Ashok Gupta explains how meditation trains your mind to observe thoughts rather than get caught in them. Sitting for 20 to 30 minutes, ideally twice daily, gives your nervous system time to settle. Slow deep breathing signals your brain to relax, especially if you're stuck in a hyper-alert state.
Questions this video answers
At least 20 to 30 minutes per session (they suggest 30 minutes if possible).
Twice a day.
Around 15 minutes.
Chapters
Firstly, regular daily meditation helps us to be more mindful during the rest of the day. And what is meditation? Meditation is like a concentrated period of sitting on the banks of the river. And what are we doing in meditation? We're building that muscle for being the witness, being the observer, the observer of the stream of constant thoughts going on in our mind. And we don't get carried away with them and we don't get caught up them. We're just the witness.
This is why breathing and meditation are so beneficial in retraining. Just a slow, deep breath in can reset the mind because it tells the brain that you're relaxed and therefore it should become relaxed too. We become aware of our thoughts or worries about the body. We let them go and bring our focus back to the present moment. And in that present moment it might be the sound of my voice or the music, or the mantra, or a sound that we use to meditate.
Perhaps you've been meditating for a little while now and I would love for you to meditate for longer than 20 minutes. Perhaps you can use the 30 minute meditations instead, if you aren't already. Now why do we want to meditate for longer? Because sometimes it takes our minds around 15 minutes or so just to settle. Some people say that just going for a mindful walk is meditation. Well, I would say that it's not a substitute, it's a nice addition. Regularly sitting down, closing our eyes and doing at least a 20 to 30 minute meditation twice a day is so important. When our nervous system is in this hyper defence mode, when our brain is in hyper alert mode, it finds other things to do. Our mind doesn't want to sit down and just rejuvenate. And that's often when we then make excuses to ourselves not to meditate. But these thoughts and feelings are exactly why meditation is so good for you. It's food for the soul.
