There are a bunch of reasons to meditate – not only does it help with your physical health, mental health, and overall wellness, but studies have revealed that those that meditate regularly are generally more productive and successful in their lives compared to those that don’t. “The original reason why I got into meditation, about 15-years ago, had nothing to do with a spiritual endeavour. I actually got into it to help me feel more focused and productive with my work,” explains Luke McLeod, meditation and mindfulness instructor, founder of Soul Alive. “At that time, when I was doing a lot of research into high performance, I found that a lot of people who are looked up to, all meditated – the likes of Steve Jobbs, Mohammed Ali… even Chris Hemsworth.”
Here, Luke has shared a quick 5-minute guided meditation that you can complete every day to take some of that anxiety away and leave you feeling much better than you’d imagine.
How often should I meditate?
First, aiming to meditate most days, rather than every day, is a good goal. Consistency counts—the more often you meditate, the easier it gets and the deeper and more enduring the benefits—but if you miss a day, your inner critic won’t have a chance to call you a failure.
How long should I meditate?
This is really up to how long you feel you need to in the moment. If you start with a single minute, it’s scalable. After one minute of meditation, people often think to themselves: I’m already here; might as well keep going a bit.
This is a key moment, because you’re moving from “extrinsic” motivation (that is, meditating because you feel like you have to) to the more powerful “intrinsic” motivation (that is, meditating because you want to). An
How do I make meditation consistent?
1. Think strategically about your schedule: When can you fit it in? Some people find that having a set time every day—right before bed, first thing in the morning, just after a workout—helps establish a habit.
2. Make yourself accountable: Join a community of some sort. It can be as simple as just getting a few of your friends together and starting.
3. Focus on the benefits: Pay attention to how the act of meditating in itself can be pleasurable and notice the benefits as they arise in the rest of your life, in terms of both inner weather and outer comportment.