meditation

This will seem ridiculously easy, to just meditate for two minutes. Start with just two minutes a day for a week. If that goes well, increase by another two minutes and do that for a week. If all goes well, by increasing just a little at a time, you’ll be meditating for 10 minutes a day in the 2nd month, which is amazing!  

Most people worry about where to sit, how to sit, what cushion to use … this is all nice, but it’s not that important to get started. Start just by sitting somewhere comfortable with your arms placed on your lap or on the arms of your chair. If you’d rather lay down, make sure your neck and knees are properly supported. If you're cold-natured, grab a blanket for good measure. Keep in mind, it’s just for two minutes, so just sit.  

Gently close your eyes. Do not squinch. Bring your attention to your facial muscles, jaw, and tongue. Yawn REALLY BIG to stretch out your lips and mouth. Mindfully keep these areas soft. Next drop your shoulders away from your ears. Feel how good this is to not hold your shoulders so taut. And finally. imagine a string coming out of the top of your head - holding your neck and spine straight.  

Now that you’re settled in, turn your attention to your breath. Just place the attention on your breath as it comes in, and follow it through your nose all the way down to your lungs and your belly. Bring your awareness to your belly expanding and how this feels. Then effortlessly allow this breath go. Feel your belly soften. Continue following this cycle of breath in/out with awareness to the sensation of breath moving through your body. 

Thousands of years ago, the Buddha discussed this mental state, saying: “Just as a monkey swinging through the trees grabs one branch and lets it go only to seize another, so too, that which is called thought, mind or consciousness arises and disappears continually both day and night.” 

In other words, your attention is like a monkey. Every day, your mind produces thousands of different thoughts. So your attention struggles to remain in one place. Instead, it swings from branch to branch (thought to thought). 

Your mind will wander. When this happens, you don't have to try to tame the monkey. Simply go back to your breath. Feel it coming into your body, follow it with your awareness, and then follow it back out of the body. Or you can count your breaths in and out. Either way, you're giving the monkey something to do. 

When you notice thoughts and feelings arising during meditation (as they will), offer yourself grace. You are learning something new. Be proud of this! There is no room for judgement. This is a compassionate exercise. Be kind and not harsh. 

You will worry you’re doing it wrong. That’s OK, we all do. You’re not doing it wrong. There’s no perfect way to do it, just be happy you’re doing it. 

Lots of people think meditation is about clearing your mind, or stopping all thoughts. It’s not. This can sometimes happen, but it’s not the “goal” of meditation. If you have thoughts, that’s normal. We all do. Our brains are thought factories, and we can’t just shut them down. Instead, just try to practice focusing your attention, and practice some more when your mind wanders. 

When thoughts or feelings arise, and they will, you might try staying with them awhile. Yes, I know I said to return to the breath, but after you practice that for a week, you might also try staying with a thought or feeling that arises. We tend to want to avoid feelings like frustration, anger, anxiety … but an amazingly useful meditation practice is to stay with the feeling for awhile. Just stay, and be curious. 

This practice isn’t just about focusing your attention, it’s about learning how your mind works. What’s going on inside there? It’s murky, As you get to know yourself, do it with compassion and grace instead of one of criticism.  

Another thing you can do, once you become a little better at following your breath, is focus your attention on one body part at a time. Start at the soles of your feet – how do those feel? Slowly move to your toes, the tops of your feet, your ankles, all the way to the top of your head. 

Don’t just say, “Sure, I’ll try this for a couple days.” Really commit yourself to this. In your mind, be locked in, for at least 2 months. Meditating 2 minutes a day for 60 days is 20 hours of dedicated practice. Good for you! You got this. 

If it helps, you can try following guided meditations to start with. I have several guided meditations in my library on this site. Hopefully, you will find them helpful. Most important is to find someone whose voice you connect with and you like. It's nearly impossible to listen to a guided meditation if someone's voice gets on your nerves. 

While I like meditating alone, you can do it with your spouse or child or a friend. Or just make a commitment with a friend to check in every morning after meditation. A buddy system often helps us remain accountable and will help you stick with it for longer. 

Locate a group of people who are meditating and join them. This might be a local group near you at a yoga studio or wellness center. Look on Facebook to see if there are any groups where you could go and meditate with them. Or find a virtual group online. I have a virtual group online every Wednesday at 7 pm. You are welcome to join!  

Mindfulness meditation involves intentionally paying attention to the present moment without judgment, cultivating a sense of awareness and acceptance. 

Numerous studies have shown that regular meditation practice can significantly reduce stress levels. By focusing on the present rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, individuals can experience a greater sense of calm and relaxation. 

Mindfulness-based stress reduction programs have been particularly effective in reducing symptoms of anxiety and improving overall wellbeing.   

Anxiety and depression are two of the most common mental health disorders worldwide. Mindfulness meditation has been shown to be an effective complementary therapy in managing these conditions. 

