A Healthy Mind

hisandherscene 8 Comments

Let’s start with a healthy mind because isn’t that behind everything we do and want to achieve?

The power of a positive mind amazes me.

positive

I know people who swear by meditation for relaxing, clear thought, reducing stress, focus and countless other reasons. Personally I didn’t see how I could justify sitting and not getting any physical benefits, like an ab–workout, out of it.  Wasn’t it a bit self involved to sit there and focus on me…?

Oh, how naive I was.

I wanted something user friendly – nothing too far removed – as meditation is a state that you learn.  It can’t just be achieved by sitting there closing your eyes and trying to force yourself into a form of calm.

Headspace

I downloaded the ‘Headspace’ app and have been doing their ten day free trial.  Ten minutes for ten days.  Andy, the founder, talks you through everything.  I did find initially that I would get anxious that ‘I wasn’t doing it right’ and that ‘I didn’t feel in some zen like state’.  Andy explains that you are allowed to let the mind wander but it is about letting the thoughts come and go and not holding onto them.  He is brilliant and just reading his tweets calms me down…psychosomatic, I’m sure, but nevertheless a nice calming distraction in what is a busy London life.

Meditation apps

Am I going to sign up after ten days? – I’m not sure.  I haven’t tried anything else yet except for chanting which we did at drama school with Nikki Slade which was absolutely amazing by the way! There are so many different types of meditation and I need to explore which one is for me.

meditation

I also downloaded an app called Digipill.  It provides you with a free relaxing ‘pill’ (podcast) and once you get over the filmic narrative I can’t tell you much more as each time I have listened to it at night I have fallen asleep during it!  You can purchase other ‘pills’ targeted at specific concerns i.e. anxiety, focus.  I’ll let you know if I’m a convert when/ if I manage to stay awake.

Meditation 2

Can you recommend any good meditation books/ sites/ classes/ dvds/ apps that I should try?

A x

8 thoughts on “A Healthy Mind”

  1. I can’t recommend any books you can try, but if you like essential oils, there are SO many that are good for relaxation and clarity 🙂

    I do, however, recognize the benefits of meditation, I just like my oils too 🙂 Happy Meditating!

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  3. That’s great you find headspace helpful, I’m a big advocate for meditation as a ‘type A personality’ aka constant worrier/thinker but over the years this has definitely dampened down (even though I haven’t reached ‘zen-like states’ though I’ve come to realised that those aren’t the point of it, more just about being more present as opposed to ruminating about the past/thinking about the future). Also, I read your post on yoga (I love Rachel Brathen too – she’s such an inspiration!) and I completely see yoga as a moving meditation if you focus on the breath/sensations in the body – so maybe that is your kind of meditation 🙂

    However, as with anything, you may find it easier to start with meditation classes – I did a couple at the beginning (through buddhist centres as they are not pricey even though I’m not religious – lots in London!) and it meant I could ask lots of questions to see if I was doing it ‘right’.

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    • Thank you for your advice! Have just been on your blog and love it! I think you might be right I’m really loving my morning yoga and think it’s my way of starting the day calm and focused, so yes my form of meditation. A x

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