Problem: During the initial few mindfulness meditation sessions, it is natural to experience restlessness. Once you begin meditating, your mind is flooded with a glut of thoughts. These thoughts may arise from past experiences or might result from anticipations of future events.
Naturally, you will come across thoughts concerning the right and wrong ways of meditating, thereby questioning the process and method of meditation.
A beginner does not know how to follow the meditation process and might be outcome-oriented. For example – “After meditating for 10 minutes, I am going to feel extremely positive, and the negative thoughts or worries surrounding me will go away.” It is safe to say that these expectations are irrational and may cause the beginner to quit the habit even before the thought of persisting with the practice occurs.
Solution: It can be extremely overwhelming for you to deal with restlessness. Think about it. When you’re going through your day-to-day life and experience restlessness, you would probably use a curse word, bang your feet, exhale, scream or vent your frustration, among the various ways of releasing the energy or emotion from your mind and body.
However, when meditating, it can be overwhelming to deal with thoughts, emotions, and energy with closed eyes. We have conditioned our minds to frequent chatter, and it is natural for our minds to feel overwhelmed in silence. In these moments, one of the best ways to deal with restlessness is to focus on the physical sensation in a particular body area (focused attention). You must note precisely the following:
1. How the sense of restlessness feels in your body
2. Where do you feel it
3. What the sensation is like.
Allowing yourself to experience restlessness will ease the sensation, and you will settle with the feeling.
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