I invite you to try out meditation – one tool to become radiant in body and mind. Meditation is the practice of mindfulness, defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn as being “awareness through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, nonjudgmentally.”
There is so much research out there that provides evidence of meditation’s power and effectiveness in calming anxiety, reducing negative emotions, gaining new perspectives on stressful situations, regulating emotions, lowering heart rate and blood pressure, improving sleep quality, and more. My personal experience has been that meditation has helped me to face emotions that seemed daunting, to find a more approach in moments of intense emotion, to see people with more empathy and understanding, and more.
Try it and see what it does for you! Like working out, though, the results stated above don’t come from doing one meditation. Making the practice consistent is key if you want to see changes in your life.
One way to start is through guided meditations. I’ve listed many resources below. In the explosion of meditation’s popularity there are so many options on where to go that I’ve limited my recommendations to ones that I have personally tried out.
Other apps (all require a subscription) to check out:
Balance – Great for building a consistent practice with guidance.
Calm – Excellent breadth of different types of meditations including sleep stories and meditations for kids.
Headspace – Great for building a consistent practice with guidance.
Insight Timer – An offering of many different types of meditation and other mindfulness practices in one place.
The Open Heart Project (not an app) – An international meditation community with meditations sent to your inbox daily, teachings, and much more.
Ten Percent Happier – Meditations, talks, podcasts, and challenges are all housed in this meditation app.
Roots – Meditations set in beautiful soundscapes.
Waking Up – Meditations, teachings, retreats led by neuroscientist, Sam Harris.