If you’re anything like my dad, you’re probably on the wavelength and mindset that your brain is fine how it is and ‘spiritual’ practices like meditation are for ‘hippies’ and monks in the mountains. This is a common conception that I hear a lot when talking about meditation and one that’s agree with by a lot of cynics.
This is even the case, despite countless studies that prove the benefits of the practice, a practice that has been adopted by human beings for over 5,000 years. Let’s take a look at Dan Harris.
Back in 2004, Dan Harris, a news anchor for ABC News in the United States, had a panic attack live on air with a viewing audience about five million strong. The reason for this was that Dan had commonly reported from war zones around the world and it’s safe to say he’s seen some things that are going to play on his mind. Originally, he had used drugs to cope with the stresses and worries.
However, Harris has recently come forward to claim how he has now adopted meditation and how it has changed his life. He’s even written a book titled 10% Happier about his whole experience. Yet, Harris soon discovered that the original impact for convincing people to meditate didn’t happen. He claims how he was surprised how difficult it was for human beings to create healthy, life-changing habits.
Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics
This is the title of Harris’s latest book, which can be found here. He claims that there’s no better time like New Year, where people are infamous for following the ‘new year, new me’ saying, but there are a few problems that come with this.
Most notably is the fact that many people are trying to convince themselves to do something, whether it’s quit smoking, lose weight, or start exercising. This is just another thing on the to-do list which usually causes more stress than enlightenment.
Starting Your Own Meditation Journey
Harris claims he has spoken to neuroscientists who study meditation when writing the book. In his book, it states that 5-10 minutes of meditation a day is enough to start enjoying and relishing in the benefits that it provides. In fact, even developing a habit of a minute a day is more than enough.
Even if you try meditating once, trying to focus on your breath, and stay focused on your breath, it’s surprisingly difficult for most people. You’ll soon realise that your mind is a crazy and insane place that doesn’t seem to want to stay peaceful.
Even after the first session, it’s easy to see that our minds are constantly having an endless conversation with ourselves and you’d be surprised what happens when you actually listen to it.
For many of us, there is a tonne of negative and degrading thoughts about ourselves that repeat over and over again. These are completely natural to a certain degree but only exist because of our lifestyle.
Let’s say you’re casually scrolling down your Instagram feed. You might see a cute puppy, an exotic destination and a beautifully prepared meal. Now, what does your mind say to these things ‘I want to stroke the puppy, I want to be in that destination, and I want to eat that meal’.
All of these things are taking our minds off and out of the present moment in which we’re living and into a place where our minds are constantly elsewhere and not focused or appreciating where we actually are right now.
Now consider the average time spent on Instagram a day is 50 minutes, this is a lot of time where we’re thinking in this mindset. Through meditation, you can actively calm these thoughts down, helping you come back to the present moment where you’ll be able to breathe and be grateful for what you’ve got.
Trying it Yourself
Even if you’re a sceptic of meditation, even trying it once, just for ten minutes, say when you wake up tomorrow morning, give it a go to see what you think. If you have the willpower, try practising ten minutes a day for a week. This is all the time you’ll need to start feeling the benefits for yourself which can have dramatically positive effects on your mental and physical wellbeing.
