The Biggest Misconception About Meditation
A big part of my job as a therapist is teaching my clients how to be more mindful with themselves and their experiences. I do this in a myriad of ways and encourage them to engage in the process of building mindfulness in their own lives.
If you’ve ever practiced mindfulness you know, it’s a big concept that has a lot of applications in your daily life. And one of the most effective ways to build mindfulness is to meditate. Meditation fast tracks your ability to focus on what you choose to while acknowledging the other things that come up and letting them pass on by. It literally changes your brain and the way you interact with your emotions, thoughts, and experiences.
I discuss meditation and mindfulness with almost every client and the first response I often get is, “I can’t meditate. I could never clear my mind.” Ugh! This kills me. MEDITATION IS NOT ABOUT CLEARING YOUR MIND. Yes there are some types of meditations where that is the point but overall meditation is about being present with yourself and how your mind works. How can you do that if your mind is clear?
In fact, it is the act of getting distracted from your focus point (breath, mantra, chant, etc), realizing it, and returning back, that builds your mind’s ability to focus on what you choose. Getting distracted and returning to your focus is the work. It’s literally like doing a push up for your brain.
When you understand this, you can work with your mind and it’s distractions in a different, more compassionate way. The goal is to begin to understand how your mind works. What are it’s patterns or habitual ways of responding? What automatic negative thoughts does it repeat on loop? How does it react to difficulty or pain? Beginning to understand all of this is the foundation of personal insight and resiliency.
I’m sure some of you are asking, if I don’t clear my mind then what do I actually do when I meditate? As I said, there are a lot of kinds meditation with many kinds of focus points. The kind I suggest to my clients is what’s called insight meditation because the goal is to build your interoceptive skills - or understanding and awareness of what’s going on inside your mind and body. Interoception is a foundational skill for mental wellness which is why I often suggest my clients begin there.
Insight meditation or mindfulness meditation begins with sitting and focusing on your breath. You can choose to focus awareness on various points in the body but the goal is to hold your focus there for as long as you can. You WILL get distracted. It will probably happen a lot for a long time. The goal is to be easy with yourself when you notice you are distracted and gently return to your breath. Then you repeat it over and over again and hopefully get slightly better over time. I suggest my clients begin with apps like 10% Happier, Insight Meditation Timer, or Headspace.
It’s also important to point out the documented benefits of meditation. There is a lot of research out there. You can start HERE if you’re interested. I think you’ll be shocked at the myriad of ways that meditation can positively impact you and your health. I was.
One of the benefits that stood out the most to me is that it actually causes the prefrontal cortex to grow in size. The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that makes us human and is responsible for executive functioning, willpower, personal insight, and empathy. The prefrontal cortex is also responsible for integrating all the other parts of the brain to work together more effectively. As you can see, it’s very important to emotional intelligence and well-being and is something we should all exercise.
I’ve been meditating myself for the last 5 years or so and in that time I have become more compassionate, wise, less judgmental, and more present in my daily life. It has truly made me a better version of myself which is why I’m so passionate about sharing it with others.
Many people believe that one day meditation will be seen as we do physical exercise today - imperative for everyone to be their healthiest self. Which is why we can’t let misconceptions like having to clear your mind stand in the way of folks starting this life changing practice to free them from anxiety.
If you’d like more help with meditation or anxiety, fill out our new client inquiry to start the intake process or contact us with any question and concerns.