‘The Ins and Outs of meditation and why you’re probably already doing it’ by Kate Kendall
What comes to mind when you read or hear the word, ‘meditate’?
If resistance, squeamishness and repulsion are a reaction – you’re probably not alone.
If the thought of rows upon rows of monks, sat silent in a holy place with mala beads around wrists and incense burning is an image…get with the times.
Fact is, most of us think that we just can’t meditate.
Not for lack of trying once or twice. In fact, it’s not your fault that you’ve given up because perhaps you were mis-educated.
The biggest myth around meditation is that it’s all about silencing the mind.
And this breaks my heart because when a newbie sits down in silence, naturally the mind gets loud and we think we’re not ‘doing it right’.
The practice is not to quieten the mind (because when we’re at war with the mind, the mind always wins) but rather to become less reactive to the thoughts. And this takes some practice. The good news though – you can notice some benefits almost right away – the moment you start your practice.
In fact, I bet you’ve meditated before without even knowing it.
Have you ever been so focused on a task at hand that time stands still?
Then you’ve experienced meditation and can acknowledge that it’s not always about a seated practice in a quiet room.
Meditation simply means to think, contemplate or ponder.
And we can formalise and make more productive this ‘pondering’ by creating a daily ritual to meditate.
Lucky for you at Flow Athletic we’ve added 5 Mindfulness Meditation sessions to the schedule for you to learn this ritual and discover many benefits like lower cortisol levels meaning stress and anxiety plummet, boosting immunity, improving sleep and increasing productivity levels. Book here.
In addition to the above, we’re bringing in meditation teacher Janoah Van Kekem to give anyone doing Flow 5 some guidance for the 5 daily practices per week you’ll be doing (I’ll also be recording some meditations for you to use) AND the lovely Danyah Preston is returning for a workshop in March to refine your tools and tips on mindfulness and meditation. Book here.
So there’s pretty much no excuses 😉
See you on the mat soon.
KK