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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners

10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation

What is Meditation?

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Anxiety Is Not Your Enemy

Melli O'Brien

00:00

00:00

Meditation

4.4

Duration

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Anxiety Is Not Your Enemy

A practice to help you befriend your experience and rewire your mind for greater happiness and inner strength.

So just taking a moment

to settle into your seat.

Seeing if he can sit upright

rather than slouching.

And when you're ready, just

gently closing your eyes.

And then taking three deep, slow,

full breaths as a support to really

settling in here for the meditation.

Just taking those

breaths in your own time.

So following the flow of each breath in.

And out.

And with each exhale, can you get a sense

of allowing any tension or tightness

that might be held in the body to just

soften even just a little bit and let go.

A softness in the jaw.

And in the shoulders.

The belly.

And the whole body.

And at the end of this next exhale,

just letting your breath return to

its own natural rhythm and pace, but

just still being attentive to it.

So dropping your attention now

right into the feeling of the

breath moving in the belly.

Or if there's elsewhere in the body

that you feel the sensations of the

breath more easily, just allowing

your attention to settle there.

And following knowing the

sensations of the breath now.

As the breath enters the body.

And the breath leaves the body.

In.

And out.

And as you continue to follow the

breath, just see if you can begin to

notice if any thoughts or distractions

start to pull on your attention.

And see if you can have a kind, open

and curious attitude to watching

this attentional pull when it comes.

And as best you can just staying

with the feeling of the breath

instead of being pulled away from it.

And from time to time, you might find

that your mind gets caught up in thinking,

in mind wandering, and no problem.

Each time you find yourself lost

in wandering thoughts, just notice

the thought that distracted you.

And gently land your attention

back on the feeling of the breath.

As this meditation begins to draw to a

close, just taking a deep, slow breath in.

And as you exhale, just beginning

to wriggle the fingers and toes.

And take a moment to notice

how you're feeling after taking

this time out for meditation.

And gently opening the

eyes, when you're ready.

So when our mind wanders, it often pulls

us into places we really didn't want to

go like stress, anxiety, or negativity.

And we may feel that we have no

choice but to be pulled around by our

thoughts and emotions all the time.

But we have more choice

than we often realize.

And it's this ability to choose

not to be pulled around that we're

cultivating through mindfulness.

So with time and practice,

you'll become more able to stay

grounded in the present moment.

And therefore, you'll be less

anxious and more calm and centered

as you go about your days.

Wishing you a really wonderful day.

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