Ahead, you will find everything you need to know about meditation, and types of meditation along with 6 easy but practical tips to incorporate daily meditation.
Whenever daily meditation comes up, there’s at least one person who goes, “I cannot meditate.” Well, if you are one of those, who understand the benefits of meditation but cannot seem to commit to it, you have got to read on for the 6 easiest ways to incorporate daily meditation.
First of all, you must know, there is no correct or incorrect way to meditate. However, when you feel you cannot meditate, chances are you aren’t comfortable or are probably too hard on yourself. You might have even heard, meditation requires you to silence your thoughts completely. Not, only it is a misconception but it is also an impossible goal to achieve. Meditation is pretty easy, all you need do is be comfortable and simply observe your thoughts.
Understanding Meditation
Daily meditation
The best part is, contrary to popular belief you don’t necessarily need to sit cross-legged and repeatedly chant “Om.” You can even meditate, right from your office chair, before you sleep, or even in your car while you’re stuck waiting. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to meditating. However, typically people claim they receive maximum benefits if they meditate for at least 15 minutes twice a day. But, honestly, it’s up to you, you can start anywhere and work your way up to what you find the most beneficial. After all, just a few minutes of meditation is better than no meditation at all.
Incorporating Daily Meditation:
If you have ever tried to incorporate a new habit or a new skill, you might know incorporating a habit takes time along with a little consistency and a lot of patience. The key to incorporating daily meditation is in your first few failed attempts. The fact that you give yourself a few minutes every day to be mindful, makes all the difference. If you want to cultivate a habit, start with just a minute, but try to commit to daily meditation. Of course, you won’t notice benefits immediately, it’s like a physical workout; the workout for your mind. You might need a little consistency before you reap the benefits of your labor.
What is meditation?
Daily meditation is nothing but the act of purposely staying mindful and present for a specific period of time. However to understand meditation it is also very important to understand what isn’t meditation. Meditation is not an earth-shattering experience of zoning out rather it is simply dedicating a certain amount of time to being as mindful and aware as you can. Contrary to popular belief meditation does not involve pausing your thoughts, the goal is to simply observe the thoughts.
This little practice of staying present a mindful can have a number of benefits for your mental as well as physical health. Just with a little consistency and regularity, meditation can gradually and subtly transform your life.
Types of meditation
There are a number of different meditative strategies to adapt daily meditation in your life. Here is a list of five common types of meditation that are easy to incorporate and seems to work for most people.
- Mindfulness meditation: Mindfulness meditation is nothing but the basic act of purposely being aware. The goal is to notice and observe the thoughts as they pass without acting on them. You can incorporate this simple act of mindfulness while walking, brushing your teeth, or even while doing your chores.
- Body scan meditation: Another type of meditation that’s pretty popular is body scan meditation. Just as the name sounds, this meditation technique involves mindfully focusing intentionally on different parts of the body with the goal to relax. The technique involves deep breathing and helps you be more self-aware. Guided body scan meditation is very effective in calming down severe symptoms of anxiety or panic attacks.
- Walking meditation: Just like breathing, this kind of meditation involves focussing on each step to be completely mindful and fully present in the act of walking. This technique also involves cultivating self-awareness. It works perfectly for people who find it difficult to sit still.
- Loving-kindness meditation: This meditation technique aims at cultivating compassion and love for yourself as well as others. The process involves directing positive phases for yourself, loved ones, and difficult people in life. It works pretty much like positive affirmations.
- Guided sleep meditation: Sleep meditation as the name suggests is a meditation technique to help you fall asleep. Typically, people go for a guided experience that naturally induces deep sleep. It can be a mix of mindfulness meditation and body scan meditation specially catered to help you relax and fall asleep.
Benefits of daily meditation:
Right from better concentration, and better memory to a healthier and happier life, when comes to daily meditation the benefits are endless. In fact, it is scientifically proven that people who meditate consistently experience a positive impact on their physical health and mental well-being. Meditation unlocks the potential of the human mind by simply helping it relax and focus. Daily meditation can not only relax your mind but help you focus better. It even improves decision-making skills and works to minimize negative feelings including stress and fear. Meditation simply allows you to experience life with more calm and clarity.
Studies have shown apart from mental calm and clarity, daily meditation also offers a number of physical benefits including, lower blood pressure, better immunity, and healthier sleep. In fact, studies reveal meditation even works to deal with several psychological symptoms of issues like depression, anxiety, and even pain relief that’s related to stress. Another study reveals, meditation actually works to increase pain tolerance and helps in relieving symptoms of chronic pain. In short, meditation works to improve all the aspects of life, when you really give it a chance.
