You talk to yourself more than anyone else in this world. Every single day you have an on going conversation with yourself - and you had better be saying the right things. It's all too common place, for many people, to be extremely hard on themselves in their everyday thoughts. In fact, most people are harder on themselves then they ever would be on someone they love.
But shouldn't you love yourself? If you wouldn't talk to a loved one the way you talk to yourself in your own head - why do it yourself?
Many people suffer from some form of anxiety, depression, or general high stress levels - they're just afraid to speak up about it. We're constantly, every single minute of the day, bombarded my images, media, news, social media, work, travel, family obligations, social events, and more. We're always connected to each other through our various forms of media, we never really get a break - yet a growing number of people (even with all this "connectivity") are feeling more, and more ... alone.
We're almost genetically the same as our primitive ancestors, and other forms of primates, yet we live in a highly advanced and complicated technological world. Our stressors are not the same as our primitive ancestors - yet we still have the same hardware. We're trying to operate in a strange new world using primitive "monkey brains".
This sort of thing leads to various forms of anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression lead to a lack of motivation, poor thoughts, a lack of activity, and can severely impact your well being and zest for normal life.
This may sound a lot like you, or you may know someone who this describes exactly, and if it does - there is a way to help cope with these feelings ... Mindful Meditation.
It's Just As Important To Take Care Of Mind, As It Is Your Body
Most people know by now how important it is to take care of your body. If you read my blog then I'm sure you're already taking part in some form of physical fitness routine and watching what food you put into your body.
But, what you might not be doing is taking care of your mind - training your mental fitness.
The mind and body go together, they're a team, and they both need to be taken care of equally. In order to train the mind to run well, and in turn allow the body to perform at it's highest level, you must meditate.
I know meditation sounds boring, especially if you an "always on the go" kind of guy/gal, but the busier you are - the more you most likely need to meditate. We need time to alone, time to reconnect with our inner self, time to learn how to be here in the present, and learn how to not be fearful of the future or regretful of the past - mindful meditation helps train you to do just that.
Mindful meditation also helps with negative thoughts, depression, anxiety, stress, mental clarity, sleep patterns, and more. It's like a daily tune up and check in with your body and mind - it's the maintenance.
Feeling depressed? Meditate.
Feeling anxious? Meditate.
Feeling tired? Meditate.
Feeling sad? Meditate.
Stressed the fuck out? Meditate.
How To Start Meditating
It's not difficult to get started, you don't need a fancy place to do it, you just need yourself and a little time each day. Follow these steps to get started ...
1.) Sit in a comfortable chair, upright but not stiff. You can also lay down if sitting isn't comfortable.
2.) Gaze off into the near distance, but don't focus on anything in particular
3.) Breath in through the nose and out through the mouth and allow your belly to expand as you breath
4.) After a few breaths, gently close your eyes while you continue to breath
5.) Slowly, as your breathing, scan your body and take note of any tension in the body, how your feet feel on the floor, how your hands feel in your lap, and where you feel your body is resting most of its weight.
6.) Begin to take note of any sounds happening around you, don't seek them out, allow the sounds to come to you and recognize them - be sure that you're still breathing.
7.) Allow your attention to return to your breath and begin to count your breaths (1 *inhale, 2* exhale ...) all the way to a count of 10 breaths. Then repeat from 1 through 10.
8.) Don't worry if your mind wanders off, it might happen, if it does you'll return your attention to your breathing and continue counting where you left off.
9.) Repeat this for as many minutes as you like.
10.) When you're almost ready to finish up, allow your mind to run free and do whatever it likes for 1 minute. Don't fight it, if it wants to think - let it think.
11.) Open your eyes gently and take note of how you feel, relax for a few seconds or minutes.
I guarantee you'll feel much better after a quick session (5-10 mins) than you did before you started.
Taking It Beyond Mindful Mediation
My ebook "The Ronin Method" teaches you a form of moving mediation through the workout program I designed for the book. It also goes into detail on mindful mediation, and how to combine it with this unique form of moving mediation I like to call "The Ronin Workout".
If you're living a busy life, and need a way to train your body and mind for longevity, sustainability, and over all well being - "The Ronin Method" might be the answer for you.
- Tim
