In today’s world being a mother can often be overwhelming. With the weight of running a household, managing work and caring for your family, it’s often you, who comes in last. We’re all too familiar with mum guilt and being a busy mum can often accumulate stress affecting all areas of your life. So, it’s all the more important that you find some time, as they famously say, to “fill up your cup”.
Mindfulness and meditation are terms that get thrown around a lot when it comes to mental health and no more so than during this pandemic. But what do these words actually mean and further, how can you introduce them into your life?
Mindfulness vs meditation – what’s the difference?
Broken down simply, mindfulness is the simple act of paying attention and being present in whatever you are doing and can be applied to any waking situation. In today’s world, it’s often hard to regain concentration on the task at hand, with so many stimulators around us vying for our attention.
One example on how you can enact mindfulness is when you’re next faced with the task of preparing dinner. Bring all your awareness to the task itself, for example chopping up vegetables. Actively involve all your senses from the feeling of the (hot) water running over your hands as you wash them, the smell of each individual item to the textures on your fingertips. Hear the sound of the knife meeting the chopping board, the taste as you sneak a bite and allow your body and mind to fully immerse and sink into the experience of this. This is just one way of being actively aware of what you’re doing while you’re doing it, i.e. practising mindfulness.
Now, meditation is a practice used to become more mindful. It’s a practice of finding peace within, where a level of clarity is found when your mental chatter is decreased. If you wish to live more mindfully, meditation is a practice that can help you achieve it.
There are different forms of meditation. The most common one is mindfulness meditation, which is a focus on the breath, an object, a mantra, or something else. By focusing on one thing, and letting go of your thoughts, you become more present. As humans, we spend about half of our time reminiscing about the past or thinking about the future which doesn’t allow us to “be” in the present moment.
When you are present you can reduce stress, remain calm and better connect with others. It has even been proven that stronger connections and compassion for others improves our health and even lengthens our life expectancy.
So, understanding what these two terms mean takes us to the next step.
Where to start and why?
The practice of meditation is widely known and scientifically proven to bring long-lasting positive change into your life. With countless benefits ranging from lowered stress levels, improved sleep, depression and postnatal depression as well as improved clarity and even slowing down the ageing process.
There are several forms of meditation. It is important to find the one that suits your needs, fitting into your lifestyle with ease.
Whilst meditation is a hugely beneficial practice for everyone, it’s easy to feel lost in the countless methods, retreats, courses and information available to you. Silatha was born from a desire to support women and empower them with a simple yet effective meditation practice. Silatha is the first meditation app to champion mothers by designing different meditation series specifically for busy mums like you, many of whom are now juggling more tasks than ever due to the stress and change COVID-19 brings. Acknowledging that time is often a rare commodity in your daily life, we have tailored the meditations to fit seamlessly into your busy schedule.
To begin, it’s encouraged to sit for 2-3 minutes a day to allow the release of stress, create greater peace of mind and increase feelings of self-love. Through the daily practice of meditation, you will establish greater stability and notice you will have more time freed up throughout your day as you approach tasks with a clear head and focused state of mind.
During the specially designed meditations, you create a mental connection of a chosen intention for that day such as Inner-peace & Balance, Self-love, Energy & Intuition or Emotional stability & Letting go. You tie your chosen intention to a tangible object, this is so that when you are faced with a stressful or challenging situation throughout your day, you hold your object and a signal is sent to your brain reinforcing your intention.
The award-winning Silatha toolkit was created after in-depth research on habit creation. The Silatha method is endorsed by BJ Fogg, the bestselling author of Tiny Habits and one of the world’s leaders on habit creation. The Silatha meditation app will help to make sure both your family life and mental health can flourish by empowering you, the super mum at the centre of it all!
Try the simplicity and ease that comes through the Silatha meditation app. It’s important that you find the meditations that work for you and for the needs that you have. You will be guided through each meditation and learn simple steps to make big changes in your life.
With love,
SILATHA
Silatha Founder, Veroniek Vermeulen, is on a quest to break women’s mental health taboos and support women through their mental health issues with meditation.
Veroniek enjoyed a long career as a Senior level marketing expert. At some point in her professional life she realised that status and money weren’t making her happy. A life changing experience amidst the beautiful surroundings of the Himalayas got her in contact with meditation and this led to the creation of Silatha, a company that wants to improve the mental health of women harnessing a special meditation method that becomes a long lasting habit: www.silatha.com
