Stephanie Brookes - Meditation Made Easy: With step-by-step guided meditations to calm mind, body, and soul

Meditation

Made Easy

Meditation

Made Easy

With step-by-step guided meditations
to calm mind, body, and soul

Stephanie Brookes

For my husband, John

Published in 2014 by CICO Books

An imprint of Ryland Peters & Small Ltd

2021 Jockeys Fields

519 Broadway, 5th Floor

London WC1R 4BW

New York, NY 10012

www.rylandpeters.com

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Text copyright Stephanie Brookes 2014

Design and illustration copyright CICO Books 2014

The authors moral rights have been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Neither the author nor the publisher can be held responsible for any claim arising out of the use or misuse of suggestions made in this book. If you are in any doubt about your health, please consult your doctor before making any changes to your usual well-being regime.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

eISBN: 978 1 78249 623 6

ISBN: 978 1 78249 110 1

Printed in China

Editor: Elanor Clarke

Designer: Emily Breen

Illustrations: Rosie Scott and Melissa Launay

For digital editions, visit www.cicobooks.com/apps.php

Contents

A friend first introduced me to meditation in my teenage years. I imagine this was the first meditative experience for many of us; it certainly gave us that alternative edge that we so often look for at this particular juncture of our lives. At first, I felt caught up in the mystique of it allexotic incense permeated the room, well-seasoned meditators all sat in various stages of the lotus positionit was an exciting new experience, yet I wondered, once I had stepped back into the real world, how could it really be of any use?

You may have experienced meditation in the same way and perhaps felt the practice wasnt exactly applicable to your day-to-day life. The image of the Zen-like guru in full lotus position has been weaving its mystical web for so long, the practice itself may seem rather antiquated and not really an essential part of modern living.

Over the years, meditation has come in and out of my life like an old friend; I fall back into a natural pattern within moments of meeting again, yet I have often felt that the hour-long sessions are a bit much for me and that I didn't need that much meditation in one go. And so began an overhaul of my routine, a meditation makeover, if you will. I crafted much smaller, bite-sized sessions, which could realistically fit into my daily schedule, and a routine that actually worked for me. I instantly felt more comfortable and relaxed, with no added pressure.

Our routines have to adapt continually to meet the ever-changing demands of our very real life commitments, and it is natural then that our meditation practice has to readjust accordinglywhether you decide on a daily five minutes, fifteen minutes, or simply integrate mindfulness into your lifestyleuse the practice in the way you want and dont be governed by what the current trend calls for. Meditation has a habit of coming in and out of fashion, but what remains true is that the practice works because it is essentially about cultivating a better understanding of who we are in the here and now. As the world continues to speed up, meditation keeps us grounded in the present, the only place we can ever truly be.

I think the why in why meditation? is a perfectly valid question, and one that I encourage you to ask. After all, meditation is now a possible addition to your agenda, and how many hours of the day do we have for our own personal and private use? Our schedules are often tough, and the days and years seem to speed up at an incredible rate. It was with this thought in mind that I started to consider how new endeavors are an investment in time and have to be accessible for anyone willing to give them a go. The exercises that I suggest are designed to fit into the most hectic of schedules, so the practice of meditation instantly opens up and not only becomes accessible, but above all approachable. This book will help you get started with meditation right here, right now, so you have the basic tools to start developing your practice. The thing is that you dont have to worry about whether you can fit it in because meditation will bend to fit into your life; its that simple.

The benefits of meditation

The practice of meditation is already well known for helping with a variety of issues we may be familiar with or have experienced ourselves. For example, meditation helps alleviate stress and anxiety, improves communication issues, helps bring greater clarity to our thoughts and actions, strengthens our concentration, increases self-awareness, and helps us to feel more objective about situations that are troubling to us.

... alleviate stress, strengthen concentration, and increase self-awareness ...

The well-being benefits are enough for anyone to think, Ill give it a go, but what marks this practice out in a world of ever-changing health fads is that meditation quietly works away in the background, ever reliable, and can be picked up with relative ease, without requiring hours of time or even considerable investment.

Meditation doesnt hand you the answers on a plate, rather, it allows you to come up with the answers for yourself. I have often likened meditation to that friend who just sits with you while you come up with your own answers. You inevitably thank your friend for their help when, in fact, you came up with everything on your own. You just needed that space, that inner sanctuary, to discover what you already knew.

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