By Babs S. Harrison
Meditation is a powerful wellness tool that can help us defuse stress, improve concentration, increase sleep quality, and find greater calm. Enhanced neuroplasticity–the brain’s ability to change and grow–is another benefit of meditating. Neuroscientists are finding that a consistent meditation practice positively affects the brain, improving cognitive abilities and our immune system.
The American Heart Association has also stated that regular meditation can modestly lower blood pressure.
No wonder meditation’s popularity has soared in recent, stressful years. By some counts the number of us who meditate has tripled in the past decade. CEOs, celebrities and athletes do it. It looks so easy–just close your eyes and breathe, right? Anyone can do it, but it’s something you have to practice in order to get good at because our mind is constantly distracting us.
Meditation at Castle Hot Springs
“Meditation is a place, a realm, a state of being,” says Colleen Inman, meditation expert and yoga and wellness instructor at Castle Hot Springs resort who teaches regular classes in meditation for guests.
One fact: “A thousand different roads can take you there; the method that works is the one that works for you,” says Colleen.
The first thing she teaches guests is how to use the breath to get calm.
Humans tend to be in a constant state of fluctuation, meaning our heads are filled with thoughts and emotions–attachment, judgment, resentment– that come from the mind. To be in a meditation state is to be void of fluctuation, meaning there is no mind, just awareness. You become the observer.
That is easier to say than do.
Box Breathing for Beginners
For those who are just starting out, Colleen recommends beginning with a structure such as Box Breathing, a technique used by Navy SEALs that will clear the mind and allow for greater focus. Breathe in slowly as you count to four. Hold that breath for four seconds. Slowly exhale for four seconds. Repeat.
Want to try the Box technique? Here is how Colleen gets beginners started in meditation:
- Sit in a comfortable position. It can be cross legged on the floor, sitting up straight against a wall, or in a chair.
- Close your eyes and focus on your breath.
- Inhale slowly through your nose while silently counting to four, filling your lungs and abdomen with air.
- Hold the breath for a count of four.
- Exhale slowly through your mouth while counting to four.
- Hold the breath again at the bottom for a count of four.
- Repeat.
Practice is the Way to Meditation
Alternatively, you could also choose to focus on an object, or repeat a mantra which is a word or phrase (the sound “om” is said to be the most common mantra). These will allow you to be the observer so you can witness your thoughts rather than believing you are your thoughts.
And you will have thoughts, that is normal. But instead of dwelling on them, merely observe them without judgment and come back to your breath. For the second you create polarity, as in, ‘I’m meditating’ –that’s a thought– you’ve lost it. Get the mind back. Begin again. Practice is the way to meditation and breathwork will draw you back in.
Meditation can be done almost anywhere. You don’t have to sit still, only the mind has to be still. Some schools of Buddhism even teach what’s called walking meditation where, literally, you walk and meditate.
“Can you become more aware and fully present in each moment of your activities, by becoming intensely conscious of your breath and body? Be it while doing the Via Ferrata, paddleboard yoga, or hiking,” asks Colleen. “It then becomes a different practice. This whole place can be a moving meditation if you can wrap your head around it,” she says.
Castle Hot Springs, surrounded by the Bradshaw Mountains, is an ideal place to meditate, or learn how to, for mountains have traditionally been places of stillness and calm reflection. Colleen suggests a morning meditation in the hot spring as the perfect way to begin the day. Standing in the top pool, next to the gentle waterfall, listen to the sound of the water as you practice Box Breathing.
Nature has a rhythm and we can choose to live in harmony with it.