By practicing mindfulness, individuals can develop greater self-awareness and learn to observe their thoughts and emotions without getting caught up in them. 

This non-judgmental approach can help break the cycle of negative thinking, reduce rumination, and improve emotional regulation. As a result, individuals may experience a decrease in anxiety symptoms and depressive episodes.  

Some forms of meditation can lead to improved self-image and a more positive outlook on life. Treatments given to more than 3,500 adults found that mindfulness meditation improved symptoms of depression. 

Some forms of meditation may help you develop a stronger understanding of yourself, helping you grow into your best self by teaching you to recognize harmful or self-defeating thoughts. The idea is that as you gain greater awareness of your thought habits, you can steer them toward more constructive patterns. 

Focused attention meditation is like weightlifting for your attention span. It helps increase your attention span’s strength and endurance. Those who listened to a meditation tape experienced improved attention and accuracy while completing a task, compared with those in a control group. 

Improvements in attention and clarity of thinking may help keep your mind young. Meditations that combine a mantra or chant with repetitive finger motions to focus your thoughts has shown it improves performance on neuropsychological tests in people with age-related memory loss. 

Metta meditation, a type of meditation also known as loving-kindness meditation, begins with developing kind thoughts and feelings toward yourself. 

Through practice, people learn to extend this kindness and forgiveness externally, first to friends, then acquaintances, and ultimately enemies. 

Mindfulness meditation has shown promising results in improving sleep quality and reducing insomnia symptoms. By practicing mindfulness before bed, individuals can calm their minds and create a more conducive environment for sleep. 

Mindfulness-based interventions have been found to enhance sleep duration, reduce sleep disturbances and improve overall sleep quality. 

Mindfulness meditation offers a holistic approach to mental health and wellbeing. By incorporating this practice into daily life, individuals can reduce stress, manage anxiety and depression, enhance cognitive function, and improve sleep quality. 

While it may not be a standalone solution for everyone, mindfulness meditation can serve as a valuable tool in the broader context of mental health care. As more research continues to support its effectiveness, mindfulness meditation is increasingly being integrated into therapeutic settings, giving individuals the power to take an active role in their mental health journey. 

In addition to its impact on emotional wellbeing, mindfulness meditation has been found to enhance cognitive function. Regular practice can improve attention and concentration, enhance working memory, and increase cognitive flexibility. 

These cognitive benefits can be particularly valuable for individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or other conditions associated with cognitive difficulties.  

Meditation can also improve physical health by reducing strain on the heart. Over time, high blood pressure makes the heart work harder to pump blood, leading to poor heart function. High blood pressure also contributes to atherosclerosis, or a narrowing of the arteries, which can lead to heart attack and stroke. 

Some research suggests that incorporating meditation into your routine could be beneficial for controlling/reducing pain, improving quality of life, and decreasing symptoms of depression in people with chronic pain. 

The mental discipline you can develop through meditation may help you break dependencies by increasing your self-control and awareness of triggers for addictive behaviors. Meditation may also help you control food cravings by reducing emotional stress and binge eating. 

People practice many different forms of meditation, most of which don’t require specialized equipment or space. You can practice with just a few minutes daily. 

Find a comfortable spot where you can sit. You can sit on the floor (using a pillow or cushion for support if needed) or sit upright in a chair, with your feet resting on the floor.

You can also lie on your back, so long as your neck and knees are properly supported. Some people recommend that you do not lie down on your back, but I think you should meditate in whatever pose works for you {unless lying down makes you fall asleep!} 

I love Jon Kabat-Zinn’s description of the ideal meditation posture as one that “embodies dignity and wakefulness.” You want to be upright, but not rigid and tight (upright, NOT uptight! 😉)

The easiest meditation technique is to count the breath. I count each in-breath and out-breath with the same number. So my mind focuses on “One” {in-breath}, “One” {out-breath}, “Two” {in-breath}, “Two” {out-breath}, and so on. If you don’t like counting, you can simply repeat to yourself “in, out…. in, out…”

When your mind wanders ~ which it WILL DO {that’s what the mind does!} ~ gently guide your attention back to your breath. If you need to start over counting because you don’t remember where you left off, that’s fine! The key is to not criticize or judge yourself for letting your attention wander. 

In fact …noticing that your mind has wandered is the whole point of meditation ~ you are becoming more aware of the actions of your mind!

Even the relatively simple instruction to “follow the breath” can sound a bit vague or confusing. A helpful technique is to bring your attention to where you most notice the sensation of the breath — in the chest and lungs? the nose? the belly? That is your anchor. 

Each time your mind wanders, come back to the physical sensations of breathing.

Getting lost in thought, noticing it, and returning to your chosen meditation object— breath, sound, body sensation, or something else—is how it’s done. That’s about it. If you’re doing that, you’re doing it right! 

