Why meditate?

In January, I'll be starting a new six-week beginners' course in meditation - see the Classes page for details. We'll explore the wide world of meditation, seeing where it can take us and how it fits into our busy lives.

Sometimes people think that 'meditation' is just one thing - perhaps one particular way of sitting and paying attention to the breath. Sometimes people try meditation for a bit but don't get on with it - they find that they get distracted too easily, or don't see the point.

Fortunately, meditation is much more than just trying to pay attention to the breath and getting frustrated with the wandering mind! And depending on what you find interesting, appealing and helpful, depending on which approaches and ways of practising resonate most with you, it can take you to many different places:

• Letting go of knee-jerk reactivity to stress and learning to rest in the present moment
• Getting in touch with your emotions and healing past traumas
• Opening the heart and finding deep inner resources of love and compassion for yourself and the people around you
• Exploring the different roles you play in life, and seeing that these facets of the self are not truly fixed or confining in the way that they can sometimes feel
• Finding a sense of grounding and resilience that helps you to weather the storms life throws at you
• Discovering a source of inner well-being which nobody can take away from you
• Opening the door to deeper insights into the nature of yourself, your mind and your experience which can lead to a profound sense of freedom and joy

There are many ways of approaching meditation and mindfulness practice, and many rich, helpful and even beautiful avenues of exploration which open up for us as we do so. If you've tried meditation before and didn't get on with it, don't worry - there are plenty of other ways of practising which might resonate much better with you. Let's explore them together!