Jay Michaelson @Jmm

Focusing on the future too much can be the cause of a lot of stress and anxiety, especially if these thoughts cause you to worry or be fearful.

Focusing on the future isn't necessarily bad. Making goals, plans, and even wondering about it is all a part of our lives. It gets bad when they stop being simple thoughts and wonders, and turns into negative thoughts and emotions, such as fear and anxiety.

What the future holds we do not know. Worrying about it is something most people do to a certain degree, but allowing it to change our lives, or even control it, is what can lead us down a bad path full of stress, anxiety, and a lot of negativity.

This is why one of the main pillars of mindfulness is to focus on the present and not the past or the future.
The past is the past, there is nothing we can do about what already happened. The future is untold, and we do not know what it holds. The present is where we are, it's where we can make a difference and where we have control.

Focusing on the present allows us to not give in to the stress of what the future may hold, and to not be upset of what was in the past.

It's hard to actually say which meditation is right for you without really knowing you, as meditation is a very personal practice that is different for everyone. So, the meditation practice that is right for me may not be right for you.

With that said, of course, there are quite a few meditation practices to chose from, some very different from others. The best advice that can be given is to just experiment. Find what works for you.

Take some time to think about the reasons you want to start a meditation practice, do some research, and just start practicing. Short 5-minute meditation sessions in the beginning is a great way to start and to get used to the whole practice of meditation, and from there you can build up your time and meditate for longer.

Even if you are not exactly sure which type of meditation is right for you, you can still start meditation by finding a short guided meditation. Guided meditations are a great way to get into the whole world of meditation, as it helps make the practice more bearable and simpler in the beginning, since most beginners aren't used to meditating.

You can find a tremendous amount of guided meditations online, either on YouTube, or on mobile apps, the internet is full of them, so it really is easy and simple to get started.

Breathing in meditation plays a very meaningful role. Firstly, you are almost always doing it, it's something that you can do anywhere, and with enough practice, you can focus on it anywhere and in any situation and use it to help center yourself and focus your mind, which makes following your breath one of the most useful and efficient techniques when it comes to meditation, mindfulness, and reducing stress and anxiety.

Most guided meditations will instruct you to follow your breath, it's simply because it's a constant element in the practice, you are always breathing, which gives you a consistent focusing point, which is one of the core elements of meditation. Focusing your mind on something allows you to ease it and reduce the stream of thoughts that goes on inside it, which helps bring you closer to a tranquil state, reducing stress, anxiety, and other negative thoughts and feelings.

One reason is the concept people have of meditation.
They know of meditation from what they see in movies and on TV, where someone is just sitting and meditating for a long time, and then becomes enlightened.

This is not real life, and that is not how meditation works.

For a meditation practice to be effective, and consistent, you need to understand what to expect.
When you first start out, you won't be enlightened, it may even be a little bit painful since people are usually not used to sitting in a position like you do when you meditate, and especially not for longer periods of time. On top of that, you may just feel a general discomfort, boredom, and may see yourself full of more thoughts than you had before you started meditating.

All of these things are normal, and that is the reality of beginning meditating. It's not easy, it's a practice that takes time to get good at.

How does this all help?
Now that you know what to expect, you can understand that first, you will not be enlightened after one or two meditation sessions. Second, that it won't just magically clear your mind of thoughts. And third, that yes, it is uncomfortable, but this gets better quickly.
With all that said and understood, you can now focus on the practice itself rather than what you will theoretically get out of it.

Focus on the practice and on making it consistent. Try to meditate every day for just a few minutes a day, even 5 minutes. If you can't do it every day, then every other day, or as often as you can.
Once you do this consistently, you will slowly realize and feel that you can meditate for longer periods of time, and more frequently. After some time, you will begin to realize the effects of this practice.
But if you jump in to the practice already expecting to see all the results and benefits after just a few sessions, and to be able to sit and meditate for 30 minutes or longer, then you will probably be joining the people who tried out meditation and say that it doesn't work.

Using meditation apps is a great way to help incorporate a consistent meditation practice into your life.
The reason is that apps help you, first of all, learn how to meditate, especially when doing guided meditations where an instructor is guiding you through the meditation.
They are easy to use, and it's right there in your pocket, which can make a huge difference for those who want to just meditate in their own home but also want to do guided meditations.

It also helps keep the meditation frequency and length at a healthy level. An issue many people have is keeping the habit of meditating every day. With meditation apps, you can set reminders for when to meditate.

Another great benefit is that you can set the amount of time you want to meditate for. This is a big issue with people who are new to meditation. They think that they have to meditate for 30 minutes or even longer for it to be effective, so they start out by meditating for longer periods of time, which end up just causing them to burn out and lose motivation for the practice completely. With meditation apps, you can choose to meditate for 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or however long you want, but there is a great emphasis on the 5-minute meditations, which is perfect for beginners as it helps them become comfortable with the meditation practice and reduces their risk of feeling overwhelmed with it.

It's hard to say which meditation is best for others, as it is a very individual practice. Some may prefer walking meditation, while others may prefer the more traditional sitting down and meditating.

There are many types of meditation, the best recommendation that can be given is to try the different types and find the one that works for you.

Guided meditation is a popular choice for beginners, and even for the more advanced, since it guides you through the whole meditation. During this type of meditation, you be guided and instructed to focus on things such as your breath, the sensations you feel in your body, the sounds around you, and more. This makes the meditation less boring for beginners, since they are usually not used to just sitting down quietly for even short periods of time, and is popular among the more advanced meditators for the added assistance in focusing and having a more structured practice.

If you are just starting out, a consistent but short daily guided meditation practice of just a few minutes can be a great way to get into meditation. From there, you can explore more options to find what works best for you.

Meditation can help with your anger by allowing you to clear your mind of the thoughts that are making you angry. This is because of what meditation teaches you and trains you to do, which is to accept things, and let them go, and to focus on the now rather than what happened or what may happen.

We can easily get angry at things that were said to us, or at things that we think may happen in the future. Meditation enables us to release those feelings by focusing on certain elements, such as our breath. Meditation incorporates breathing techniques that, when used while angry, can help reduce those feelings, and can help center us and bring us back to a calmer state.

While meditating, we are actively training our ability to focus on a single thing, such as our breath. This enhanced focus allows us to better clear our minds from unwanted thoughts, and emotions such as anger, and the thoughts that may be causing this anger.

Meditation can have many effects on the body and brain. Due to its calming nature, it can release certain hormones that can reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and even increase the feeling of happiness.

Other than that, for some people, it gives a sense of accomplishment. The fact that they are even meditating gives them a sense of progress, that they are moving in the right direction, which alone can give a feeling of hope, motivation, and happiness.

If anything, having a consistent meditation practice can allow you to clear many of the negative emotions you are feeling, such as stress, anxiety, anger, and other negative feelings, and even thoughts. Meditation is an amazing tool for clearing thoughts, especially the negative ones.
Once those negative emotions and thoughts are cleared, you will have more room for positive thoughts, you will be able to feel more relaxed and at ease, which together can make you happy.