We've all heard that meditation is "good for you," so why is it so hard to get ourselves on the mat? 🧘🏽♂️🤔
Truth is, even after meditating for three years, I still have to make an effort to meditate. It IS much harder than the experts make it seem!
But when you realize how much of an impact meditation makes on your performance, you'll start practicing more regularly.
Meditation helps you:
Feel less stressed within 15 minutes of a session
Boost your energy
Lower anxiety levels
Solve problems more effectively by helping you see things from a bird's-eye view instead of spending time in the weeds
Activate the RESTFUL part of your nervous system – it slows down your heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure and calms down all of your fight-or-flight functions
Enhance your self-awareness and cognitive functions
So how can we make getting on the mat just a bit easier?
Surprisingly, the best time to meditate is immediately after waking up. It will make you feel alert and awake without the caffeine!
Start right now by taking a few minutes to breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 4, and breathe out for 4. (This is called "boxed breathing.")
Take a class to get extra motivation from meditating with others.
Schedule it in your calendar or Apple watch to get daily reminders to breathe.
Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, has a strict wellness schedule that includes meditating twice a day. In a recent podcast, he said meditation helped him clear brain fog that normally lingered during the first few hours of the workday. Meditation also helped him look at things from a bird's-eye view, which is critical for generating ideas and setting goals.
CEOs who use meditation to become better leaders and attribute their success to meditation include Jeff Weiner (LinkedIn), Arianna Huffington (The Huffington Post), Padmasree Warrior (Fable), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Marc Benioff (Salesforce), Ray Dalio (Bridgewater Associates), among others.
Do you find meditation challenging to do? What are some simple tips that have helped you get on the mat? Comment below!
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