And Relax
Over the last few weeks I have had a few people asking me about meditation – or their lack of – and what they may be doing wrong: “Can you help?” Well for a start I feel their pain; it took me years to figure out that meditation can be something we think too much about whilst concentrating on not thinking at all, making it seemingly impossible to master. How do we knock our minds off?

We can’t. Our minds as long as we are alive will always be active, and it’s not knocking them off that’s the key, its learning to calm it, learning to live in harmony with your conscious and subconscious mind at the same time. Stop trying to mediate and you’re half way there. I know that’s a bit of a head scratcher, but it’s the best answer I can give. We all have the ability to overthink, especially when we are trying not to do that exact thing. Ok, ok, I know that’s not helping at all, so I’m going to give you a technique that I find helpful. This technique is one that I use everyday and I call it the ‘two minute wonder’, whenever I need a quick fix I find myself somewhere to sit and I close my eyes. I take a deep breath and start counting from 1 – 120. Give it a go. Find somewhere comfy to relax, and when you are ready, take a big deep breath, hold it for a few seconds and start counting the moment you exhale, keeping your breathing steady and fluid throughout. Repeat the action until you reach 120 – if you feel like going past 120 breaths then please do so: the more you feel you can do, the better. I know this sounds too easy and yes, it is when you get the hang of it. After a while you will find that you can do it almost anywhere; it’s one of the most effective methods of being in the now and ideal for getting you on the road to enlightenment.
There are many guided meditation videos on YouTube – it can be a little bit overwhelming, but if you are seriously considering meditation then it’s worth sifting through the never-ending list of clips. Try using key words that highlight what you are looking for in a session to narrow down your search, such as “short meditation” or “meditation for beginners”. There is a meditation video that covers every subject or situation under the sun,,so check out the comments to see what feedback they have regarding effectiveness. I feel that there is no right or wrong way of meditating, it’s a personal journey of growth and self-awareness, and the key to it all is not trying when your gut instinct is to try.