New Year, New You - Meditation & Mindfulness

Yo! (Namaste!)Thank you to all those who joined us for our Meditation evening at Ground Coffee Society.  We’re experimenting with the concept and I welcome any feedback you may have, thank you. Here are some highlights from our time together with Jason, I hope you find them useful. Meditation…

• gives you more time, by being more efficient and present throughout the day you end up with more effective time
• Improves sleep
• Increases longevity
• Improves concentration

Keep it simple.  From as little as 10 mins a day (I sound like a late night TV shopping thing… remember those!?!? Are they still a thing?) you can build a hugely beneficial habit that supports you mentally, physically… and spiritually. Start with 2 mins of sitting quietly without any expectations.Aim to build towards 2 twenty minute sessions a day. Ideally first thing in the morning & in the evenings. Preferably not on a full stomach. Attempt to stay focused on your breath.Your mind will wander… when you catch yourself… come back to focusing on your breath. Try some (free) apps that can help you get started.  (I’ve experimented with the following, but keep coming back to HeadSpace.)

• Oak
• Calm
• Apnea Trainer (not technically a meditation app, but a breathing trainer used by free-divers.  Very cool, but DO NOT do the exercises in water.  But you should totally check this out!)

Get clear on your reason for taking care of your mind (& sanity!)List 10 reasons why you’ll be better off with a calm mind. (List 10 reasons why OTHER PEOPLE will be better off by YOU having a calm mind!  Seriously, other people!)The clearer you are about the benefits the more value you’re likely to place on building a healthy mind… I love this quote by Guru Singh.  For me it sums up why it’s good for everyone if individually we’re “better”.Where there is calm, there is clarity;With clarity, there is contentment;With contentment there’s compassion.I hope this has provided you with enough doable steps to build a practice that serves you… I hope even more so that you decide to value your inner-self enough to take the time to nourish it.Jason runs weekly half hour meditation sessions at The House of Yoga on Wednesday evenings at 8:45pm.  Click here to book or find out more. Big love, Luke XPs. Remember, each time you come back to the breath after your mind wanders is one rep (like lifting weights in the gym!)That is the practice of meditating, coming back to the breath.