'The healing power of silence', Belén Colomina's book to transform the mind

Belén Colomina brings us closer to well-being through meditation

Belén Colomina, health psychologist, humanistic psychotherapist and author of books on psychology and meditation, encourages us with her book The healing power of silence intransform our mind and achieve well-being through meditation, “restoring balance and inner calm” and living meditation as “an experience” and not as a result.

Question: When is the right time to start meditation or mindfulness?

To respond: I think any time is a good time to start. But, above all, when you start to feel that your life works more on autopilot, when you start to feel symptoms of stress, anxiety or suffering. We can feel all the symptoms of these sensations at any time of the day, so any time is good. It is better to start with meditation to understand our mind and acquire strategies and tools to alleviate the daily suffering, which is inherent, than to start with medications to alleviate symptoms.

P: At what times in our day can we practice mindfulness?

A: There are two ways to meditate: formal meditation and informal meditation. Formal meditation is where you set aside a time per day and a place to do the meditation. On the other hand, informal meditation consists of doing it at the same time as any daily activity, it can be while eating or walking, this way you will feel that you are not doing it on autopilot, but that you are aware of the sensations in your body.

P: How to calm our thoughts when we start meditating?

A: The person himself is the one who tries to regulate his thoughts to acquire mental calm. We can use the breath or bring my attention to a more stable object that stabilizes and balances the mind.

P: What are the benefits of meditation in everyday life?

A: There are many benefits, both physically and psychologically and in terms of relationships. But one of the most important benefits is the relief from daily suffering. It allows you to be in the present moment, relieves stress, reduces anxiety, increases empathy, increases compassion. In short, it transforms your mind, as it increases reflective awareness and, consequently, decreases impulse-reactive behavior, which leads to any aversive stimulus.

It also helps to plan your day, to solve everyday problems in a more conscious and constructive way, to live in balance, to be attentive and aware of the sensations in your body and to understand yourself in a harmonious way. In the end, you can harmonize your life because you can also harmonize with your relationships, your values and your mind. The ultimate goal is to be aware of your life and manage it, not for life to take you.

P: In the book you talk a lot about transforming the mind, how does this process occur?

A: When we acquire certain skills, our mind is like any muscle in our body. This way we develop the attention and executive functions of the frontal lobe; Decreases the activated zones for the threat system or alert system. In short, it transforms many of the mental mechanisms in favor of many regulatory mechanisms. Although we don't see what is happening in our brain, positive things happen that benefit us on a daily basis.

We also don't realize how the structure of our brain changes as a result of stress, which generates a lot of cortisol. With meditation we can regulate this hormone, in addition to seeing life's worries in a different way.

Q: Is there a direct relationship between the mindfulness or meditation and Buddhism?

A: Meditation is the gymnasium of our mind; it consists of familiarizing our mind with virtuous states and, in the contemplative tradition, both Buddhism and many religions used meditation adapted to the religion.

Science has shown that meditation works for anyone. We used it ourselves without knowing we were using this tool, as do many religions, not just Buddhism. Therefore, it is a layman's tool; it is not related or linked to religion, but religion used it.

Q: Who is the book for?

A: The book can be read by anyone who is going to start meditating, as I explain the steps to take and there is a meditation program to start training the mind. However, if you are already initiated into meditation, there is a second part in which I deepen the understanding of the patterns of our mind, suffering and how to alleviate it.

The book is based on meditation and psychology, but also on my experience as a psychologist. With my patients, I see how meditation has an effect on their daily lives. Therefore, I recommend this book to everyone.

A long experience in meditation

Q: When did you start meditating?

A: I have been meditating for many years. When I was little I practiced martial arts and I started meditating without knowing I was doing it. As an adult I realized that this helped me and, while studying psychology, I began to train and educate myself in meditation and mindfulness. So I have more than 15 years of profession and practice of meditation.

With this instrument I was able to navigate and understand the working mechanism of the human mind. The mind is an exquisite and necessary laboratory for understanding suffering and understanding the mechanisms of how to alleviate it.

Q: Can people feel stuck in meditation?

A: There are many obstacles to this practice; the mind sabotages and resists us and arguments begin that meditation is useless, that it makes you more nervous, and even that it is a waste of time. We have to face obstacles as something normal, because our mind resists, as it is used to being agitated and full of noise; Calm bothers him.

We have to acquire the habit of silence and, to do so, we must find a safe place, where calm is regulated. Patience and time are necessary. Sometimes changes are necessary if you feel stuck. There are several ways to practice meditation: mindfulness, generative, and analytical practice. You can go from one to the other.

Q: What does each of these practices consist of?

A: The first family of meditation is attention, which is to mindfulness, in which we obtain mental calm. Then there is the family of generative meditations, which generate resilient states, we cultivate virtues in our mind; like love or compassion. Finally, there are analytical ones, which are those that increase understanding and wisdom, as we learn to observe our mind from a different place.

There are many ways to meditate, so mindfulness is one of them. It requires each person to adjust and enter into the practice that best suits their present moment. Therefore, in the book, I make a program that I recommend practicing in a logical order, but you can vary it if you think it is best for you.

Q: Do you think meditation has been a trend in recent years?

A: There was a boom because the results of science helped make meditation known as a secular tool and that changes were experienced 6 or 8 weeks after daily training.

Continuous practice does not require enthusiasm, but conviction that you want or that it helps you to have this lifestyle; It's about starting to see life calmly and letting go of the noise, productivity and stress. Anxiety and autopilot have spread and we believe that life decides for us. Meditation consists of being aware that we choose where to direct our lives, from a more constructive and resilient internal position.

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