I ask many of my clients if they meditate. The majority of people say this to me, “Oh no I don’t do that, my thoughts start racing”. Or “I can’t do that, it’s boring”. Or there are some people who say, “I don’t believe in meditation”.
All of these answers are understandable but there are amazing benefits to meditation. Sitting quietly and bringing your thoughts back to your breath every time your mind wonders will help you in amazing ways. I work on this skill in the mornings and in the evenings before I go to bed.
Just sitting quietly and directing the mind back to your breathing helps to stay in control of thoughts and not get hi-jacked by thought spirals. It’s that simple. You don’t have to think about anything,
you just focus your mind on your breath and stay on your breath until your mind wonders, then redirect it back to the breath.
You are teaching the mind to do as you tell it, not as it wants.
I like to do this during times of stress to give myself a little stress break. Take a couple of good deep breaths and center yourself. Focusing on your breathing can help put a little distance between you and your stressful thoughts. I often times add gratitude to my meditative times.
When I first started this I was awful at it and hated even sitting quietly. Now I actually find that I can use it when I need to focus. It also helps to calm the mind before going to bed. The key is practice so it can be a skill.
Start with 2 mins a day.
Close your eyes,
breath in and out
when your mind starts to wander, redirect it back to your breath.
Keep increasing the time until you can do it for 10 mins.
Once you develop this skill you can use it whenever your thoughts are getting carried away.
This will help you focus and separate from unhelpful, anxious thoughts.