In the last few years, meditation (specifically mindfulness) has become very commonplace, and the reasons are not surprising. It has been linked to improvements in many areas of one’s health and fitness – everything from blood pressure, to sleep quality, to overall mental/emotional well-being. It has even been shown to increase brain matter!1 But despite its growing popularity, the practice of meditation is still confusing to many.
“Meditation is one of the practical, powerful, productivity-enhancing tools ever created.” - Adam Robinson
“Every smart person and stable person I know both walks and meditates. The app Headspace is a fun way to start. Try and do it every day. But I suggest not doing it while walking... for now.” - Jimmy Fallon
The purpose of this post is to provide you with a list of resources that can give you concrete, actionable ways to begin the journey of incorporating meditation into your life. I hope you find these helpful both in learning how to meditate, but also in understanding what meditation is, and why it’s such a powerful tool for improving your health.
By far the most popular meditation resource out there, this app offers guided meditations on a variety of topics, as well as educational videos that help debunk a lot of the misconceptions many people have about the practice of mindfulness/meditation. If you know that you want to give meditation a try, then this is the place to start. It’s super easy, and can provide a tremendous amount of benefit.
This app is very similar to headspace, offering guided meditations on a variety of topics. It also has a big emphasis on using meditation to improve sleep. Some people choose to use Calm over Headspace, purely based on preference.
This single meditation is fantastic, particularly if you find yourself unable to quell feeling of anger, frustration, stress, anxiety, or discontentment. It’s also worth giving a try if you are someone that has trouble falling asleep due to a racing mind!
Transcendental meditation is different from mindfulness, but many people consider it a step up from their mindfulness practice. However, I believe that there is a lot of room for preference in the practice of meditation, so you may want to give TM a try and see if it works for you! But learning TM takes a bit more effort, so you may want to consider working with a TM coach or signing up for tm.org’s course!
For those that are having trouble wrapping their head around this whole meditation thing because it seems a little too “woo-woo” and would prefer a more scientific approach to meditation, the emWave from HeartMath is perfect for you! This device provides real-time feedback on you body’s physiological state, and offers breathing assistance to help you into a state of greater physiological calmness.
1.Neuroreport. 2005 Nov 28; 16(17): 1893–1897.