Mindfulness Retreat for Beginners: Facts that You Must Consider

  • Noblero

  • Feb 28, 2022

In recent times, distractions, stress, and other pressures have increased drastically. The advancement in technology has undoubtedly benefited humans but they have also suffered from its consequences. For instance, individuals have experienced a decrease in their clarity of mind, decision-making, and inner peace. 

Mindfulness meditation exercises have the potential to help people deal with the above issues. We know that mindfulness is about being present in the moment and being mindful of one’s thoughts and feelings. If we take a closer look at our lives, we’ll see that mindfulness meditation can be practiced anywhere and at anytime. One important point that everyone should keep in mind is that any new skill takes practice. Similarly, mindfulness meditation demands consistent practice from the individual. There are some skeptical people who think that mindfulness exercises are just a facade. 

According to the research published in NCBI, it was concluded that an intervention of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) led to healthy and positive brain changes in beginners. The intervention was 8 weeks long and the brain images were taken from 16 respondents. As the images were taken before and after the intervention, a significant increase was seen in certain brain areas. For instance, the left side of the hippocampus, the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), the temporoparietal junction, and the cerebellum. Therefore, mindfulness is a great retreat for beginners. 

Mindfulness Meditation: What is it?

One goal of mindfulness meditation is to develop internal strength in the practitioners. We can easily say that meditation motivates one to explore and be adventurous. It helps an individual to get to know themselves more. It happens because mindfulness meditation exercises encourage the practitioner to notice their thoughts and feelings without resistance and criticism. In this way, the person gets to know their range of emotions and quality of thoughts. They get to know how often they feel negative emotions and positive emotions. Likewise, they get to know their cognitive distortions. Cognitive distortions are the faults in one’s thinking that stop a person from growing. For example, mind-reading cages a person because they keep assuming the perception of the other person. In this way, they stay rigid with their perceptions. 

How Can Beginners Practice Mindfulness Meditation?

According to Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness meditation trains one to pay attention intentionally to something without a critical thought process. The purpose behind is to enhance wisdom and self-awareness. According to statistics from CDC, it was found that in 2017 children in the age range of 12-17 years old used more meditation services than children between the age range of 4 to 11 years old. 

What Are Some Foundations Of Mindfulness Meditation?

Mindfulness is an excellent way to create a gap between stimulus and your response. Following are some strategies that can help beginners nurture the habit of meditation. 

  • Schedule a time: setting aside a specific time is extremely helpful in creating a habit of mindfulness. Beginners should start small with 5 minutes a day and then build up to 30 minutes per day. The focus should be on consistency and regular practice.
  • Be in the present moment: Beginners can face this issue and they can get demotivated. They should keep in mind that mindfulness meditation is not about emptying the mind from thoughts. In reality, it is about facing one’s thoughts and feelings. Let’s take the analogy of a road. Our thoughts and feelings are like cars and buses commuting on the road. We observe them passing by. Likewise, one should observe their thoughts and feelings without hesitation. It will create an inner power, especially in those who avoid confronting their inner life. 
  • Don’t allow your judgments to discourage you: Your previous habit of judgment can interfere with the meditation practice. So, let it be for the moment because it will go away after practice. Some novices have the habit of comparing their progress with others. It can seriously undermine their motivation to move forward. They should know that everyone has their own learning pace and capacity that cannot be compared with others. 

Types of Meditation That Can Be Beneficial For Beginners

  • Simple breathing exercise: A simple breathing exercise encourages the practitioner to focus on the flow of their breath. It is important for relaxation because it influences the movement of the diaphragm in the torso. The up and down movement of the diaphragm is associated with stress hormones (cortisol). Hence, in this way breathing exercise meditation can help beginners deal with their stress.  
  • Body scan meditation: The meditation is great for enhancing awareness of the body. The individual can start from head to toe or the other option is to start from toe to head. Some coaches also suggest it with visualization technique. It is excellent for improving both the imagination power and the state of calmness.
  • Self-compassion meditation: For a better understanding of beginners experts say that compassion meditation is about nurturing love and kindness towards oneself. It motivates one to take care of their mind, body, and emotions deeply. in this way, it becomes easier for people to forgive and accept themselves. we know that many people are highly critical of themselves day in and day out, so they practice self-destructive behaviors frequently. Compassion meditation stops the cycle of negativity. 

How does self-compassion meditation work?

Compassion meditation has the power to transform lives by filling them with peace and harmony. It is clear that by improving the lives of people, compassion meditation improves the symptoms of depression and anxiety. therefore, people who practice it regularly express higher feelings of relaxation and security.

Being supportive of yourself means that the individual creates a safe place within themselves. So, it becomes easier to experience the full range of emotions. it becomes extremely easy to deal with daily stressors and low feelings. 

  • Gratitude meditation: It is a type of meditation that encourages practitioners to nurture the habit of gratitude in themselves. According to Jack Kornfield, all the monks start their day with an exercise of gratitude and express thanks for everything in their lives. When we observe the lives of Native Americans, it becomes obvious that they express gratitude for everything in the universe. Tibetan monks go a step further and even express thanks for all the pain and suffering that they endure. It gives them internal strength to deal with the challenges of their lives. 

Other benefits of gratitude meditation include lowered levels of depression, boosted feelings of well-being, and improved sleep quality. Multiple types of research studies have supported the benefits of gratitude meditation. Thus, beginners can transform their lives by practicing gratitude meditation.

Concluding Remarks

Mindfulness meditation has the potential to transform the lives of beginners. It provides different benefits like improving the mood, reducing stress, boosting resilience, and clarity of mind. Fortunately, there are courses offered by the platform named Noblero that can help beginners in their goals.

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