Yogi Kyri

How have you been getting on with your meditation practice so far? Were you able to practice regularly? How was the actual sitting process? Did you find a comfortable position?

However you experienced your ‘sitting’, whether in a positive or negative way, it was just your ‘experience’ of it. Of course there are some things that can be done to help. In western cultures we do not naturally sit cross-legged or kneeling. Please don’t struggle with your sitting – sit on more cushions, support your legs or if necessary sit on a comfortable chair with both feet on the floor.

You will find that each time you ‘sit’, the experience will be different. Sometimes your perception will be that time passes quickly and effortlessly, at other times it feels like it’s dragging through a thick, viscous substance. One experience is NOT better than the other.

Like everything we do, learning to drive, play a musical instrument or learning a new language, at first it can be difficult and unnaturally awkward, but KEEP ON. Maybe go back to the first day’s blog and read the benefits of a meditation practice again. Keep ON!

Here are a few more benefits of practicing meditation:

·         It increases brain function and grey matter volume.

·         It improves mood and well-being by increasing brain mass in the areas associated with mood.

·         It improves concentration.

·         It reduces anxiety.

Following your breath

The next time you sit, try following the rhythm of your breath. The ‘in’ and ‘out’ of your breath in the body. Maybe observing the sensation of the breath as it moves through the nose and expands into your body.

Don’t worry  about those pesky, uninvited thoughts! As soon as you notice that the mind has wandered off, just bring yourself back to observing your breath.

You might decide to count your breaths from 1-5 or 1 -10. You might say to yourself ‘breathing in’ as you breath in and ‘breathing out’ as you breath out. Find a way that you like.