Staying healthy isn’t just about nurturing our bodies with movement and nourishing foods –- we need to give our minds a little love, too. Enter Luke McLeod: a whole lot more than “that guy from The Bachelorette”, McLeod’s the founder and teacher at Soul Alive, and has made it his mission to enlighten people’s lives via his online meditation sessions.
“Meditation has made me a better man in every area,” he says. “I feel calmer, more confident in myself, I feel more certain in my decisions, and I certainly think that I’ve shifted my perspective in what I want out of life.”
With nothing to lose, and everything to gain, there’s really no excuse to not give meditation a go, says McLeod – especially at a time like this, while we’re in the middle of an unheralded global crisis.
“You don’t need equipment, you can do it from your home, you don’t need anyone else,” McLeod explains. “Those three key elements make it perfect for this moment of isolation.”
Here, the meditation master on why there’s no better time than the present to begin your journey to inner peace, dispels a few common meditation myths, and reveals how anyone can achieve a state of Zen in isolation.
Meditation can help out with certain emotional trauma, including stress and anxiety. A lot of people are feeling those emotions and struggling right now so, if you are, give mediation ago because the science is there to show that it really does help.
Yes! Anyone can do it, and you can do it anywhere, whether you’re lying down, sitting in a chair, or sitting cross-legged. The most important thing about your position while you meditate is that you’re comfortable and have a straight spine. When your spine is straight then energy will flow through your body.
The easiest way to describe it is that you feel completely present. You know you’re meditating when you just feel completely connected to everything and everyone around you – energy, a sense of calmness, a sense of peace. You’re completely absorbed in life, right here, right now. Your senses are very heightened. Sounds are more vivid, colours seem brighter. You’re more aware of everything.
The way to progress with meditation is not wanting to progress. When you have that moment of bliss while meditating, you’ll instantly want more of it, so the next time you go into meditation, you’ll be chasing it. But that approach of intentionally chasing the feeling actually stops it from happening. So go in like it’s your first time every time.
Find a space to relax and close your eyes for five minutes. Grab a pair of headphones and YouTube meditation music.
Roll your shoulders and bend your neck a few times to relax the body, then gently close your eyes.
Take three deep, long, slow breaths: breathe in for a count of eight, hold the breath for a count of eight, then release for a count of eight.
Direct your focus to really try to feel the air moving through just one of your nostrils when you breathe in. Be curious and feel everything about the air moving through that nostril – the tingling sensation of the air, its temperature.
Then, try to follow and feel where the air goes, noticing the changes in the body as you follow the air. Notice how the lungs and the belly expand. Feel all the small sensations as the air leaves the body. Repeat this cycle eight times. Then, shift your focus to the inside of the other nostril.
Focus on feeling different parts of your body, starting at your toes and moving all the way up. You can imagine that this “energy” you’re feeling has a colour as it moves through your body. The more detailed and specific focus you can give different parts of your body, the better.
Once you’ve felt this energy move all the way through the body, take a few moments to think of something you’re grateful for, something or someone you have in your life right here, right now.
Smile a little and take a few more deep breaths. Then, when you’re ready, open your eyes, have a little stretch, and head back into the day, invigorated with your new self.
Text: Bauer Syndication