In this week’s episode of The Quantum Hive, we talk about our experiences with meditation and how they have personally helped us. Meditation can improve your quality of life in many different ways, but a lot of people don’t know where to begin. They might find it challenging to sit still and not think of a single thought. How do you think of nothing for ten minutes or even an hour straight?

    The trick is not to have any expectations when going into meditation. Everyone’s experience is unique and beyond compare. If there are any areas of your life that you want to improve whether it be changing thought patterns to release stress and anxiety, toxic self-deprecation, prioritizing the loads of things you are regularly responsible for, meditation could be great therapy for you.

    We all need time to relax with ourselves without judgment. I want to share with you some of the different types of meditations and techniques for how to use them as well as the individual benefits that you might connect with.

Mindfulness Meditation

    A lot of research has been done and shown this practice has many benefits such as:

• reduce fixation on negative emotions
• improve focus
• improve memory
• lessen impulsive, emotional reactions
• improve relationship satisfaction

    The wonderful thing about mindfulness meditation is that you can do it anywhere. Many people typically think of meditating as sitting legs crossed with your eyes closed for an extended period of time and that can be exhausting and even intimidating when you have so much pent up energy that you can’t sit still. This is why it’s a great one to start off with that you will carry with you through your meditation journey.

    Mindfulness meditation is all about being aware of your external environment that could be causing you stress. Instead of aiming to quiet your mind completely, be mindful of what you are experiencing at this moment. Focus on how this makes you feel and decide to react with the most loving behavior. Think of this type of meditation as prioritizing the many thoughts and responsibilities that come rushing in.

     You can choose to do this in a private setting while sitting still, but you can also practice while you’re doing another task. If you are in the car on your way to work, which can sometimes be stressful, turn to a meditative state of mind. Slow down and follow your zen.

Loving Affirmations

    This type of meditation can be added to your daily routine and once you have made it a habit you will see benefits such as:

• Positive attitude under pressure
• Gained confidence
• Forgiveness towards others
• Lessen impulsive, emotional reactions

    Judging ourselves, other people and the situation we are handed is something most of us deal with, even if just for a moment. The problem is that over time too many of those thoughts can harvest insecurities within you. That is when you know you need more love and kindness surrounding your day-to-day. When we decide to change our view and be kind, whatever it is that is taking our confidence away will no longer have that power.

    Create an attitude of love towards everything including yourself. A considerable part of this practice is sending love to the sources of stress in your life. Replacing judgment and self-deprecation with thoughts of love will reprogram your thought process and lift the heaviness you’ve been carrying. 

    Be kind to yourself by repeating loving affirmations. A great time to do this is during your morning routine so that you can set the tone for the day. Consider practicing this at night when you’re lying in bed and intrusive thoughts pop up. Tell yourself that you already have the things or experiences in your life that you would otherwise just dream of and tell yourself “maybe one day”. The most important part of those visions you have for yourself is the feeling you get from them and we can choose to feel those now. Instead of being jealous or envious of something you feel you deserve that someone else has, send love to that person or thing. Ride that feeling and become that vibration.

Breath Awareness

    This is another universal practice that you can implement into all types of meditation or just on its own. The benefits of this practice include:

• Lessened anxiety
• Soothe panic attacks
• Improved concentration
• Improved emotional flexibility

    When we are meditating one of the most frustrating parts can be the ability to detach from thoughts. It’s as if the more we tell ourselves not to take mind of something the for bond we are by that specific thought. Although we can choose to be mindful of those thoughts sometimes we are using the awareness of breath to help us lower our heart rate during a moment of panic or maybe we are aiming to achieve deep meditation.

    The most healing breaths are the ones we really give our attention to. Inhale deep into your body and take your time. Feel your abdomen expand as you breathe in and once you feel full take a moment at the top of your breath before you exhale. Become aware of your chest falling on the exhale. Soften your body and become the breath. Anytime a thought coming into your mind breath it in and think the word “thoughts”. Release that thought by exhaling and thinking the word “breath”.

    You can use this practice with the most simple meditation, but you will also bring it with you into more advanced techniques such as kundalini yoga or transcendental meditation. Both use breath awareness to focus energy inward to either awaken or transcend beyond the current state of being. While kundalini is very physically involved and transcendental is done seated both use mantras. These more spiritual forms of meditation can be very intense and take a lot of practice.

Body Scanning

    A practice you might know as ‘progressive relaxation’ also used from a meditative perspective. This physical meditation has been shown to aid in:

• Releasing mental tension
• Better sleep
• Ease pain
• Physical stamina
• Healing muscles

    This is actually very easy to do. Taking time to relax and being aware of your physical body can help release tension you may not have realized you were holding onto. This awareness is as simple as noticing the tightness in your shoulders, the clenching of your jaw, or even the expression on your face. If you downturn your brow and frown long enough you might just give yourself a headache.

    Breathing into different parts of your body and being aware of the pain can aid in releasing that feeling. This is something you can do in the shower for a few minutes if you feel you need a reset. Having a bath when your mentally and emotionally tired will soothe your muscles and allow you to relax those other parts of your being that are not physical. We even do body scanning when we are exercising. Such an important thing to remember is breathing into your body when we take time to work on our body at the gym. Exercise itself is very meditative.

“Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It is a way of entering into the quiet that is already there - buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day”

- Deepak Chopra

These are just a few of the fundamental types of meditation that we talk about in our podcast. It’s important to remember that the meditation you do does not have to have a name and there are no rules involved in your individual practice. These are simply my interpretations from the study I've done and experiences personal to me. If you are looking for happiness in your life look inward. That is the only place you will find it.