Meditation | Wellbeing Wednesday

“The mind is everything. What you think you will become.”

the Buddha

Meditation is medicine for the mind and body. When we go into overdrive and face a spiralling path of burnout, among that is the difficulty to find stillness. Whether it is in preparation for performing or to make peace with your thoughts and manage your stress, meditation helps you become actively aware of what is in front of you.

With scientific evidence in the world of neurology, meditation has effects on the brains structure developing greater capacity for creativity, decision-making, patience and empathy, each of which can help enhance your own lifestyle as well as performance on the pitch. Others benefits include improved immune response, lower blood pressure and improved sleep. This wellbeing Wednesday is about introducing meditation as a new tool for our community to try and explore. Times are still tough at the moment and so we think, now more than ever it is a perfect time to explore new methods to connect with ourselves and develop a new skill that we can even transfer to enhance performance. It’s a win win!

“Everything you need, your courage, strength, compassion and love; everything you need is already within you”

There are many types of meditation which you can see our meditating fox is surrounded with, and many reasons you may choose to meditate. Some of these reasons are listed below:

This week we are asking you whether you meditate yourselves and want to know what your main purpose is or would be for meditating. Before we follow up with our virtual meditation workshop for a popular purpose, we’ve summarised some key things for successful, regular meditation, adopted from Dr Patrizia Collard:

• Meditation can be performed anywhere but find a special space (somewhere you feel safe and protected)
• Try adding a symbolic object into your surroundings (examples include: shell, plant, rug, stones)
• Use a shawl or cosy blanket over yourself if you feel chilly
• Switch off your digital world and try to minimise distractions
• Set aside some time each day – sometimes it helps making a regular time slot to build it into your routine
• Keep a meditation diary
• Use affirmations to set your intention
• Give yourself time – meditation takes time and requires practice so stick with it

Many people give up performing meditation because they feel they can’t find stillness and their thoughts continue to wonder. This is completely normal during meditation, sometimes we cannot control our subconscious, but the importance is being aware of our thoughts and bringing those thoughts back by shifting focus to an alternative, such as your breath. Each time we practice and engage in meditation we can become more aware and in control of our own mind.

We want to know what you want to know about meditation and what your struggle with, so remember to connect with us on Instagram and share your own experiences with meditation to develop a better wellbeing together.

Don’t forget to keep an eye out on our social channels this weekend for a run-down of how to perform a meditation routine!