Common fear and conversation surrounding meditation "I can't meditate, my brain won't shut off like everyone else" or "I can't just think about nothing"...Whatever it is that is blocking you from receiving joy, peace, freedom and reduced anxiousness, increased sleep etc. from meditation can stop here.
So reset your thoughts on meditation. You don't "have to" stop your thoughts. Meditation helps you to recognize them but pay them less attention so you can focus on your breath, your balance and the present moment. It is natural for thoughts to arise while we sit quietly and don't fear that you are doing something wrong, or judge or criticize yourself. I often hear clients I serve judging themselves or feeling bad that they tried to meditate and they couldn't stop thinking. Well once you start focusing on how hard you are trying to stop thinking you then continue thinking more and start this wheel of judgement, criticism and continued negative thought process. WHOA! That sounds exhausting! Instead, recognize that you are human and thoughts are normal.
OK, so you are still reading. Maybe you are intrigued "maybe I can actually meditate!" Of course you can, everyone can and I recommend it as a daily or at least twice weekly practice. You don't need 20 minutes to reap benefits of meditation, 3,5,7 minutes can create sacred, relaxed and healing opportunities for you.
I recommend starting with guided meditations that you can you tube and you can find ones that are 3,5, 7 minutes long. Once you feel confident with shorter intervals, try a longer guided meditation. From there begin to create your own meditation space with a nice timer, you can download apps that have soothing bells and singing bowl timer music instead of an obtrusive alarm timer. Set a timer for 5 minutes and sit somewhere quiet. Start by recognizing your breath, "I am inhaling, I am exhaling" to "inhale...exhale" if your thoughts begin to get in the way, recognize them and allow yourself not to start focusing on them, come back to your breath with counting. Inhale 12,3,4,5,6 hold, then exhale 1,2,3,4,5,6 hold with slow counts. Counting will help you focus on your breath since its really difficult to count and think about work at the same time!
Other tips, use a mantra word during your meditation inhale "love" exhale "hate" inhale "compassion" exhale "selfishness" inhale "confidence" exhale "doubt" etc. etc. there are plenty of ways to use a word as a tool to help absorb what you wish to achieve and release whatever negativity that is blocking you from that.
These are some beginning tips. I hope this helps!
Here are some reasons to meditate in case you aren't convinced you should try it again or try it all:
1. Increased immunity
2. Increased emotional balance
3. Reduces blood pressure
4. anti inflammatory
5. stress reducer
6. reduce anxiety and panic attacks
7. longevity
8. enlightenment
9. pain relief
10. manifesting dreams
and the list goes on and on. Do some research if you are still skeptical and let me know if you need any tips.
Self care, self love...start practicing that!
So reset your thoughts on meditation. You don't "have to" stop your thoughts. Meditation helps you to recognize them but pay them less attention so you can focus on your breath, your balance and the present moment. It is natural for thoughts to arise while we sit quietly and don't fear that you are doing something wrong, or judge or criticize yourself. I often hear clients I serve judging themselves or feeling bad that they tried to meditate and they couldn't stop thinking. Well once you start focusing on how hard you are trying to stop thinking you then continue thinking more and start this wheel of judgement, criticism and continued negative thought process. WHOA! That sounds exhausting! Instead, recognize that you are human and thoughts are normal.
OK, so you are still reading. Maybe you are intrigued "maybe I can actually meditate!" Of course you can, everyone can and I recommend it as a daily or at least twice weekly practice. You don't need 20 minutes to reap benefits of meditation, 3,5,7 minutes can create sacred, relaxed and healing opportunities for you.
I recommend starting with guided meditations that you can you tube and you can find ones that are 3,5, 7 minutes long. Once you feel confident with shorter intervals, try a longer guided meditation. From there begin to create your own meditation space with a nice timer, you can download apps that have soothing bells and singing bowl timer music instead of an obtrusive alarm timer. Set a timer for 5 minutes and sit somewhere quiet. Start by recognizing your breath, "I am inhaling, I am exhaling" to "inhale...exhale" if your thoughts begin to get in the way, recognize them and allow yourself not to start focusing on them, come back to your breath with counting. Inhale 12,3,4,5,6 hold, then exhale 1,2,3,4,5,6 hold with slow counts. Counting will help you focus on your breath since its really difficult to count and think about work at the same time!
Other tips, use a mantra word during your meditation inhale "love" exhale "hate" inhale "compassion" exhale "selfishness" inhale "confidence" exhale "doubt" etc. etc. there are plenty of ways to use a word as a tool to help absorb what you wish to achieve and release whatever negativity that is blocking you from that.
These are some beginning tips. I hope this helps!
Here are some reasons to meditate in case you aren't convinced you should try it again or try it all:
1. Increased immunity
2. Increased emotional balance
3. Reduces blood pressure
4. anti inflammatory
5. stress reducer
6. reduce anxiety and panic attacks
7. longevity
8. enlightenment
9. pain relief
10. manifesting dreams
and the list goes on and on. Do some research if you are still skeptical and let me know if you need any tips.
Self care, self love...start practicing that!