Meditation bootcamp: You didn't realise meditation could make you smarter.

By KATHY WILSON

For a small item, my niece’s favourite Christmas gift made a lot of noise as it shattered on the concrete floor this morning.

It was being returned to her, (at 90 kms per hour) by her sister, who really, really wanted more time with it.

You know how some toys don’t actually have a name but everyone knows what it is? This was one of those. It has 2 rectangular metal plates joined together by small, silver, double headed nails . It is designed (I don’t really know why) to take the imprint of anything put against it. Everyone has one or at least everyone has a great aunt that has one.

For days, this toy, whose popularity took everyone by surprise, recorded the imprint of happy smiling faces and poked out, well fed tongues. It sat, right in the middle of piles of wrapping paper, skateboards and new bikes. It was there through the speeches and feasting and wet, dripping kids as they trooped back in from the beach, tired and happy

But today, as I watched it sail across the room on its way to its doom I really understood that Christmas is over.

As of today, it seems, reality has resumed its regular programming.

Almost as if they are being woken from a deep sleep, people around the country are shaking their heads slightly to clear them, assessing the damage that has been done to credit cards and wondering if maybe there might be a way to make 2013 more meaningful.

The happy news is that there is an easy way to get back to basics for this coming year. And it doesn’t involve plastic barbies, training wheels or anything from a boy band.

It is meditation and depending what study your read, it can do everything from making you smarter to improving your relationships with others.

There is nothing mysterious or woo woo about meditation. In this series of posts, we’ve already covered off some of the most commonly asked questions, common styles of meditation like mindfulness and visusalisation.

Today’s post is just designed to help you acknowledge that sometimes we need to be kind to ourselves. A daily meditation practice is great but every practice has to start somewhere.

If you feel a bit like that crazy toy after Christmas and feel too shattered to even think about New Year’s Resolutions for 2013, just give yourself 10 minutes and listen to this beautiful guided meditation from Joy Reynolds of the Gold Coast.

It is beautiful and calming. Here’s the link.

Kathy Wilson runs a meditation website called mydiamonddays.com that sends subscribers 10 minute meditations from experts all over the world sent to their inbox daily. You can check out her website or visit her facebook page here