Lots of people consider meditation as something that only people of Eastern religions do but in fact, meditation is simply focusing on a single item of thought.
On its own, there is absolutely nothing religious or mystical about meditation, although many religions practice it. It simply means positioning all of one’s awareness and concentration on one thing.
Usually, the item of meditation is ourselves. We position ourselves in a relaxed yet alert position, and simply observe what is going on in our own minds. We do this with no kind of analysis or judgment.
We just observe what is going on.
If we have an idea, we keep in mind of it, and then let it go, like a passing cloud. We don’t stop to evaluate the thought, or get our thinking off on a tangent, because then we have given energy to the thought.
Meditation, and how it can make us more aware, can play an incredible part in losing weight. Through meditation, we are able to observe just how out of control our minds are.
You see, at a young age, we learn how to control our bodies so that we don’t knock things over or run into things. However, we never ever find out to do this with our minds.
If you try meditating for even just one minute, you will probably experience your mind running wild. One moment you will be thinking of the past, then the next minute the future.
Then you might begin humming a song to yourself, and then you may begin considering your to-do list. After that you may feel some sudden unusual emotions, or feel some inexplicable pain someplace in your body, and so on…
With our minds behaving like this, it’s becomes really tough to concentrate on losing weight and consuming food mindfully.
If you can practice meditation for a minimum of a few minutes a day, your mind will gradually settle itself. This is a natural result of meditating.
Then, throughout the day, you will have much more awareness of what is going on around you, and what you are doing (especially what you are putting into your mouth).
As mentioned before, meditation simply means awareness. It means being “awake” mentally, physically and spiritually.
If you meditate on a regular basis, you will eventually be able to catch yourself when you are about to eat in an unhealthy manner.
You will be totally aware with the damage that you are about to do to yourself, and in turn, you will make a better choice. You will not eating from a standpoint of absent mindedness.
You will be able to look in the mirror, calmly see what you look like, and then mindfully make a plan to correct the situation.
It doesn’t matter if you call it meditating or anything else. The objective of meditation is to simply bring awareness into your everyday life so you can make sensible and conscious choices about weight loss, or whatever else you are focussing on.
To begin practicing meditation, you certainly don’t need any books, cushions, statues, or anything like that. Simply sit in a chair with your back straight. You want to be relaxed, yet completely alert.
You are not at all in a trance. If anything, you are highly alert, yet calm. All you are doing is seeing your own mind, the way you would watch a movie, or the way that you would watch snowflakes fall.
You’re just simply an observer.
Don’t think about what you’re seeing, do not evaluate it, don’t force any thoughts in or out, just calmly view and when you’re done, stand up. You don’t need to dwell upon what ideas came up.
If you can get to the point where you practice meditation for at least twenty minutes every day, you’ll find that it will completely change your life.
You will have a clarity of thinking that you never believed possible which you can then use to help you attain all of your weight loss goals.
