What's a Simple Way To Start Meditating? You can Easily Do it Today!
This might be the shortest blog post ever. Because this is how simple meditation can be.
I don’t know if it's just me or is meditation becoming the new thing that everyone is talking about? As if meditation is new? LOL! Let’s face it, meditation has been a thing for centuries.
Now that we all have realized that we just can’t take it anymore (by “it” i mean all of the stress of everyday life) we are looking for a way to relax, and calm down. We are searching for meaning and wisdom and we hear through the grapevine that meditation is something we should try.
If you feel intimidated or turned off by the thought of sitting cross legged chanting OM for hours in a room filled with the aroma of incense, don’t worry. While that may be the goal for some people, right now we are only going to talk about meditation to help you find that moment of peace at any time.
I would like to invite you to use this simple meditation method to help you find some peace, calm, relaxation, and opening up to joy, in your day.
The first thing that you need to know is, you can meditate anytime and anyplace.
Guess what? The crazy thing is, you already have the tools needed to meditate, you just need to use them.
Step 1: Sit
Get comfortable, but not so comfy that you will fall asleep.
Step 2: Breathe
Yes! You’re doing it!
When I say that all you need to do is sit and breathe, that is the truth. Sit in a comfortable position. You may want to close your eyes. If you choose to keep your eyes open, focus your eyes on one object, a candle or flower or possibly a tree. Something that will not be distracting from your breath. Now its time to begin, inhale and exhale. Now do it again. You can even say the words to yourself INHALE, then EXHALE.
Take long, slow, deep breaths. Counting the length of your inhalation and exhalation can help you focus on your breath. Make the length of your exhale match the inhale. 1,2,3,4 and 1,2,3,4.
Now try inhale 1,2,3,4 and exhale 1,2,3,4,5,6. Control the length of your exhale the best you can. Eventually you will be able to inhale 1,2,3,4 and exhale 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8.
I am sure that you have heard the goal of meditation is to stop thinking.
I used to be so worried that I can’t do this or I am not doing it right because I can’t stop thoughts from coming into my mind! This is too hard. I wanted to be perfect and get the full benefit of this time that I was giving up in my day. So the story that I told myself was, “whatever you do, don’t think about anything!”
Lets face it, unless you have been practicing for a long time, thinking is going to happen. It is almost impossible to turn off your thoughts. But one day you will accomplish this amazing skill!
Continue to breathe. If a thought comes into your mind to distract you, just start counting your breath again.
Some people like to set a timer and try to meditate/breathe for 5 minutes and gradually move up to 10,15,30,60 minute sessions. I personally find the timer distracting. Always thinking, is my time almost up. The only time that I set a timer now is if I need to be somewhere. Kind of like an alarm.
To wrap it up:
Please remember that this is an short introduction to meditation. Something that you can practice anytime and anywhere. 5 minutes out of your day to slow down and help you start to realize that you do deserve to take time for yourself, slow down and breathe. You can also try guided meditations, where someone’s voice is leading you through a relaxation method to help you clear your mind and experience an even deeper sense of peace and joyful living. I will be discussing deeper meditation practices as our journey together continues.
Please let me know what you think in the comments below. Tell me how things are going for you on your journey to Loving Life :)