A yearning to slow down..
‘Meditation’ is a practice that has been around for thousands of years and yet its adoption by the west, particularly through mindfulness meditation, in recent years seems to have become synonymous with our yearning to slow down the pace of modern life.
There are a plethora of books and websites on the topic available but how can you dip your toes into how it feels to meditate and how do you make a start finding out what works for you?
One way of experimenting is to start by simply focusing on a breath and staying with the bodily sensations that arise - best you can.
Perhaps it is easier for you to focus in movement - in which case notice how the ground feels beneath your feet as you walk slowly around the room.
If sensations such as taste and smell are easier to access than touch then focusing on the sensations that arise from eating something you enjoy might be interesting to explore.
If this excites your interest you may be interested in following a programme. In which case there are programmes available on line as well as in the form of CDs with or without accompanying textbooks. Williams & Penman’s ‘Mindfulness: a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world’, for example, is available on Amazon.
Apps have become popular recently as they can be easily downloaded on smartphones and computers. Headspace, for example, offers an incremental programme of guided exercises that focuses on stress, sleep, mindful eating and anger management. The first ten sessions are offered for free and the App has an appealing design with animations that help to demystify the process.
As Jon Kabat-Zinn, the godfather of mindfulness meditation, offered: “mindfulness meditation is the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgementally”.
It is therefore crucial that your choice of mindfulness practice works for you rather than becoming another entry on the “must do” list.
I am therefore grateful that there is such a wide range of options available now to access this antidote to the pressures of the modern world.