Just Sit and Do NOTHING
Just sit. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But notice how your mind wanders, maybe you get anxious like you need to be DOING something or feel like you don’t have the time to just sit and do NOTHING!
Take time daily to sit in silence for at least 5 minutes and try not to think of anything at all. Focus on your breath or another anchor and when you notice your thoughts drifting, come back to focusing on your anchor. It sounds so simple but it’s really a challenge for our busy minds.
You don’t need to be a Buddhist monk to meditate and you don’t have to sit for hours to reap the benefits!
There are many benefits of meditation and it’s becoming more mainstream, as you may have heard. Building a regular meditation practice can help us stay centered and help with our inner peace and calm, benefitting our health and wellbeing.
The Mayo Clinic says, “During meditation, you focus your attention and eliminate the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress. This process may result in enhanced physical and emotional well-being.”
Healthline.com lists 12 Science-based benefits of Meditation read here for more:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/12-benefits-of-meditation
1. Reduces stress
2. Controls anxiety
3. Promotes emotional health
4. Enhances self-awareness
5. Lengthens attention span
6. May reduce age-related memory loss
7. Can generate kindness
8. May help fight addictions
9. Improves sleep
10. Helps control pain
11. Can decrease blood pressure
12. Accessible anywhere
Let’s get started and keep it simple.
1. Find a quiet place. Find a consistent time in your day to sit undisturbed for a minimum of five minutes. You may want to build your time over time but five minutes is a good place to start.
2. Set a timer for five minutes.
3. Focus on an anchor, when your mind wanders come back to the anchor. An anchor could be your breath, the sound of birds, or anything that holds your focus. When a thought arises, catch it and let it go, going back to the anchor. That’s it!
There are also wonderful guided meditations that can be helpful as you start your practice. Download a meditation app. Here are some that my clients use: Insight Timer, Headspace, and Calm.
Set aside consistent time in your day to just sit and breathe for 5 minutes. You may want to start with a shorter time, like 2 minutes, to get into a routine practice and then build time on that. There are some great guided meditations in the apps I included.
Do you already take time daily to sit WITHOUT your thoughts? Share your practice below in the comments.