The point of mediation is to train your mind to focus on one thing at a time.

Your mind will naturally want to wonder, in fact it is designed and has evolved to do just that, it is perfectly normal.

Therefore, some people who meditate take up a posture because that helps them focus the mind, but that does not have to be sat in a classic meditation pose. It’s your mind, so the pose or posture should be something that works for you.

Exercise Meditation

One of the forms of mediation I use is what I refer to as “exercise mediation“. This is where I focus my mind on a visual, imagined, “visualisation” and I do that while peddling away on my exercise bike at about 12mph for about an hour. I find that helps me get through an hour on the exercise bike, static in the house, not on the road, as usually have my eyes shut to focus on the visualisation in my mind. Just peddling away could otherwise be a bit boring for an hour.

Meditating like that for a full hour might be a challenge and therefore I do that same visualisation about four or five times during the hour, each time lasting about 5 minutes or so. Additionally I often have exercise bass beat music playing at the same time because that helps me keep peddling to the beat without having to think too much about keeping peddling, the base beat music keeps that going for me.

Breathing Exercises

Another form of meditation is breathing exercises which likewise focus your mind on the breaths you are taking, so that focusing your mind, to try to reduce external distractions, or other thoughts.

Some Benefits of Meditating

Also meditation gives the mind a rest from the busy thoughts most of us having running around our heads.

If can help with productivity, anxiety, sleep and simply learning to train your mind.

It can be extremely rewarding and bring a sense of calm and depth to life.

Mindfulness can help appreciate your own mind, and the environment or setting you are in, or the things you chose to meditate or “ponder” on.

Overcoming the feeling that meditation is weird is common for many, if not most, of us at least when you first try it.

But, it is a personal journey, that should be tailored to suit your unique needs.

At Soup and Salad, we suggest that overcoming that “it’s weird” and “only strange people do mediation” is the whole point!

When thinking like that you are simply worried about what other people would think of you meditating, right?

The aim of meditation is to focus the mind so that, by definition, negative thoughts like worrying about what other people would think, get pushed to one side or “evicted”., by you. 

Think of it like this. It is meant to be a calm, personal, private, personal moment to focus and reflect on something you want to focus on and rest your mind with, no one else is watching, it’s just you, right?

You take personal time to do other things in your life, go to the loo for example, and don’t feel embarrassed about that, so treat meditation like that, your personal time. 

If the term, “meditate” is what’s making it feel weird for you, don’t call it that. Simply think of it as taking time out to focus or ponder on something.

Let go of any preconceived notions and embrace the power of meditation to reduce stress, increase focus, and improve mental clarity.

Find your own meditation style, whether it’s exercise meditation, breathing exercises, or simply taking a moment to appreciate your surroundings.

Discover the benefits of meditation with Soup and Salad, where healthy eating meets mindfulness.