How to Meditate in a Digital World

Now, more than ever, it is important that we remain mindful. The more stress we place upon ourselves (or have placed upon us), the more tasks and responsibilities we try to take on, the easier it is to lose track of the day to day. Mindfulness is nothing new, but mastering the art of meditation isn’t easy in a digital world. So, if you’re working from home and struggling to find time to reconnect with yourself and the world around you, read our guide to meditation in 2020 – from mastering the basics to online courses. 

How to Meditate

Why meditation?

Through meditation, we can learn to live life more mindfully. Not sure what that means? It’s all about switching from ‘doing mode’ to ‘being mode’. Doing mode is our mind’s version of autopilot, the brain rationally trying to achieve things and complete tasks by identifying potential problems and solving them to complete tasks.

This is great for getting to work on time, cooking your favourite meal in 20 minutes or getting your chores done on a Saturday morning, but the problem comes when we try to address emotional problems in ‘doing mode’. Feelings of sadness, happiness or other emotional experiences should be practised with a ‘being’ mind, to avoid distraction and eventual amplification of problems.

You may be living on autopilot if you find yourself forgetting what you’re doing, getting distracted online and driving without realising where you’re going.

Mindfulness through meditation is about training the mind to move from doing mode to being mode, living more consciously to help us avoid emotional issues by using distractions and living on autopilot. Mindfulness is about creating choice and acting, not reacting. Living in the present moment.

Don’t have time to meditate?

If you’re living life on autopilot, it’s likely that your life is rushing past without you noticing, so you feel like you’re constantly running out of time. By learning to live more mindfully and in the moment, you will actually feel that you have more time available, so finding the time to meditate should be easier.

Meditation online

Despite some experts’ assertions that using apps to meditate can be counterproductive, services like Calm and Headspace can be helpful to guide meditation as a time out from a busy day. Learning to meditate in a guided group first can be really good practice, but it isn’t possible for everyone. We particularly like the Headspace app for commuting and walking, to help bring a moment of peace in busy modern life.

If you want to begin your meditation journey with a little help, but are having to hit pause on your usual group meditation sessions, consider signing up to an online guided course. For one thing, it takes the stress out of a journey through central London to get there…

 How to Live More Consciously | Wellness Trend: Heartfulness