 Meditation, the deliberate quieting of the mind, is a fantastic place to begin in understanding the very thing we tend to put off as human beings. Stillness, the cliche associations with meditation being chilled out or sitting carefree with a wispy beard in a cave has done wonders in attracting enough people to be curious about it. So much so that it's made its way toward the western world. Many of those who start experimenting with it get drawn beyond the initial intent of dealing with their road rage and the like. Sitting for 20 minutes a day can really build one's confidence in quieting their constant headshatter. There have been many studies into the effects of meditation in recent years. However, in my view, there are pretty rational explanations for why it does your life good. To begin with, we live in a frantic time where continued distraction is the norm for most people. We drag ourselves out of bed and slink towards our phones. And from that point onwards, there is very little time in which we are not plugged in. What this distracted culture plays into is much louder, more incessant thinking. Sometimes it seems like almost everything is shouting at us as we walk around in urban spaces. With so much to concentrate on, the momentum of our thoughts increases, causing a sense of stress or general ill-ease. Meditation invites you to focus as best you can on something simple like your breath, which takes the fuel out of the engine of your mind. This helps it slow down to a much more healthy level. The change is subtle, however. It's a lot like going to the gym. If you expect to have dealt with your beer belly in a couple of sessions, you'll probably go away disappointed. People go to their local Buddhist center with high expectations of complete clarity and often come away after one sitting of meditation thinking, why wouldn't my thoughts die down? How come I didn't feel that warm blanket of peace envelop me? The process of learning what meditation is and how to do it right is actually a little frustrating. After a while, you'll realize that a spiritual teacher will basically refuse to give you a straight answer. Luckily, we brought the spiritual teacher to you. Let us introduce you to Hermetic Kitten, who you might have met before for the ASMR video. She will walk you through a guided meditation session. Hello everyone and welcome to this guided meditation to reduce stress and help you get a good night's sleep and feel more connected to yourself. In order to make the entire experience more relaxing, I'm using a binaural microphone so if you close your eyes you will hear my voice traveling from side to side like this. Regular meditation improves your mood, metabolism and increases your brain function, making you feel a lot happier and more peaceful. We will start this meditation with some breathing exercises and progressive muscle relaxation. So make yourself comfortable, sitting or lying down and allow your breath to gently flow and calm. Inhale, once again, inhale are just like the waves of the ocean, pulling away from the shore as you inhale and close. You can see it as it enters your body and as you exhale, taking away all the worries of the day until you are left with a fresh positive light and exhale stress and tension. Let this light heal any sense of solitude and loneliness you've ever felt. Replace it with a blissful state of mind and a feeling of comfort and peace. I want you to tense up every muscle in your body, tension go, starting from your feet slowly. It feels good to get rid of tension, it feels good to relax. Tense up your belly, many people feel a great sense of discomfort in this area when they are anxious or stressed out. Feel a deep sense of relaxation increasing more and more with each breath. Now move onto your chest, tense it up, squeezing the shoulders, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. Up to your shoulders again and back. Tense up every muscle tight as you relax. Feel that a huge weight has been lifted of your shoulders. Tend your fists, the muscles in your face, in your scalp, your ear. Visualize the most blissful or close to the ocean. The sweetest wind blows and a gentle stream flows. It is such a perfect moment in which you are everything. You're supposed to be. There is no sense of luck, no sense of pain or discomfort. Just explore this beautiful place using all of your senses. Experience for it is your secret. Move to this place every time you realize a beautiful conscious color. It can be your favorite color or that you associate with something pleasant towards your goals in the distance as you enjoy. You feel strong and when you're with this stretching out your muscles starting from your legs. We hope this video has brought you a little more peace of mind. Don't forget to comment and subscribe for more relaxation tips. And check out Hermetta Kitten's channel for even more videos.