Art By: Nato Pereira (Pixabay) - CC0 Public Domain

Keep Calm, Meditate
    There are many reasons why people don't meditate. You may be saying, "Yeah, Because I don't want to!" There is an exponential amount of reasons why we should, but here are some excuses we use to avoid Meditation.

• Time - Obviously TIME is the most used excuse. The one you are giving right now.
  You can mediate in as little as 5 minutes a day, or while you are doing something you would do anyways.

• Difficulty and Willingness to learn - Most people stick to what they know. Avoid the unknown
  It is actually really easy, a couple simple steps to get started.

• I cannot sit still or focus long enough - It can be very difficult to calm our minds, but the benefits are huge once you can.
  While you cannot sit still now or focus, the idea is that with just a little work you can master these and improve every aspect of your life.

• I am not a Buddhist nor want to learn a religion or something spiritual.
  Many many religions mediate and a whole lot of non religious people mediate. While mediation can help clear the mind for spiritual practice, this is just one of many benefits of the practice.

• I don't want to go to a temple, church or have to find a teacher.
  That's what this post is all about. Simple steps to focus/still your mind without having to step out of your comfort zone.

    Meditation is one of the best investments for our body and mind. Yes time is very important, but consider the the following when weighing your time investment and benefit related to meditation:

Stress:

 
    It is really easy to loose touch with our inner selves because of stress. Haven't you ever been so stress, even if you didn't realize it, that you couldn't complete normal activities with perfection? Once we reach a relaxed state, we are clear to connect with a deeper purpose. The word Meditation is derived from the Latin word medicus, which means to care or to cure. Reaching a state of calmness is a very effective remedy for our stress. We overwork our minds and bodies and we can release this pressure through mediation and calmness of the mind. A focus mediation, or breathing mediation, really takes our mind off of the stress and allows us to relax. Giving us a new grasp of everything else that deserves our focus.

Harvard Study on Stress and Mediations

Mindfulness:

 
   If read my post about mindfulness then you can see that can be an amazing thing in ones life. It has been wonders for me. I could write all day long about how it has helped me. So what does it have to do with mediation? A LOT! While we can learn mindfulness without mediation, it can greatly improve our ability to control how we react and our awareness. Our Negativity. Our emotions. Anger. So by controlling our thoughts and calming the mind through mediation we are able to step out side ourselves and understand how we think and react. Just imagine if you can really calm your mind and relax to an extreme level. You almost raise your level of awareness out side your self. Inst it easier to judge others and not ourselves? Amazing prospect isn't it?

Negativity, Anger & Fear:

 
    Negativity rules our lives. It not only effects us but everyone around us. I believe there is a macro type slippery slope situation that results. Someone is having a bad day and pushes this negativity onto another. We do it on purpose to make us feel better. Anger and fear are directly and indirectly related. We build these emotions and negative thoughts as well as cause others to manifest them. We can change this by having a positive attitude. While this is far from easy, we can start this process by mediation and clearing the mind of these thoughts. This can do wonders for our stress levels and ultimately make us so much healthier for it.

Appreciation:

 
    We are very lucky people. We have so much that we take for granted everyday. From the fact that we are alive, healthy, intelligent and caring. We are materialistic and appreciate wealth and material goods but we don't appreciate the real things we have and cherish. What are the things in our life that we cant replace. Our family, friends, health and our intelligence. When we forget how lucky we are we take these for granted. We actually can loose them very easily. By mediation we can realize the true important things in our life. What really matter in the larger goal of our lives.

Kindness, Compassion, Harmlessness and Forgiveness:

 
    While these are pretty easy to understand, are we fully aware of these and how they play a role in our mental health and even physical health. We can be Kind, Compassionate, Harmless and Forgiving to others and ourselves. This is something we need to build. This community, SteemIt, should understand this better than most. I see it all the time. We work together and care about one another. Start small and work on yourself in these areas and within this community. Mediation will help you build these skills, understand the benefits and help avoid the negatives related to not embracing them.

Simple steps to mediation:

 
    These steps are just a simple guide. There is so much knowledge out there and mediation takes so may forms. I am trying to give you a reasonable start point to try it out. See how you feel after and hopefully you will include meditation in your daily routine.

Focus/Breathing Mediation:

1. Find a comfortable place to sit. You can cross your legs on the floor, with a pillow, with your legs parallel or even in a chair. The key is that you are comfortable and that you keep your back straight.

2. Make sure it will be quiet. Use headphone or something to lessen distractions. (After some practice these distractions can become part of the process.)

3. Close your eyes and relax. Breath normally. Your breath will naturally slow down as you relax

4. Breath IN deeply and then OUT deeply. After each iteration count in your head. (Breath in and out then "1," breath in and out then "2.") Do this all the way until you reach 10 and start over at 1 again.

5. You can set up an alarm if you want but just try to sit for at least 5 minutes the first time. As you start mediation, minutes are going to seem like hours. This will improve. Just focus on your breath and the count. If you loose your count, start over.

6. Gradually as you become more comfortable mediating, add more time. I started with 5 minutes and then I was able to sit for an hour or more. The benefits are well worth the time and effort. TRUST ME.

Links:

A 5-Minute Breathing Meditation To Cultivate Mindfulness
Guided Mediation Audio Files (mp3s)
Meditation chants and Music
Cool article on the science of mediation and its benefits
Harvard Study on Stress and Mediations

Breathing Meditation for Beginners:
Very good approach to breathing mediation. Anyone can do this so please check it out. Follow the instructions. Just try it.

This is my favorite book in the world. It is so enlightening. It sits atop my alter and is my go to for any knowledge I strive for. Here is a quote on the subject of this post:

In the beginning, when we engage in the practice of single-pointed placement of the mind for the first time and begin the battle with our conceptual thoughts, we must apply concentration, mindfulness, and introspection in equal amounts. As we gain stability, we should check repeatedly to make sure that we have not lost our object. Simultaneously, we must be careful not to overexert ourselves because if we tighten the mind too much we run the danger of falling into the extreme of mental sinking.

Practicing the Path, A commentary on the LAMRIM Chenmo. By Yangsi Rinpoche.

---

Consider reading these (if you aren't too busy watching your crypto grow) :

Staying Calm: Mindfulness (nicnas)
Being A Good Listener Could Actually Save Our Planet. (awakealiveaware)

---

Please Support my efforts by upvoting and following.

NAMASTE ( BOW ) and Thank you for reading, @nicnas