Me Time
NEED A BREAK? MEDITATE!
By Kristyn Kusek
Meditation is a powerful way to relieve stress. It's calming because it
connects us to the emotions we're cut off from during our daily
routines, according to Sharon Salzberg, a teacher at the Insight
Meditation Center in Barre, Mass. Skeptical? You don't need to fill a
room with candles and New Age-y music to do it. And ten minutes a day
is enough time to reap the rewards.
Here, some guidelines for a beginner's meditation practice:
Step 1 Sit comfortably with
your legs crossed. It doesn't matter if you're on the couch, the floor,
or even in bed. The most important thing is to keep your back
Step 2 Close your eyes and
listen to the sounds around you to quiet your mind. Try to focus your
thoughts on what you're hearing, but don't "analyze" the sounds. For
instance, when you hear the refrigerator humming, just listen. Don't
think, "That refrigerator sounds so loud."
Step 3 Concentrate on your
breath flowing in and out. Don't worry about breathing in from your
nose or out of your mouth. Just focus on feeling yourself breathing
gently.
Step 4 At this point, you'll
probably find it hard to concentrate or notice that you're lost in
thought. This is the critical moment of meditation: when you start to
trail off and get frustrated because you can't concentrate, let go of
the criticism and just go back to focusing on your breathing.
Step 5 Keep concentrating on
your breathing and bring yourself back to it whenever your mind
wanders. Salzberg says that the first five minutes of meditation are
the hardest, because your mind is still busy. Stay with it for as long
as you can -- ten minutes is great for beginners, but keep going for as
long as you like. As the time slips by, you'll eventually find that you
feel calmer and more connected to your body and mind.
Says Salzberg, "Do this every day. Stopping for a few minutes to connect with yourself will make you feel wonderful."
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About The Author
Kristyn Kusek is a health and lifestyle writer whose work has appeared in Redbook, Good Housekeeping, Parenting, The New York Times, and Lifetime TV Online.
