Meditation

Meditation is a great tool for giving your mind a break from daily stresses, it is a way of training your attention back to the present.  During the day our mind is bombarded by thoughts of work, the past, the future, stresses and pressures.  Taking a few minutes out of our hectic schedules, we can teach ourselves how to recentre.  It is great for so many reasons – It is very calming, alleviates stress, lowers blood pressure, reduces cortisol levels and add to that, it is completely free and you can do it anywhere. I often talk about meditation on my social media, but it occurred to me that some may not know where to start, so I wanted to give a guide on how to do a body scan meditation (one of my favourites!) for anyone that would like to try it.

Release that physical tension!

Body scan meditation is a good way to release physical tension you might not even realize you’re experiencing. Body scanning involves paying attention to parts of the body and bodily sensations in a gradual sequence from feet to head As a beginner it is great to use guided meditation as it helps to keep your mind focused but equally learning to do this by yourself is a skill you will reap the benefits from time and time again.
Time Give yourself a few minutes – you will find what works for you once you’ve got into the swing of it but as a guide anything between 3-5 minutes is a good place to start.
Find a comfortable position This is completely flexible, it can be sitting on a chair, on the floor, sitting or laying on a couch, whatever works for you so long as you are comfortable, and you can relax into whatever position you are in.  You don’t need to be in the lotus position but equally if that’s what works for you – roll with it.
Close your eyes Start by closing your eyes and making sure your body is in a comfortable position – make adjustments if needs be, wherever you are.
Notice your breath Take a nice slow deep breath in, and then slowly exhale.  Notice how your breath feels as it comes into your body, filling your lungs, and then as you exhale, notice as your lungs empty.  You can repeat this as many times as you want/need until you are ready to move on.

Scan your body inch-by-inch

Next, take a few moments to notice your body, to notice how comfortable you are.  Feel yourself relaxing into the position you are in and begin to give your body a whole scan, slowly noticing how every part feels.  If you feel any tension in a particular area, breathe into it. If you notice any uncomfortable sensations, focus your attention on them. Breathe into them, and see what happens. Visualise the tension leaving your body through your breath and evaporating into the air. Move on when you feel ready. Start at the top of your head, let your eyelids feel heavy, consciously relax the muscles in your face and neck, noting how it all feels.  Relax your shoulders and then guide your attention to your arms and how they feel and all the way down to the tips of your fingers, then guide your mind to your back, your legs, your feet and your toes, just noticing all of your muscles relaxing. 

You may feel sensations like warmth or tingling or if you have an injury you may be aware of discomfort, whatever that feeling just acknowledge it and continue with your body scan.

The goal of meditation is to bring your thoughts back to the present – to the now, to your body and away from daily stresses.  Just this short break is such a powerful de-stresser.

Finish When you are finished just note how you feel, you might be expecting to feel different to how you do and that’s fine, you might feel nothing (that’s also fine), but the more you familiarise yourself with this process the more comfortable you will feel.  The key to success is doing it regularly.

What if your mind wanders? Mindfulness meditation is not about trying to empty your mind it is practising the art of paying close attention to the present moment — especially our own thoughts, emotions and sensations so please don’t question if you are doing it correctly, it is entirely normal, the key is to acknowledge your thoughts and just return yourself back to the present.

Make it a habit Many people find by scheduling in this time, it’s easier to remember to do each day, some people like to do it before they fall asleep or first thing in the morning but be assured there is no right/wrong time, do whatever feels best for you. So why not have a go, feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.

And on a final note… If you would prefer to try guided meditation I have uploaded a free session on my youtube channel you can find it here:

https://youtu.be/r36NkeX2EyI