Daily Meditation

[santaboba]

In 2018, I began practicing meditation when I discovered the InsightTimer app. After learning about some of the many benefits that come with meditation I now try to meditate once a day, for 5-10 minutes. How many of you meditate? What apps do you use?

[Anonymous]

(1 comment) Great thread @santaboba ! Maybe when I move into a more quiet environment I may give it a try. Hate headphones as I need to hear what is going on at all times around me. Thanks,  Nicole 🙂

[santaboba]

Thanks, @Anonymous! I hope you can enjoy meditation soon. It's been so beneficial to me. 

[AARPRachelA · Accepted solution]

I recently integrated a daily meditation practice into my routine, and have found it has helped with my mental health significantly. I take about 10-15 mins per day, but am looking to work up to 30 mins per day. I use the Shine App and also use AARP's Staying Sharp tools. Staying Sharp has an assortment of mindfulness meditation videos with calming imagery and sounds. They are really nice and relaxing.

[santaboba]

So glad to hear how daily meditation has helped you, @AARPRachelA! Thanks for letting me know about AARP's Staying Sharp mindfulness meditation videos. I will have to check them out.

[Pilgrim241]

My wife and I meditate every evening at 6:00 PM for about 20 minutes using our own tailor-made hymns and rituals. We don't use any APPs. We are benefitting from this routine immensely.

Meditation is a mind/body practice for increasing calmness, physical relaxation, improving psychological balance, coping with illness (e.g. high BP, Pain, Anxiety, Depression, Insomnia, IBS) as well as enhancing overall health and well being. A quiet location, comfortable posture, a focus of attention and an open attitude will certainly contribute to the effectiveness of meditation. Currently, NCCIH ( National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health), a division of NIH is funding several studies on meditation. Combined with Yoga, Meditation is a powerful tool for a healthy lifestyle.

[santaboba]

Thanks for sharing your practice, @Pilgrim241. Meditation is quite beneficial for my wife and I as well. 

[Pilgrim241]

I came across two other Meditation APPs, Headspace (https://www.headspace.com/) and Calm (https://www.calm.com/), besides Insight Timer. Headspace and Calm charge $69.99 for annual subscription whereas Insight charges only $59.99/year. Insight also provides limited access, free of charge, to some of their basic programs. These software companies have grown into multi-million dollar businesses with the increased appetite for meditation by the general public in recent years. 

[Pilgrim241]

I stumbled upon an article (https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/01/transcendental-meditation-helped-ray-dalio-recover-from-financial-ru...) about Ray Dalio's experience with Transcendental Meditation (TM) and I couldn't help sharing it with our audience. Ray Dalio is a billionaire ($16.9B) and runs Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund ($160B assets) in the world. But life was not always rosy for him as he had to go through some rough patches in the early eighties. His financial investments suffered colossal losses during this period. That's when he embraced TM and started practicing it regularly. TM not only helped him to regain his mental strength and creativity but also recoup his losses and rebuild his financial empire to its current status.

TM promotes physical and mental relaxation, stress relief and higher state of consciousness besides reducing some common health risks associated with heart disease and high BP. TM is a simple technique created by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the 1950's and became popular since then all over the world. It got added boost when the Beatles became his disciples in the sixties and incorporated it in their daily lives.

The following steps could enable one to practice TM: (1) Choose a comfortable place and position, close your eyes and relax for 30 seconds. (2) Start with a chosen Mantra (e.g. "OM") and repeat it in silence or aloud for 20 minutes. (3) Experience a state of bliss or transcendence. (4) End the meditation by sitting quietly for a couple of minutes and open your eyes. (5) Practice TM twice a day, preferably before breakfast and dinner.