An excellent introductory course into the practice of meditation

Even though I’ve been meditating for so long, there are still moments when it becomes intimidating. I become demotivated and I lose my focus, whether due to a change in my job schedule, a bout of depression, illness, it can be so many different things that throw me off. It can be incredibly difficult to remain consistent and get back on top of things. This doesn’t mean it’s impossible, but this is why it’s called a practice. It’s something we need to work at. 

Giovanni Dienstmann’s 10 week course is very detailed. He goes over pretty much every different kind of meditation. Mantra, chakra, breathing, with focus on attitude, establishing good habits, refining and reinforcing your practice, finding success, motivation, attention, setting foundations to deal with obstacles… the list goes on and on! He seriously covers everything, so this is great for those unfamiliar with meditation or for people like me who need refreshers in order to reinspire myself to get back into a diligent daily meditation and spiritual self-development practice (or whatever reason you meditate). At the end of each week he does a review to really help cement everything you’ve learned. I recommend keeping a journal for pre- and post-meditation, it’s really nice to document the results and have a good way of looking over everything so you can see which kinds of meditation work best for you.

The best part for me is that Giovanni’s tapes are all short and to the point, but still detailed and full of all kinds of real-life practical tips to help you stay on top of your meditation routine. He recommends things like leaving notes by your toothbrush so that first thing in the morning, you’ll get that “trigger” to remind you to meditate. His tips aren’t just related to the act of meditation itself, but to life in general. There is so much we can learn by going within, and it’s so helpful to have content like this to plant those seeds.

Listen to Master Your Mind—The Best Way to Start a Daily Meditation Practice and more self improvement audio programs on Audiojoy — download free on iOS or Android.

Also published on Medium.