No surprises here. What has been a traditional practice in many countries has become more mainstream in our society—and available due to apps such as Headspace, Calm, and Adaptiv.
How Does Meditation Work?
Meditation teaches your thinking brain, your prefrontal cortex (PFC), to engage in the moment rather than be distracted by internal chatter.
Throughout the day, your emotional brain tosses up random thoughts for your thinking brain to deal with. And it’s easy for these thoughts to take you down an emotional rabbit hole.
Meditation can help you notice these thoughts as they arrive. And if you don’t engage emotionally or judgmentally, the thoughts simply dissolve away.
Recognizing and labeling a thought is a powerful quality of meditation that only gets easier with practice. Even as your emotional brain lights the fuse—it becomes easier and easier to blow it out.
How To Meditate
Meditation isn’t hard and there isn’t a secret formula to follow. There are many types of meditation and rather than us listing them all, we’re going to task you with doing some of the leg work.
Probably the easiest place to start is with one of the apps that we mentioned above: Headspace, Calm, or Adaptiv. It can take some trial and error to determine which platform clicks for you. You can also talk with your coach about some different options.