Meditation is the holistic practice of moving your attention within, finding a place of relaxation and peace, and contacting your inner wisdom.  ​It has a lot of benefits that affect us physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

​Last Sept 26, I was honored to be part of The Beauty Junkee's 11th Mega Anniversary which presents ZENFEST: Finding beauty, calm, and positivity amid the pandemic. There were discussions and workshops about the best quarantine beauty finds, therapy through journaling, and how to get started on mindful wellness through meditation.

I talked about how being mindful and doing meditation daily, even for just at least 5-10 minutes, can help in grounding and centering one's self so you can face your day in a better physical, mental, and spiritual state. After the talk, I also did a short guided Gassho meditation that they could easily do in the next days to come.

For those who have missed the event, I will be sharing in this blog post some important stuff that I have mentioned during the event. So scroll down and read on! :)

Basically, meditation can be done by focusing on our breathing - on our inhales and exhales. Observe how your belly expands as you inhale, and how it contracts as you exhale. In a few seconds of breathing, your mind will shift into an alpha state, which feels like your mind is in a trance. By this time, you may notice that you feel lighter and that your mind becomes more receptive to energies around you.

When you focus on your breathing, you activate the parasympathetic nervous system. This is the part of your body that knows how to heal itself, and knows how to relax.

Everything in this Universe is made of energy, including our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Our brains are like a sponge that absorbs information. Since energy is contagious, some energies from other people and places could penetrate our energetic field.

When we neglect to pay attention to the mind-body connection, we may still find ourselves frustrated even after finishing our life goals. Ignoring the power of the mind can be the primary limiting factor in our health. When your mind is full of mental clutter, it builds up stress and anxiety that, most of the time, we are better off without, which is why we need to maintain a daily practice of releasing those thoughts that no longer serve our highest good. 

​Through meditation, we can train ourselves to control our emotions and discipline our mind. ​

For some people, jogging, working out, painting, drawing, and sculpting, can also be a form of meditation because their minds are in a trance - the thoughts are free-flowing while their body is doing the task.

For visualization meditation, I highly recommend that you are in a comfortable position with your eyes closed. It can be done while sitting down or lying down while your eyes are closed.

Be patient with yourself if at first, you feel uneasy. With practice you will get used to it.
​I have listed some helpful tips below:

For starters, I highly recommend incorporating the Gassho Hand Position (illustrated in the photo above) in their meditation practice. It can be done by putting your hands together similar in a praying position.

Your thumbs should be touching your chest, for this is the part of your body that is connected with your Heart Chakra, which acts as the bridge between your Higher Consciousness (mind/ spirit/ soul) with your Physical Body that connects with Mother Earth.

If during meditation, you find yourself sleepy, just have your middle fingers touch so that you will feel grounded again and not fall asleep.

1) Enhanced Self Awareness

​When a person starts the practice of meditation, they may find it hard to concentrate and blank their minds at first. Most of them may feel that something in their body is aching, such as their back, arms, legs, etc. It only means that your body is trying to communicate with you - sending a message on which part of the body is in need of more attention and care.

When a person has enhanced self-awareness, they learn how to respond instead of reacting to every situation that happens to them and in their surroundings. With mindfulness, we no longer let ourselves to be easily consumed by own feelings (i.e. lashing out anger and irritability onto others, self-sabotaging our relationships & friendships, dwelling on self-pity, etc.)
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2) Boosts Happiness and Reduces Stress

​During meditation, a lot of memories may resurface in your mind: faces of people you have encountered, events that trigger certain emotions, places you have visited, and more. When this happen, be calm, acknowledge those thoughts, say "Hi!" and "Goodbye". 

By doing so, you are training yourself to detach and let go of the thoughts that are no longer important in your life. You are making a conscious effort of choosing positivity and getting rid of the negativity. Soon, you will have more gratitude and compassion towards yourself and others, making you happier and in control.

3) Sharpens Your Focus

An untrained mind can easily get distracted but with continuous practice of meditation, you gain more clarity about who you are and it can help you remember things that your logical mind did not notice much earlier.

4) Controlling Addictions

If you set an intention before starting meditation, you are programming your subconscious mind to cooperate with your wishes and goals. If you wish to battle junk food cravings for instance, meditation can help with that because it increases your mindfulness.

Note: if your addiction is serious, it is always best to consult with your physician still. Meditation should not be a substitute in serious medical conditions.

5) Improving your Imagination

Artists, writers, and storytellers can benefit a lot with meditation. It can help when it comes to thinking out of the box because meditation allows you to think of unlimited possibilities, to explore your fantasies, to do astral projection, to revisit good memories, and more!