Meditate Your Mojo Back

In today’s world of ‘hyper-distraction’ it’s easy to get lost in the fast pace of life, suffer from overwhelm and not get much meaningful work done. If you’re one to struggle with focus and/or have ADD/ADHD you’ve probably come across meditation and its power to help calm and focus the mind. For those not familiar with it, they may regard it as something totally ‘out there’ and something only for the wildest yogis and bald-headed monks to practice. However, it really is nothing more than focusing on your breathing and strengthening your focus muscles. It’s hard to begin with and then gets easier. None of us take out time for ourselves these days and this is one way to ground yourself and bring your focus back. Check out this post from NerdFitness. Yoga is an excellent way to meditate and focus and connect your breath with movement as featured last week. Since yoga and meditation help to de-stress, this reduces your stress hormone, cortisol, which acts against testosterone production. And we don’t want that!

Meditate Your Mojo Back

Meditation is simply the practice of learning how to pay attention. It’s not something magic. It’s not a cult or a religion. Meditation is just a mental exercise to strengthen your mind.  Learn from Ron Swanson – meditation can and should be done by everyone. What do CEOs, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Gates, Oprah, and even Wolverine himself all have in common? They meditate!

Meditation is supported by a huge body of scientific research, and has been shown to help manage symptoms and reduce risks for almost every bad thing out there, including:

• Anxiety disorders,
• Asthma
• Blood pressure
• Cancers
• Depression
• Heart disease
• Pain
• Sleep issues
• Stress
• Self-confidence
• Weight loss, and more.

It’s not a panacea, but hits the bad stuff pretty darn far and wide. Dan Harris summarizes just some of these benefits.

How to Meditate

Ready to give this a go? Okay great! Head on down to your nearest Monks-are-us, grab a few robes, and then head over to the barbershop for a quick head shaving. Kidding! There’s not a single thing you need to have to start other than your brain. If you’re reading this right now, chances are good you still have it.

To start, pick a time in your day you can regularly designate as time to meditate. It should be a time you can find a quiet place, without distraction or interruption.

As a beginner, you don’t need to meditate for long. Just five minutes a day is a great place to start. Too much? Try TWO minutes. The important part is the building of the daily habit. Before we begin, I wanted to give a shoutout to both Calm.com and Headspace. These websites and their apps can help guide you through meditation as a beginner, and come recommended from some Nerd Fitness Team Members.

The meditation practice I’m going to describe for you below is a basic mindfulness practice. There are many different styles of meditation, but every style of meditation is about cultivating attention and awareness. Be sure to set a timer before you begin.

1. Find a place to sit that allows your back to be in an upright position.You don’t need to sit cross legged, but you can if you wish. A chair or sitting against a wall also works well. Feel free to use a cushion under your bottom to help your posture and make yourself more comfortable. The goal is a posture that helps you stay alert, but is still comfortable. You can meditate with your eyes open or closed.
2. As you begin, take several deep, slow breaths to gather concentration. Inhale deeply, filling your lungs to the brim. Then slowly exhale. Follow your breath carefully with your attention through this process.
3. After a few breaths, or when you feel your concentration has settled, begin to breathe naturally.  Keep your attention on the breath at a specific point, most commonly with the rising and falling of the chest, at your nostrils, or at your abdomen. Follow your breath from the moment it begins to the moment it ends. Use your breath as an anchor; notice any sensations in your body, but always return to the breath.
4. When you get lost in thought, simply return your attention back to the breath. Bringing your attention back to the breath is a central part of the process –  think about it like performing a repetition.  Each time you do this you are rewiring your brain – no different from doing a repetition in strength training. So, don’t feel guilty or beat yourself up. Just return to the breath!

This is where we recommend most beginners start – think about this no differently than starting with just the bar before adding weight, when learning to squat. Feel free to jump into a guided meditation to guide you through this step, here.

However, if you’ve been meditating for a few weeks and have built up some concentration, move on to step 5:

5. True meditation is neither holding focus on the breath, nor avoiding thought. Rather, meditation is about noticing what you notice; if you notice a thought arising in the moment, simply notice it, and let it pass. If you feel the the pressure of the seat on your back, let your attention focus on this pressure. If you hear the sound of the wind outside, let your attention and focus settle on the sound. The important part is to stay mindful throughout these actions. Notice what you notice, rather than forcing your attention back to the breath or losing yourself in thought.

Again, use your breath as an anchor – something to be returned to after you notice various sensations or thoughts. Because holding your attention on a variety of phenomena can be difficult, some people findthe practice of noting to be helpful.  This guided meditation guides you through both breathing and sounds, while this meditation guides you through thoughts as well.

Beginners often find it difficult to stay aware when thoughts arise, and find themselves noticing they have been thinking only after being lost in thoughts for several minutes. If you find yourself unable to observe thoughts without getting lost in them, spend more time simply keeping your concentration on the breath itself as described in steps 1-4.

Again, if the above sounds intimidating, start with a guided meditation. Guided meditation are great to incorporate into anyone’s meditation practice, and certainly when the mind is especially restless.

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