Meditation can be done by anyone just about anywhere in as little as two minutes a day.

Poor misunderstood meditation. People think it takes forever and is only for monks.

Meditation can be done by anyone just about anywhere in as little as two minutes a day.

But why should anyone bother? Because it's really — really — good for you.

Wow. That's a heck of a lot of science.

But wait. There's more.

I'm kind of curious now, but what to I have to do? I don't want to sit on top of a mountain with my eyes closed.

Good news! You don't have to.

There are many types of meditation, but for the most part they fall into one of three buckets: concentration, attending, and open monitoring.

Concentration meditation is great for relaxing when you're actively under stress. This is an incredibly valuable skill to help you manage negative emotions like anger, sadness, or fear. With practice, you get really good at pushing negative emotions out of your head in the moment — even if you're feeling them very intensely. This is the classic meditation where you focus on something specific like your breath, a flame, guided imagery, or a sound.

Mindfulness meditation is great for helping you figure yourself out. Hectic lives lead to hectic minds. Taking a moment to figure out what exactly you're feeling in that moment will help you make better decision for yourself and for others. With practice, you'll be more comfortable experiencing emotions — even intensely negative ones — and be more in control of how those emotions affect your actions. Mindfulness meditation allows you to be introspective and doesn't force you to avoid being distracted by thoughts or sensations.

Attending meditation is somewhere in the middle.

You don't have to pick one and avoid the others. Mix it up and see how they make you feel!

OK, I'm convinced. But I'm still a busy person. I don't have time to meditate every day.

Obviously two minutes isn't going to bring you a direct connection with nirvana. But you can start small. I mean really small. There are lots of great meditation apps available that help you try meditating for tiny chunks of time — 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes. Some options are completely free, some are have a one-time fee, some have both free and paid features.

Who knows, maybe you'll love it enough that you *will* end up on top of a mountain.

Video by AsapSCIENCE. Images adapted from Moyan Brenn and David McCandless and thumbnail image by Betty Nudler, all used under Creative Commons licenses.

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