Ask anyone what meditation looks like and you’ll get a wide range of answers. For some, it’s as simple as sitting still with their eyes closed for five minutes. And for others, it’s a guided practice in a more formal setting. It’s a word we hear a lot, but the definitions are all over the place. Confusion aside, the common thread through most people’s experiences is that meditation provides a sense of calm; something we could all use after a year filled with political turmoil on top of general day-to-day stress.
If you’re simply curious or adding self-care to your list of 2018 resolutions, Londro Rinzler, Chief Spiritual Officer and co-founder of MNDFL, shares easy meditation techniques and everything you need to know before starting them. MORE: Feeling Down This Winter" Try These Mood-Lifting Methods
The Roots
First, it’s important to establish a clear understanding of what meditation is. It’s something you actually do, or “swapping out your discursive thinking for a particular object that gets your attention,” says Rinzler. “In mindfulness practice, for example, that object might be your breath, or in mantra practice, a word or a phrase.”
Many forms of meditation originated in India, but mindfulness of the breath (from the Buddhist tradition) is the best known version here in the States.
“The Buddha was a human, just like you and me, who lived 2600 years ago. He experimented with a number o...