Happiful May 2020

Page 42

How to make meditating easy Do you struggle to switch off every time you try to meditate? Don’t despair. These useful tips will help you reach a state of zen in no time Writing | Claire Munnings

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e’re led to think that meditating should be simple. You just sit there, relax, and think of nothing, right? Well, the truth is a bit more complicated than that, and many of us can find it difficult to switch off the internal chatter in our minds. After all, meditating encourages us to do something that we’re not used to. All day long our brains are working

42 • happiful.com • May 2020

in overdrive – reminding us to pay that bill, pick up the shopping and send those emails – and sitting still and quiet can feel very alien to us. And that’s if we even manage to carve out 15 minutes of our day to dedicate to it. So, what’s the answer? Meditation instructor Carolyne Bennett says it’s important to stick with your practice – even if you find it tricky at first.

“People think that meditating is challenging for many reasons, and as a result give up too soon,” she says. “Perhaps there are too many distractions around you, your mind is leaping from one thing to another, or you convince yourself that you’re no good at it and question why you’re doing it in the first place. But the benefits of meditation are accumulative, and the more you sit, the more your


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