The practice of meditation seems be at a tipping point of being considered ‘mainstream’, you can learn more about the positive benefits for your mental and physical health in leading medical journals, business magazines even in several autobiographies written by well known global entrepreneurs.

My husband and I introduced meditation and mindfulness practices into our daily lives nearly three years ago, for us the impact has been life changing.  

For me personally;

• My stress levels have decreased significantly;
• My ability to remain focused and productive in high pressure situations has grown; and 
• Slowly, but surely, I’m finding joy by simply living in the current moment. 

Anyone who knows me well is aware I’m a classic introvert, people like me are considered deep over thinkers. Typically, I get caught up in analysing the past and more often pre-empting all the possible scenarios around a situation, that hasn’t even happened yet. Meditation and mindfulness practices have taught me how to catch and stop myself catastrophising and over analysing things, so I can come back to the here and now.

So, if you have been thinking about giving meditation a go or been looking for inspired reading on the topic of mindfulness here is a shortlist of things you can do, resources and books you can access now to introduce meditation and mindfulness practices into your life today.

1. Arianna Huffington’s best-selling book Thrive

Drawing on the latest groundbreaking research and scientific findings in the fields of psychology, sports, sleep, and physiology that show the profound and transformative effects of meditation, mindfulness, unplugging, and giving, Arianna shows us the way to a revolution in our culture, our thinking, our workplace, and our lives.

2. A gratitude diary

Buy yourself a beautiful moleskin notebook or find an unused exercise book and put it in your bedside drawer, along with a pen. Everyday, either in the morning or night write down three to five things that you are thankful for and why. It’s a wonderful way to start or end the day with warm fuzzy feelings in your heart. There really is a lot to be thankful for in this life, this simple writing exercise can teach you how to remain ‘mindfully’ aware of this.

3. A pair of comfy walking shoes and a beautiful walking track

In time you will recognise that walking by yourself is a form of meditation, it’s an opportunity to unplug and get in ‘me’ time. Once more, you will soon realise how busy a place your mind can be, by getting outdoors into nature there are beautiful and welcome distractions to see and bring you into the here and now. Don’t find the time, make the time to do this at least every other day. Better still, when you are feeling tension through your shoulders get up from your office desk and go outside for a walk. There’s nothing more liberating than leaving the stresses of the office in the office, as you go outside and breathe in freedom.  

4. Buddhify App

The buddhify guided meditation app says it is the most convenient, best value and most beautiful meditation app available today. Helping people around the world reduce stress, sleep better and be present in the midst of it all.

My partner and I sometimes do a guided meditation together with this app, it offers a whole range of focuses for your practice. He is a huge fan of this one, I have a few favourite meditations I like on it, the voices facilitating the meditations vary and some make me laugh…I get distracted by the facilitators’ accents. There are a number of mediation apps available, you need to try a few out to find the right one for you.

5. Calm App

The Calm App, like buddhify, is a guided meditation app offering a range of focuses for your meditation practice. I love this app and the facilitators’ voices. The range of meditation focuses I find have daily relevance and applications for people who are in professional service industries, like myself. The app offers a ‘try before you buy’ 7 days of Calm challenge to kick-start your practice to see if this is the best app option for you. 

Once you buy the app, an additional twenty or so guided meditations are unlocked with a broader range of meditation topic focuses. Better still, you can pick how long you want a session to go for, anywhere from two minutes to 30 minutes, and you can select a background sound as well – think rain falling in a forest or waves lapping up on the shore of a tropical beach. 

This list is by no means exhaustive, the suggestions are some things I found to be the most helpful in kick-starting my journey into meditation and mindfulness practices. I’m always on the lookout for new resources, books and even courses to help grow my practice further.

 

 

Article by Maya Rana

Maya is a former fashion model turned tech + startup PR pro. She describes herself as a Thrive Advocate (refer to Arianna Huffington’s book here) and Lifehacker. As a personal non-negotiable and to survive as an introvert in a fast-paced world she practices meditation daily to create the space in her mind to function at full velocity. Not one to sit still, stay inside or settle into a routine, she moves her body daily through either hiking, running, yoga, pilates and learning golf. She is a passionate learner on the topics of; self-development, psychology, business, marketing and economics, as such is a serial reader, podcast and audiobook listener (always on play in her car). Her greatest joys come from sharing experiences with loved ones, being in nature, backing promising talent to realise their potential and to offer her energy, time and professional know-how to arts|community focused causes.