A Peaceful Mind

Meditation is a practice used by many different cultures to quieten the mind. Despite some misconceptions, it’s now easier than ever to implement the practice into your daily life with a host of new apps and guides that promise to deliver stillness and a sense of peace

- CECILIA D’SOUZA

Meditate. We have all probably been told to do this at one point in our lives, but where do you begin? With lockdown and working from home, looking after the health of our minds has come to the forefront like never before. Here we look at how, with a little discipline and effort, we can train our mind to focus, tune out negative thoughts, become more productive, and learn more about ourselves.

What is Meditation?

Meditation is a simple practice which can help reduce our stress levels, increase calmness and clarity, and promote happiness in our lives. It’s not about stopping our thinking or emptying our mind. Rather, it’s more about paying close attention to our physical sensations, thoughts, and emotions, or as Oprah Winfrey, who is a huge fan of meditation, says: “The outside world is constantly trying to convince you you’re not enough. But you don’t have to take the bait. Meditation helps you resist. What I know for sure, and have had to learn through much trial and error is that the voice that truly matters is the silent voice of awareness, consciousness, and aliveness.” There are different effective types of meditation, and the degree of success differs from person to person. There are many popular types of meditation to get you started. Headspace is one of the most downloaded mediation-based apps currently. The guided format is particularly useful to beginners as it uses illustrations and visuals to talk you through how the mind behaves during meditation. It gradually leads you through the techniques and suggests ways you can integrate them into your everyday life. It’s ideal for those who struggle with unguided meditation (or silent meditation) where you simply sit in silence and pay attention to your body and thoughts.