfulness meditation? In our previous blog post, we have divided meditation into three main categories. These are the following: focused meditation, open-focus meditation and self-transcending meditation. Mindfulness meditation is a type of open-focus meditation. Most of our guides have been around the focused type of meditations. Mindfulness meditation differs in that it requires one to be aware of his or her own thoughts or sensations as they occur in the present. The primary aim is to be mindful of things occurring in the person’s own mind or body, without attaching any emotions or judgments unto them. There are various ways of practicing mindfulness meditation. Its advantage over the other types is that you can easily incorporate it into daily activities. Perhaps the most popular approach is the mindfulness breathing, which entails one to be aware of the sensations of breathing. But within time, the practitioner can even adapt mindfulness into activities like eating, walking, washing the dishes and more. In the upcoming section, we’d give you a guided mindfulness meditation to help you begin your practice.
Your ten-minute guide to mindfulness meditation Are you tired of having a cluttered mind? Are you ready to let go of emotional burdens attached with your thoughts? Then consider getting into mindfulness meditation through this simple ten-minute guide. No frills, no fancies, just the basics to help you master your mind. You just need ten minutes everyday to complete this meditation guide. As you move into deeper practice, you can increase the duration of your meditation to further achieve better mindfulness or even enlightenment. 1. Begin by setting an alarm on your phone for ten minutes. Make sure that you pick a relaxing tune or sound so as to not counteract your relaxing meditation session. The reason for setting an alarm is to restrict yourself from distractions such as checking the clock for the time or checking your phone for social media updates. After which, put your alarm away in a location where you won’t be able to reach it easily.
2. Choose a comfortable place and position for you. It could be a location by the window or a space in your bedroom. The important thing is that it is quiet and serene. Your position is also important although it doesn’t really matter whether you choose the lotus position or the chair position. What matters is that you are comfortable in whichever position that you choose. Your spine should be straight with the natural curvature still preserved. The head and neck straight but gazing forward. Hands should be placed in the knees, resting slightly above them. 3. Close your eyes slowly and focus on your breathing. Concentrate on the sensation of your breathing. Inhale slowly, giving attention to the air coming into your body, going into your nose and reaching your lungs. Exhale slowly, giving attention to the air coming out of your lungs, into your throat and finally out of your nose. Be mindful of the rise and fall of your diaphragm, your stomach and your shoulders. Do this for a few breaths until the practice becomes more natural for you.
4. As you become more accustomed to slow breathing, thoughts might begin to come into your mind. Don’t worry as this is just natural, let these thoughts pass by like the gentle flow of the river. You might be thinking about your work, your family, your chores, your tasks‌ Let them pass through your mind, don’t attach any emotions or judgments to them. If you find attachments to them, simply return your attention to breathing again. 5. Next bring your attention to the sounds around you. The gentle hum of the chirping birds, the faraway beep of the vehicles and the chattering of the neighbors nearby. Do not be distracted by these noises, just be aware that they are there to bring you back in the moment. Continue doing this for a few minutes until you have become fully aware of all the sounds in your surroundings.
6. Again, bring back your attention to your thoughts. By this time, your mind could be bringing up thoughts about your relationships and your issues. Let them come to mind but do not engage into them for more than a few seconds. Acknowledge their presence
and let them go. Remember, the person who can control their mind can control their destiny. 7. Now bring your attention to your body. Start from your feet and toes, feel the sensation of these parts against the ground. Continue into your legs, your belly, your hands, your fingers, until you reach your head. At this point, you might feel heightened sensations especially on painful areas. Experience these sensations but let go after a few more seconds.
8. Focus again on your mind and let thoughts flow in. What sensations have you felt? The tingling of the hands might revert your attention to work. The sensations between the feet and the ground can bring your attention to walking. These are natural thoughts so just let them be and let them go after a few seconds. 9. Slowly open your eyes and concentrate on the things around you. The sunlight or moonlight amidst the curtains, the subtle breeze and all other things. Make sure you’re aware of your surroundings but do not attach any emotions to what you’re seeing. Do this for a few more minutes before returning your attention to your breathing.
10. As you focus into your breathing, let go of all other thoughts that might have come up by this time. Let go of your stresses, let go of your problems, let go of everything that burdens you. As the alarm rings, stand up and continue on your day, with a clearer and better mind to aid you. This completes our ten-minute guided mindfulness meditation. Remember that you need to do this consistently at least three times a week. Allot a regular schedule for mindful meditation to be able to eventually adapt it into your busy lives. For beginners, ten minutes is more than enough to get your feet wet into meditation. But as you move into deeper practice, you can gradually increase your practice and duration of meditation.
The effects of mindfulness meditation in the body It’s all in the brain, that’s where the effects of mindfulness meditation can be found. In this 2010 study done by Holzel and colleagues, the researchers found that gray matter of those who practiced mindful meditation were increased. Particularly areas of the brain involved in memory, learning and emotional processing were found to have increased gray matter. If you remember our previous blog post, gray matter starts to decrease with age and so does our cognitive functioning related to memory and emotional stability. But aside from its significant effects on the brain, mindfulness meditation also has effects on the hormone production of the body. In this 2013 study by Turakitwanakan and colleagues, they investigated on the cortisol serum levels of medical students. This was after being intervened for four days into a mindfulness meditation program. The result was that there was a significant decrease in serum cortisol levels of the participants after the program. Cortisol is an important indicator of stress in the body so there could be a bidirectional relationship between mindful meditation and cortisol levels.
The benefits of mindfulness meditation Mindfulness meditation’s benefits has been well-studied in individuals suffering from anxiety and depression. With the constant stresses in the work place and even in homes, we are at higher risks for these two mood disorders. To give you an overview of its effectiveness in reducing anxiety symptoms, take a look at this meta-analytic review of studies. The researchers concluded that mindfulness meditation were found more effective as compared to waiting list intervention or the usual treatments. Similarly, in chronic pain patients with symptoms of depression and anxiety, mindfulness meditation was found to be an effective intervention program. Mindfulness meditation has also been found effective for reducing insomnia symptoms. In this case study, a group of insomniacs were given mindfulness-based therapy for insomnia. The insomniacs, particularly Maria, were instructed to let their thoughts freely wander without attaching any emotions unto them. The result? The anxiety that the patients experienced, that blocked their ability to fall asleep, lessened and they were able to fall asleep and have better sleep thereafter.
Take a time out from your busy lives It’s important to stay tuned in with your health and well-being. Most health advocates focus on the physical part of being healthy. But our mental health is just as important as our physical health. After all, a sound mind can help you in tackling the hurdles of your life better. Exercising the mind through meditation? Why not? So don’t forget to give some time for your brain to be fit, even just ten minutes a day would be enough. Enjoyed this blog post? Make sure you like and share it to your friends or loved ones. Let us know how this ten-minute guided mindfulness meditation helped you in the comments section below!
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