As college finals and high school midterms start to roll around, or even after this election many people are feeling stressed. There is a million and one ways to destress, but one way I personally believe works well is meditation. Though meditation is sometimes hard to get into, there are endless numbers of ways you can do it. And at the end of the day it has to be personally you. You can turn almost anything into meditation and make it your own. Learning how to find peacefulness in the busy things is, I think one of the most valuable skills a professional adult can have. So no matter how you destress, make it your own. And if meditation is your thing, or you're just starting to try it, here are a few suggestions :)
Focused attention meditation.
This is the most well known kind of meditation. In this kind of meditation, a person picks an object, to focus their attention on during the course of the meditation. It can be a literal object, your own breathing, noises around you or something you can visualize, even a mantra or saying you love. The more you focus on the object the less you pay attention to the world around you and the easier it become to regulate your breathing, and heart rate. this kind of meditation is great when you need to shut out the rest of the world and take a “me moment”
Guided meditation
Guided meditation is great for people who don't think they can stay focused on attention meditation. There are thousands of youtube videos that can guide you through the process of meditation. You can buy guided meditation books, cds and dvds. this kind of meditation is best for people who like you allot a certain amount of meditation each day.
Religious meditations
For more religious people, these kinds of mediations can bring great comfort and peace very quickly. Like guided meditations these are all over youtube and Barnes and Nobel stores everywhere. They not only help you along in the process of meditation they bring you full circle back to your faith and what you believe in. They exist for every religion under the sun and any google search can find you a great one easily.
Yoga Meditations
Yes, yoga can be meditation. And it can be one of the best forms of it. So hop in on that yoga class you've been contemplating. Or buy a dvd of it, or even watch yoga videos on youtube. Guaranteed it'll make your head feel better and the more you do it the more flexible you'll get, and that'll make your body feel great!
