Contents
- “If you feel that your head is going to explode from the noise of your thoughts, you need to meditate”
- Mindfulness
- The psychologist and expert in “mindfulness”, Belén Colomina, reveals that the benefits of practicing meditation are appreciated from the first session, but that the activity requires perseverance to become a habit
- – Guided meditation: a session for every mood
“If you feel that your head is going to explode from the noise of your thoughts, you need to meditate”
Mindfulness
The psychologist and expert in “mindfulness”, Belén Colomina, reveals that the benefits of practicing meditation are appreciated from the first session, but that the activity requires perseverance to become a habit
– Guided meditation: a session for every mood
The mind does not rest. The thinking They surface almost without realizing it, often automatically and sometimes we are not aware of everything we can think of in one day. It is estimated that the human brain can generate around 60.000 thoughts a day. However, this is not a figure that has been agreed upon by the scientific community, since mental activity is not something easy to calculate. What does have the approval of experts, especially in the field of psychology, is that a high percentage of these thoughts are repetitive and that this repetition not only occurs on the same day, but can occur over several days or even throughout life.
And if we also find ourselves in a complicated context like the one we live in today as a result of Covid-19, the equation is likely to get complicated. The pandemic It has triggered the levels of anxiety, stress, uncertainty, fear and anguish, but it has also aroused interest in practices such as meditation, an activity that helps to minimize the tensions generated by these afflictions and reports calm, according to the psychologist and expert in “mindfulness”, Belén Colomina. “With just a few minutes a day of practice, many have found that they can begin to distance themselves from worries. It is a way of taking care of your thoughts and emotions, a way of taking care of your mental health, “he reveals.
According to data from a recent study by the meditation app Petit Bambou and the market research firm YouGov, meditation is perceived as a beneficial activity for reducing stress (71% of respondents) and managing emotions (62%) .
Benefits of Meditation
Precisely the reduction of stress and anxiety levels (slowing the heart rate), the improvement of emotional regulation (increasing reflection and acceptance) and improved attention and concentration (reporting a feeling of calm and well-being) are some of the most outstanding benefits that meditation brings, according to Belén Colomina.
These benefits can be appreciated from the first session, according to the expert, although she clarifies that the more regular and prolonged the practice is, the greater the consolidation of these benefits in the long term. «We have scientific studies that show great benefits with eight weeks of practice», Highlights.
When it comes to knowing when is the best time to start practicing meditation, the expert invites you to observe yourself and analyze how we feel. «If you feel like your head is going to explode from the speed and volume of your thoughts or if you feel absent, browsing every day in autopilot, without a doubt this is the best time to meditate », he reveals.
Make meditation a habit
The hardest thing about meditation practice is acquiring the habit and find the right time to do it. For this reason, in order to dedicate that time of our life to this activity and not lose ourselves in excuses, the psychologist advises scheduling the time and place for it. «Maintain a same schedule to practice meditation will facilitate the acquisition and maintenance of that habit, “he says. In this sense, one of the best times is, in his opinion, the first thing in the morning, that is, taking a moment before starting daily activity to practice meditation.
As for the place, the ideal is to have a physical space in which it is possible to create a serene space that includes those elements that for each person can mean “care”, “harmony” or “serenity”. From the meditation cushion to decoration with flowers, incense or scents. It is also important that this corner or this place is located in a quiet area of the house to keep it as far away as possible from movement or everyday noises that occur in the home.
False myths about what meditation is or is not
“I am unable to meditate because just thinking about it makes me nervous”, “putting my mind blank is impossible”, “with the amount of things in my head, how do they want me not to think”, “that’s like praying or something like that, right? »… These are some of the phrases that we can hear when we ask someone who has never meditated if they would like to try it. The point is that, as Belén Colomina explains, there are still misconceptions or false myths about what meditation is or is not.
One of the most widespread is that to meditate “you have to put your mind blank.” Thus, as the expert clarifies, meditation is neither putting the mind blank nor escaping to avoid the experience. “Meditation is training and cultivating the mind around different states,” he explains. That is why it is not about avoiding the experience but about training “non-reactive” acceptance and being aware of it “without getting hooked.”
It is not a strictly spiritual practice either, as it is about training the mind to find internal balance. In fact, meditation is used in different religions, but also in the case of secular people and movements, as Colomina argues.