A Guide To Meditation For Beginners

Hi, folks. How are you today? I am Nick the poet. Welcome to my live stream and hope your Tuesday is going well and that your week has been going well. And just want to tell you a little bit about meditation, something that has helped my life a lot and certainly something that I'm not an amazing practitioner of, but something that I have been, you know, consistent with over the past few years and I found a lot of benefit from. And I had a friend earlier today on a call talking about, you know, his mind as like an ape swinging from branch to branch, and I'm right there with him, or call it the monkey mind, that chatter that is with us constantly.

And, you know, if your mind is anything like mine, a lot of times that chattering isn't super friendly. It's not super encouraging. In fact, it's got quite a bit of worry, quite a bit of fear. But that's okay because we have meditation and that's gonna help us. So I'm guessing you have felt stressed, right? Have you ever felt overwhelmed? Have you felt anxious? If so, you're not alone. In today's fast paced world, it's more important than ever to take a step back and relax. And one way to do that, not the only way, but one good way to do that is through meditation.

So meditation is an ancient practice that has been used. Yes, totally, Katie, I know you can relate. We both like the fast paced, you know, let's get it done mentality can be tough to, you know, relax. And so I'm just telling the folks about meditation, and obviously, it's an ancient practice that's been used for centuries to promote relaxation, stress relief and inner peace. And although it originated in eastern cultures, meditation is now practiced all over the world by people of all ages and religions.

So meditation is just going to make us a better person. No matter what career we're in, what religion we're in, you know, what our beliefs are. Meditation can help anybody. There's a lot of different types of meditation, so I just want to introduce you to the concept. So whether you're someone who's never meditated before, this may encourage you, or whether you're someone who's been meditating for a long time, maybe a new insight will come from this. But really, the goal of all of them is to quiet the mind and focus on the present moment.

And so if you're new to meditation, don't worry. Right. It's easy to get started, and there are plenty of resources available to help you along the way. We are working on providing meditations here at Cadre, there's another app called Insight Timer that has really nice guided meditations. And you can also go to YouTube, and I'm also going to introduce you to a very simple way to meditate at the end of this live stream. So keep listening here, and I'm going to tell you more about meditation, and you can start reaping its benefits today.

Right. And so meditation has numerous benefits for both the mind and the body. So research has shown that regular meditation can help reduce stress and anxiety, improve sleep quality, increase concentration and focus, lower blood pressure, and boost immunity. Now, who doesn't want all of those amazing benefits, right? And we can get them with, we don't need anything. We don't need a subscription to a gym. You know, we don't need to do anything outlandish. We just need to practice meditation. And additionally, it can help improve your overall sense of well being and satisfaction with life.

So not only does meditation benefit your physical health, but it also benefits your mental health. And meditation can help ease symptoms of depression and other mental health disorders, and it can also help prevent age related cognitive decline, such as memory loss and dementia. As if that weren't enough, meditation has also been linked with increased creativity and self awareness. That's definitely something that I am interested in. So, how to get started? So, now that you know a little bit more about the benefits of meditation, you might be wondering how to get started.

Luckily, it's very easy to start meditating today, and you don't need any special equipment or training. All you need is a quiet place to sit or lie down where you won't be interrupted. Once you're comfortable, close your eyes and focus on your breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. So, breathing in slowly through the nose and out through the mouth. Continue focusing on your breath until you feel yourself relaxing. If your mind wanders, it's okay. Just refocus the breath and let these thoughts pass without judgment or engagement.

You can think of the thoughts as clouds floating by overhead. You can think of them as drops of water going into the ocean. You know, you can experiment with a lot of this different stuff, but I think a great way to start is just sit for a minute, practice your breathing. You know, if you have just that one mindful minute a day, you know, that's a big thing.