When you’re getting into meditation, it’s easy to get psyched out if you begin by imagining that an ocean lies between you and the goal you’ve set for yourself: reduced stress, better relationships, more focus, world peace. 

Decide how big the “pool” of breaths you want to move within should be. This will change over time, and be different for everyone. It may start as five minutes a day, three times a week. Or ten minutes a day, five times per week. 

While more practice is inevitably going to result in more depth, setting aside an amount of time that seems reasonable is essential to building your confidence so you don’t become frustrated, resulting in mindfulness becoming the fad toy that ends up on the shelf once it loses its newness. With greater confidence comes a greater willingness to pledge more and more minutes to practice. 

Being mindful means you’re aware of what’s going on in your body. You’re aware if you have resistance to a particular mantra you are meditating on. 

For example, I once felt such a block to the mantra "I am enough". This really surprised me, as I hadn't consciously picked up on this in my waking life. I was having an emotional reaction to this. I became very aware of the thoughts going through my mind. 

I chose to sit with these emotions, truly "feel" them, and not judge myself for it.

If you find yourself consistently falling asleep during meditation, you may not be getting enough sleep. Meditation is important. But sleep is also important.
Sleepiness is a common experience for meditators, and it can happen even when you’re pretty adequately rested. So, let’s say you’re sitting in meditation and your head starts nodding and bobbing. The moment you become aware of it you can begin to work with it. 

What sensations are you aware of? You can also try widening your lens of attention from your sensation of breath to whole body awareness. Widen even more to include sound—in the room and outside of the room. If none of this works, stop practicing altogether and take a mini-nap.

And while getting your butt onto a cushion or a chair to meditate is a notable achievement in and of itself, it’s highly likely you’ll find even greater satisfaction if you’re sitting there when you’re already feeling alert. Right before bed may not be the right time for you to meditate, unless you’re using the practice as a way to wind down and slide into sleepiness. 

Yes, you can scratch an itch while meditating. Meditation can help you notice what's happening, so you can decide what to respond to. When you want to scratch an itch, you can try to make your response a choice instead of a reaction. You can notice the urge to scratch, and then notice that you have a choice. You can observe the itch, or you can decide to scratch it.   

Meditators know that trying to stop thought is like trying to stop a steamroller with a feather. One study shows we are lost in thought almost 50% of our waking hours! Trying to control every thought encourages you to fixate on your favorite thoughts and discard, ignore, or suppress your less enjoyable thoughts. That kind of mental wrestling match is taxing—and those thoughts we’re pushing away are busily working in the basement to come up and bug you as soon as the door is pried open—so it’s no wonder we might think a BRAIN TOTALLY CLEARED OF THOUGHTS would be desirable.

In meditation, we’re making a gentle effort to maintain focus on a particular object such as the breath as a support or anchor for the wandering mind. Each time the mind wanders—as it most assuredly will—as soon as you notice, you actively, kindly, disengage from the thought and return to the breath.
No need to judge ourselves for thinking. It’s all part of practice. Each time we notice we have engaged a thought and we release it and return to the breath, we strengthen the muscle of concentration and focus. 

In this way, you gradually steady the mind, and each time you notice the thought and let it move on, you learn a little bit more about the workings of your mind, and the relentless voice in your head is slightly more tamed. 

Add an ans Most experts recommend allowing your body to breathe naturally, whether it's fast or slow, deep or shallow. You can focus on the natural sensations of breathing in and out, and don't try to control your breath. If you notice thoughts, you can gently bring your attention back to your breath.  wer to this item. 

When you find yourself asking that question, your meditation has officially begun. Everyone wonders that. It probably means you're just trying too hard to control the mind. 

Meditation isn't mind control, magic, or a superpower … even if we wish it were. It's a practice that teaches us to be comfortable with our mind just as it is.
Escort your attention back to your object of focus. When you’re lost and questioning again, come back again. There’s no limit to the number of times you can do that. Meditating is not a race to perfection.  

Both are great! It’s enormously supportive to meditate with others. And, practicing on your own builds discipline.  

Meditation can help enhance sexual energy by grounding and calming the body through breathing. It can also help balance emotions and heal insecurities, which can be important components of orgasm. 

It is absolutely normal to be sexually aroused, these activities help to release happy hormones (in layman’s term) which is significantly similar to post sexual activity. The moment when you take yourself out of your worldly responsibilities and focus on your mind-body-soul, you will listen to your body which tells to stay happy. :)  

Sit in a way that is comfortable and supportive. A chair is absolutely fine! Here are the basics… Sit upright with a straight - but not stiff spine. Relaxed and at ease yet engaged and alert. 

Walking, standing, and lying down are also ways to practice, though lying down can be sleep-inducing. What matters most is the quality of awareness you bring to whatever practice you choose.
It helps if you can set up a spot within your home that will be yours for the duration of your daily practice.