Canadian police officers meditating before they start their day.
What are the benefits of meditation?
- Increased focus
- Lower stress
- Reduced anxiety
- Better mental stamina
- Deeper or broader compassion
- Insight into yourself and your sensory experience
- A better relationship with your emotions
- Liberation
What is a simple meditation technique?
Most traditional meditation techniques are simple to practice.
Here is a very simple instruction:
- Set a timer for your desired length of meditation.
- Sit upright on a chair, cushion or rolled up towel, with your back straight.
- Close your eyes. Breathe through your nose.
- As your breath rises and falls, bring your mind gently to the feeling of the air moving in and out around the tips of your nostrils. Keep your mind there.
As you do this, other thoughts and feelings will arise.
Maybe your foot itches. Maybe you’ve got something you want to do immediately after you get up, or two days from now and it keeps coming to mind. Doesn’t matter.
Note these thoughts and feelings as they come up, try to avoid judging them as good or bad, just notice they happened and gently come back to your breath.