Meditation as a Hobby
Meditation is the stillness of mind. Its practice unfolds your purpose as you get to know the true meaning of life. The doorway connects to your soul while leading you down to self-realizing your oneness with the universe, that you’re a part of everything, everywhere.
When you meditate, it improves your focus and concentration, heightens clarity, rejuvenates, increases happiness, vitality, and emotional stability, enhances the ability to learn, calms and provides the inner peace – these are just some of the many benefits that you can achieve with the regular practice of meditation.
Starting your meditation hobby
Understand what is meditation?
When you start meditating, you focus on a single object. Being aware brings calmness to your mind and allows you to get immersed in your true self.
As you progress through learning meditation as a hobby, you will find there are many approaches to the activity. In the beginning, all of these work to build your concentration. But, it is important not to get attached to any one technique (or object).
Life becomes effortless, flowing, and beautiful. With practice, you gradually develop clarity and a sense of being truly aware of a purpose.
Other benefits of meditation
It is found that meditation reverses the effects of stress, anxiety, and depression. Above all, you become more calm, happy, and fulfilled. With improved concentration, you can realize your full potential. The power so acquired not just improves your meditation abilities, but also works for other activities.
With this self-mastery, you can convert all things unwanted into positive. As you align your energy with the vibrations of the universe, you will begin to notice good improvements in all areas of your life.
Medical studies also show that the hobby helps relieve chronic pain, lowers cholesterol levels, and improves blood pressure.
How to meditate?
Over thousands of years, meditation practices have greatly evolved. The essence of the activity conditions your mind to a state of pure awareness. Focus on the breath that will help you reach this state. It is a natural process that connects your inner self with the source. When meditating on our life’s struggles, focusing on a single question can produce amazing results.
Having a space to meditate is a good idea. It can be a part of a room or an open space – wherever you feel the most comfortable. To invoke feelings of calmness and relaxation, you can use objects such as candles, flowers, incense, etc.
Aim to practice twice daily. The best times are sunrise and sunset since our minds are more receptive at these times of the day. Our minds are calmer at the beginning of the day and after sunset, we can reflect on the day that just passed.
Close your eyes and focus on your breath. Inhale and exhale. Chanting mantras at this time really helps. Over time you will be able to better concentrate and be able to sit easily for 20-30 minutes. As a beginner, you can work on achieving 5-minutes of meditation. Gradually, that can be increased to 10 and more.
Even if you’re not able to meditate daily, develop a hobby to practice whenever you can. Focus on your breathing pattern, bring about a calm and relaxed state of mind. Be gentle and patient with yourself. As your ability to meditate grows, so does your self-awareness levels. With each day, you will notice an improvement.
Do you need a teacher?
Meditation is a journey of self-discovery. There isn’t anything that you don’t have now to start right away! A teacher will help you practice meditating and guide you on the various aspects of it. You can share the experience with others in a session, which will ultimately help in your own practice.
There is nothing more than a meditation teacher will tell you that you don’t know already. Just be calm and sit with yourself to discover it.
Make a conscious decision and take time to meditate. Experience silence, explore your true purpose. Commit to your own journey of self-discovery. With continued practice, unlock your own potential of creativity. Develop the hobby to meditate.
The Best Free Resources for Getting Started With meditation
Meditation is a holistic approach to train the mind, just like fitness trains the body. But, there are various methods of meditation, which are differentiated by the technique. For a beginner, it can be really difficult to sit for hours at an end and think about nothing. Practicing the art of having an ‘empty mind’ only comes with focus.
Concentrating on a single point such as your breath, or chanting a mantra, staring at the candle flame, and even counting the beads of a sacred garland are some of the common ways to build your focus. Gradually, with more and more sessions of meditation, you’ll be able to hold your mind on a single point of focus for longer durations and develop your liking for meditation hobby.
If you’re just beginning to take up meditation hobby, you need a guide to learn the technique. But, it is also possible to start off by yourself. Take help from these 5 great ways to learn the methods of meditating and practice the art even without a teacher – right at home!
