A meditation anchor can include breath, bodily sensation and sound. The anchor is designed to bring stability when everything around you is constantly changing including your thoughts and emotions.
Like a ship anchor we determine what location in which to drop an anchor for our meditation practice. Will it be our breath, our body or a sound around us. Like a ship we want to find a place, the holding ground, that allows us to float peacefully with the roll of the ocean with as much protection as possible. This allows us to ground ourselves in order to watch incoming thoughts and emotions.
For example, if you are in the midst of a respiratory illness, anchoring in the breath can most likely cause distress. During this time, the anchor of noticing the sensations in our hands or feet will be a better choice.
So, we can see that our mindfulness meditation practice is dynamic not only in the anchors that you use but also the benefits that you can seek. Benefits of mindfulness meditation include:
- decreased depression
- increased emotional regulation
- reduced anxiety and stress
- better memory
- cognitive improvements
- stronger relationships
- better physical health
So, as you begin to set your intention for any of the above benefits and start a mindfulness meditation practice with an anchor of your choice, keep in mind that our thoughts and emotions are not used to being interrupted. As we bring anchors into our lives, we may begin to notice that our thoughts and emotions are not always serving us and are actually preventing us from the happiness and joy that we long for.
As we work with the practice of anchoring, we begin to discover that we can move to a better spot. As we notice our breath, body sensations and sounds we can begin to see our thoughts as thoughts and our emotions as emotions and that they are not who we are. This awareness makes it easier to cope with our feelings, improving many areas of our lives including our relationships and well-being.
Mindfulness and any type of self-reflective inner work has the potential to bring difficult feelings or thoughts to light. It is important to have emotional tools that you can use to help you cope with such experiences. Consider working with a mindfulness teacher www.jaspertraya.com to explore your true potential by making mindfulness meditation a regular practice.
