Meditating might sound hard, but all it takes is a few minutes a day to set up a healthy mediation routine.
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Thanks to MRI imaging, scientists can now see that
meditation can actually changes the structure of the brain for the
better, and you'll definitely feel the effects in your everyday life.
Meditation has been proven to help bust stress and anxiety, improve
decision-making ability, improve sleep quality, and even help preserve
brain power as you age.
So what's holding you back? For starters, meditation
sounds really hard to a lot of people. Possibly it seems like something
only new age hippies do—not regular folks like you. Or maybe you have a
truly limited amount of "me" time, and, let's be honest, that new
Netflix series has a awfully powerful pull.
But while the barrier to entry may seem
huge, it doesn’t have to be as difficult as the story your mind is
telling you. All it takes is a commitment to the routine of
meditation—just like you commit to brushing your teeth each morning and
making time to brew a pot of coffee before work. The following ten tips
will help you get started in making meditation a daily habit. Remember,
beginning is the hard part—and Netflix will be there for you when you're
finished.
1. Make Meditating A Daily Habit
The first thing to do is commit to meditating daily. When
you do, meditating starts to become a habit like brushing your teeth or
eating your lunch – your body will expect it and even crave it.
To help you develop the daily habit,
choose a consistent time of day. For many people morning or evening work
well. If you can roll out of bed and meditate right away, it will set
you up for your day. Sitting just before bed tends to work well for
people, too, since you’re naturally starting to settle down. If your
schedule doesn’t allow for a consistent time, that’s OK – just aim for
manageable chunks of time each day instead of setting a goal for one or
two long sits per week. (For busy days, check out these five meditations you can do at your desk.)
2. Sit. Stay. Good Dog.
Set a timer and commit to meditating until the timer
dings. The classic amount of time to sit for is 20 minutes, but you can
start with 10 or 15. Once you set it, make like a good dog and stay. You
will want to get up, but do not get up until the timer dings. It takes
time for the body and mind to settle and you won’t be able to really
drop into a meditative state if you allow yourself to get up each time
you feel restless or distracted. (Read about how yoga and meditation are transforming underserved schools.)
3. Sit Up Tall
You don’t have to sit twisted up in Lotus Posture. In
fact, you don’t have to sit on the floor at all. You can sit in a chair
with your feet planted on the ground and your hands resting comfortably
in your lap. What’s crucial, though, is that your spine is upright.
Slumping leads to sleepiness. If you notice that your back gets tired or
achy, pile some pillows behind your lumbar spine for support.
4. Make It OK To Relax
Most of us have high-octane, driven days from the minute
our feet hit the floor. You might have to consciously invite yourself to
chill out a bit. Doing so will help set you up for a smoother, easier
experience. When you close your eyes to start meditating, spend a minute
or two doing a body scan. Start at the top of your head and then work
your way down to your forehead, your jaw, your shoulders, your belly,
all the way down to your toes. As your mind scans over these areas,
simply say the words, “soften.”
5. Notice Your Breath
You don’t have to control or contain the breath in
meditation practice like you do in yoga. But bringing your attention to
your breath is an accessible way to start focusing your mind, which is
really what you’re after with meditation practice. Notice if your breath
feels deep or shallow, if it feels rapid or relaxed. And notice how it
feels cool coming into your nostrils and warm as it goes out.
6. Anchor Your Awareness
The most basic technique is to simply choose an anchor or
focal point and bring your mind there. When your mind wanders, you label
the wandering as “thinking,” or “planning” or “worrying,” then you
bring your attention back to the anchor.
A common anchor is the belly – the area
just above the navel to be specific. But I like to teach the heart as an
anchor: Imagine that there’s a doorway in your chest that leads to the
heart. Let your breath come in and out of the heart. And, if you think a
mantra might help you drop in more deeply, you can choose one that
feels right. Some common ones for this meditation are “love,” or
“trust,” or “let go.”
7. Just Do It
It’s important to know that everyone’s mind wanders. In
the beginning, most of your meditation practice will probably be spent
noticing how the mind wanders and bringing it back. Meditation may feel
like hard work at first – it’s kind of like crunches for the mind. You
don’t think about whether or not you like crunches, you just do them
because you know that your body needs them and you’ll be better having
done them. Meditating is the same.
8. Keep Going. You’re Not Doing It Wrong
Chances are that every doubt you have and everything
that’s happened to you during meditation has happened to everyone else
who’s tried to meditate. No matter how terrible a meditator you think
you are, you’re just not. Everything that happens while you’re sitting
counts. The most important thing is that you stay with the practice.
Little by little your mind won’t wander as far. Little by little you
will feel yourself dropping in more deeply and more easily.
9. Come Out Gently
Don’t bound right back into your routine as soon as the
timer dings. Move gently, wiggle your fingers and toes. Have a journal
nearby to jot down what’s on your mind – it could be what happened
during meditation or how you feel after or your intention for the day.
(These morning meditations will set you up for a fantastic day.)
10. Come Back To It Throughout Your Day
Take one-minute meditation breaks throughout your day. If
you’re impatient and waiting in a line, you can focus and meditate. If
you need a little centering before a confrontation, you can focus and
meditate. The more you do it, the more natural it will feel.
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