
Welcome to the course! Meditation can provide countless benefits in all areas of your life. Imagine being able to handle stress better, sleep better, and be more attentive to your loved ones. With continued practice of meditation, you will actually rewire your brain for all sorts of benefits. I hope this course is a quick and easy way to kickstart your practice. You don't need any fancy equipment, hours of free time, or to join a monastery. Meditation can be as simple as Stop, Be Still, and Breathe.
If you do want to pick up a comfortable cushion or chair check out the attached documents that lists some products that I like. Full disclosure, they are affiliate links, and using them helps keep my kids eating the fancy organic veggies.
Let's go over the basic postures involved in meditation. With this particular style, it's more important that you find some comfort. Standing, sitting, or laying down doesn't matter as much as taking the time to relax and focus on your breath. Try out the various postures and do your best to maintain an elongated spine. If something is uncomfortable, try and breathe through it, if it doesn't pass adjust your position as necessary.
You've been breathing since you were born! However, modern lifestyle and stress have made us forget how to breathe effectively. We are going to discuss "belly" breathing to get the most out of each breath cycle and help switch your nervous system back to a "rest and digest" mode.
I've added a video of me breathing from the front and the side to show how the abdomen, not the chest and shoulders expand. It is a separate file as my software didn't like me recording over a recording.
Thinking? Not thinking? What should your mind be doing?
Please watch the video first. I have added a slide with the audio below as well as a downloadable MP3 file if you want to take the meditation on the go.
Here are some additional resources for you. Some tips on continuing your practice, ways to connect with me and a reading list to help further your practice.
There are many different types of meditation. Some very simple and some quite involved. There are some universal benefits to all meditation while certain styles focus on achieving specific results. This course is designed to give you a brief overview of some of these systems, but more importantly, start you off meditating. The sooner you start, the sooner you can build a consistent practice and see results.