A Few Minutes Is All You Need

The teachings of the Yogis emphasize that meditation's primary purpose is to lead you to an awareness of your true self. To help you separate yourself from your body and mind. To recognize them as tools for your expression. To fully understand the “I am” within you.

Enhanced sleep, less anxiety, reduced stress, fewer negative emotions, more patience, increased tolerance, improved concentration, and lower blood pressure are all outcomes of meditation. While these benefits are great, they are not meditation's goal. The true goal is to establish a connection with your genuine self, the "I."

From my own experiences, here's what usually happens when you start meditating. In the initial weeks, as you sit in silence, your mind tends to be restless, bombarding you incessantly with thoughts. On rare occasions during this phase, you may experience moments of complete thoughtlessness and a fleeting sensation of calm and serenity—maybe only for just a few seconds.

As you persist in your meditation practice, roughly half of your sessions will likely be marked by a flurry of thoughts—a restless mind—while the other half will bring about a more tranquil state.

Keep up with your meditation habit, and over time, you'll find yourself going into that state of tranquility faster. Thoughts will still surface, but intermittently. Yet, through dedicated practice, you'll gradually gain mastery over your thoughts and you’ll be able to let them go with ease.

Eventually, you'll reach a point where your mind naturally reaches calmness upon the start of your meditation sessions. Racing thoughts will occupy only a small fraction of your meditation time.

But remember, keep in mind that at the beginning, restlessness is inevitable. Don't be discouraged. It doesn’t matter who you are, your mind will inevitably resist being still. It will insist that your time is better spent elsewhere. It is going to ask you to open your eyes and move. It’s going to tell you that you are wasting your time.

Such is the intrinsic nature of the mind—it generates thoughts. It's not that you are not good at meditation. It’s not that meditation is not for you. It’s not that your mind is different from other minds. It shares the same fundamental traits as all minds. It's universal.

Allocate a few minutes each day to meditate. Beginning with just five minutes is enough. There’s a lot of great apps out there that teach you how to focus on the breath and sit in silence, use them. Headspace used to be my favorite, the guy has an unbelievably soothing voice and that cool British accent. It's a good way to start.

Meditation is straightforward. Find a comfortable seated or lying position. The important thing is to be comfortable enough so that you don’t get distracted by sensations of the body. But not too comfortable that you fall asleep. Focus on your breath. When thoughts emerge, acknowledge them, then gently redirect your focus back to your breathing. Eventually, your mind will settle into a more tranquil state. Set a timer and approach this practice to the best of your ability, even when your mind persists in racing. And when the timer goes off, get on with your daily duties.

Just wanted to give a big shoutout to all of you who took the time to respond to the previous poll. Your feedback is really valuable and I greatly appreciate it! It turns out that the majority of you would love to have both guided meditations and breathing exercises. I'm already on it!

And hey, I get it - life can get pretty hectic sometimes. That's why I promise these exercises will be super simple and won't take up more than 15 minutes of your day 😉

Listen to this email on your favorite podcast platform