However, if you have always found adding meditation to your routine a little too hard, you are going to be glad you stumbled upon this article. Read on for a list of 6 easy but practical ways to incorporate daily meditation.
6 Easy but practical ways to incorporate Daily Meditation
1. Keep your goals small that are easy to commit to
While daily meditation can be your ultimate goal, it is wise to start slow. Just like when you incorporate a physical workout, you don’t immediately start lifting the heaviest weights, you have got to start slow in order to avoid overwhelming yourself. You can simply start meditating by committing to meditation just twice or thrice a week for just five minutes. Once you get a habit of meditating, you can always climb your way up. Remember, meditation is not a magical experience, it is like training your mind, expecting immediate results will only leave you disappointed. At first, keep your goals small and easy to commit to, in order to make space for meditation in your life.
2. Find your comfort
Meditation has been glorified with a set of pictures that demand you to sit in the classic lotus position and chant “om.” Well, if that’s what makes your boat float, you could go for it. But meditation is so much more than that. The goal is to find your comfort, for some people sitting on a chair works better than sitting cross-legged. To successfully meditate, the only goal is to find your comfort. Sit, lay down, or even walk; it is up to you. Find a position feels comfortable and natural. You don’t need to look like you’re meditating. In fact, while no ambiance is necessary for a healthy meditation exercise, however, if you prefer, guided meditation applications, lighting candles, or peaceful music; you can definitely go for it.
3. Find the right time and type of meditation that works for you
When it comes to meditation, there are all kinds of techniques and strategies that can fit your unique issues and help you achieve your desired goals. The trick is to explore different kinds of meditation to find what suits your needs. Most importantly, it is necessary to find the right time to meditate. If you try to fit in morning meditation early in the day when you are already late for work, it might only end up being a chore that you need to cater to. Meditation should not overwhelm you. If you do not fit meditation at the right time, it is likely that you end up feeling frustrated, burdened, or unmotivated. You can explore techniques like walking meditation, body scan meditation, or guided sleep meditation. When it comes to the right time, there are no hard and fast rules, you can go meditate while you walk your dog, while you comb your hair, while you’re stuck in the traffic, on a lunch break, while you take a hot bath, or before you go to sleep. The goal is to find what suits your needs the best.
4. Seek help from technology
If meditation makes you uncomfortable and you still want to pursue it, there are plenty of options out there to make your meditation journey easier than ever. Your smartphone or rather the internet has all the resources in the world to smoothen your journey into the world of meditation. There are plenty of free meditation apps that are compatible with both IOS and android devices. With guided meditation applications you can go for a wide variety of meditations including, sleep meditation, mindfulness meditation, body scan meditation, and loving-kindness meditation. In fact, when it comes to seeking help from technology you can even go for:
- Calming meditation sounds.
- Guiding breathing exercises.
- Podcasts.
- Tools including videos and graphics for guided meditation.
5. Consistency
Meditation may not fit right into your routine, but if you keep at it, gradually it will click for you and incorporate long-term benefits into your life. While your brain might find an escape and look for ten reasons to quit it, you have to deliberately look for the benefits and stick with it for at least a week. Just like you stuck around with the first season to actually enjoy watching Game of Thrones. Yep! That’s it! that‘s the perseverance it requires. Only, it will have a so much better ending than Game of Thrones. If you keep at it, it will be like riding a bicycle in just a week. All you need is a little bit of consistency.
6. Get started
Meditation may seem a goal that’s pretty hard to reach if you’re just talking or reading about it. The biggest tip to easily incorporating daily meditation into your regimen is to get started. Incorporate it, in any form; big or small, guided or mindful. Just download the application you’ve been eyeing and buy those scented candles if you feel it will help you relax. Draw yourself a bath, and play that podcast you’ve been promising yourself you’d listen to. Meditation is not as complicated as they make it look. Just get started.
While it is well established that meditation has plenty of benefits, however incorporating daily meditation makes, you take a step back. That’s probably because you are forcing yourself to meditate for the appearance of it. There are no standards to meet. Meditation is a personal experience that can be different for everyone. In fact, even the benefits of meditation are subjective for everyone. While your spouse might find it easy to sit still and deep breaths, walking mindfully might come naturally to you. The trick is to explore different types of meditation at different times to find out what meets your needs without overwhelming you. Simply because there is no right or wrong process of meditation. Just get started, and if you keep at it, gradually you will feel the difference daily meditation brings to your life.