Follow the technique from video tutorials
Even if you don’t have access to a master physically, you can always take the opportunity to learn the best methods of meditation from instructors online through tutorial videos. There are so many skilled gurus who will show you how to practice meditation correctly so that you can obtain the maximum benefits.
Relax your mind and body by watching these collective videos on YouTube and other video sharing platforms. Michael Sealy, TheHonestGuys, and Yellow Brick Cinema have an abundance of great instructional videos that’ll let you experience the techniques of meditation through their tutorial series.
Using apps to explore courses online
With a plethora of resources, you can learn from at your convenience, meditation no longer requires actually finding a teacher. There is an entire explosive industry dedicated to meditation and fitness courses. Book your supplies using smartphone apps and get started on your meditation hobby by following these guided sources.
Some of the top meditation apps of the year are–
The mindfulness App – The 5-day free guided meditation practice is packed with exclusive features, personalized offers, and timer to keep you on track.
Headspace – With 10-newbie focused meditation plans, Headspace is designated to help you practice the meditation hobby with a personalized progress page, a motivating reward system and buddy system let your friends join you for the class.
Calm – Get to choose from an assortment of guided instructional meditation sessions, ranging from the daily calm, to other deep-breathing exercises, and soothing music.
Mindbody – Start your fitness routine with Mindbody. The multitude of fitness supportive app sessions is an excellent way to understand about meditation with a new trainer and studio class that you can sign up for and get entitled to amazing deals.
Get access to books devoted to learning beginner meditation
Although books often limit your knowledge about a particular subject, with access to some of these books you can build familiarity to support with the practice of a meditation hobby. These are in the form of textbooks and even CDs that you can get online. Here are some good resources where you can learn from:
Meditation Made Easy by Lorin Roche is the best beginner’s guide to learning the basics of meditation. The book is full of some user-friendly tips that let you get started and is easy-to-read. This is a no-nonsense approach to building your meditation hobby.
Meditation Now: A Beginner’s Guide by Elizabeth Reninger is a good read and promises to make your mind peaceful in just a few minutes! It covers a detailed step-by-step instruction that allows you to practice meditation anywhere and overcome the everyday obstacles of a busy life. Get full hands-on knowledge about 28-day meditation plans that are designed to give you the much required extra support. There are inspirational quotes and practical tips that’ll help motivate and heal your mind.
Set your goals and work on them
Practicing meditation can be difficult, especially if you have to do it every day. To help guide you through the sessions and ensure you build your skills using the learning techniques you must keep technology by your side to track your progress:
Learn from the popular and the expert panel of meditation groups at lift.do that comes with a web version. The app personalizes your meditation journey, helping you to plan your sessions more mindfully.
Apps such as Calm and Breathe taps your meditation progress and reminds you to perform the sessions every day.
Also, mark up your calendar, whether in your phone, computer, or even the old-fashioned printed calendar to get reminded of your appointment with the sessions, no matter if you’re doing it all by yourself.
Join a local community to keep yourself motivated and if possible finding a teacher. That means you have to meet up these like minded people. But, wouldn’t it be a learning experience to share tips and techniques from fellow meditation hobby pursuers?
Build a strong connection with teachers on the social media
Like never before, connect with many teachers that will help you learn more about meditation and guide you in your journey. The best way to reach out is over the various social media channels, especially Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus where you can actually interact with these masters, learn from them about the techniques and best of all – ask them questions. This is your chance to seek a guided insight to and nurture your meditation hobby.
Also, you can obtain learning sessions over video calling systems such as Hangouts and Skype where a master will be willing to help you understand the subject in depth. You can even follow the instructor’s actual class videos and learn about how to develop the required skill in depth.
There are more meditation communities that you can reach out to online. Connect with them and build your own group or network to practice the hobby and do much deeper into the advanced sessions. Understand the techniques from experienced teachers worldwide and make meditation hobby an indispensable part of your lifestyle.
Related hobbies: Yoga
