Meditation is now a standard practice for success and health, even families can benefit from simple meditation to lessen the chaos in their lives. Although making a toddler sit still for a couple of minutes may seem highly unlikely, family meditation can simply be remaining positive when things feel unbalanced.
For expat families this is particularly important too, as it can help you to remain calm and become settled in your new location. This is what I have learnt since taking up meditation 3 months ago.
1. We are not our thoughts
And you can choose whether to react to them or not. Andy Puddicombe, the CEO of Headspace, describes meditation as watching the cars passing you by, each car representing a different state of mind or emotion. You can choose to run through the traffic or you can simply just observe it, let it pass you by without any huge disturbance.
2. It calms you down
I went from constantly worrying and not being able to relax, to being able to filter the things that are important for me. Create a “to do” list so you don’t forget anything and only worry about it when the task needs to be done. A Harvard study revealed that meditation can rebuild grey matter in our brain in just eight weeks and help with our stress management.
3. It improves your posture
Here’s an odd one. The first few days of meditation were incredibly painful for my back. I spent the majority of the time thinking about how much it was hurting to sit up straight, rather than focusing on my breathing. After a while, however, I noticed that the pain was subsiding. I have now developed the habit of sitting up straighter, and I no longer notice any discomfort.
4. You feel more organised
I like to think that if you can take 10 minutes out of your day to practice meditation, you can certainly fit in other activities too! This is the first step towards an organised life. Meditation can also help you to develop better focus and self control in all aspects of your life.
5. Healthy routines = healthy you
It is a good idea to adopt routines in order to maintain this level of activity throughout your day, i.e. meditation before bed, going to bed early, stretching, shutting off electronics and morning exercise.
