Hear my journey with Meditation and my tips on how to jumpstart yours.
Meditation can come in many shapes and it can look different to everyone. Stillness can seem daunting as we are often conditioned to always be moving. My relationship with meditation was not always roses, but it has helped my peace of mind in so many ways.
What are the benefits of Meditation?
It can help build skills to relieve stress
You can gain deeper self-awareness
Meditation helps you to stay in the now, being present
It can increase your patience
You can build a better relationship with stillness and silence
It can increase creativity and your imagination
These are just a few key benefits to keep in mind as you approach meditation.
I'll be sharing the tricks I used to build deeper into my practice, and hopefully they will help you too.
My Meditation Journey
The idea that I could sit still - not only with my own thoughts, but my eyes closed - used to seem so impossible. That took a certain amount of patience that I didn't think I had.
I had tried meditation in the past but could never make it past a couple minutes. It wasn't until my first yoga teacher training that I got more comfortable with stillness and silence.
By the end of my first 200 hour training, I was able to sit in meditation for up to two hours. TWO HOURS! That is mind-blowing compared to where I was at the start. Yoga helped me realize how important meditation is to help you get better tuned in to your mind. Now I welcome my morning meditations. They start my day off on the right foot.
Why is the silence of meditation so intimidating?
Because we are forced to spend time with our own thoughts.
Let's shift our perspective and view it as an opportunity to get to know ourselves, and our minds, better.
Tip #1 - Start. Small.
Your meditation practice does not appear overnight. I encourage students to start with one to two minutes of stillness. Maybe the eyes are not closed the first few times - you can start with focusing on staying in a comfortable seat first.
If closing your eyes does not feel comfortable to you, you can always start with gazing gently at the tip of your nose before you proceed with fully closed eyelids. Once you find that the one or two minutes gets easier - you can bump up to five to ten minutes and go from there. Each time you come to your meditative state, it could look different. So feel free to move as slow as you need in this journey.
As well as starting with a smaller time period - I encourage students to use music or sound to help get started. You do not always need to be in silence in meditation. Like I mentioned before, meditation can take whatever shape you need it to be.
"Quiet the mind and the soul will speak" – Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati
Tip #2 - Find a Focus.
I love to start my meditation with breath work. Focusing on your inhales and exhales helps to ground you to your practice. I always like to say if you find your mind starting to wonder to things that you may need to do after, or things that happened before, bring your focus back to your breath. Your breath will always mirror what your mind is feeling - so when we bring awareness to it, we can in turn, help slow the mind or relax into whatever sensations are arising.
Now, if the breath is challenging to focus - I invite you to set an intention or affirmation to focus on. A strong statement or Mantra would work just the same. It can be something simple or even just one word.
Here are few to start your practice off with:
Today I am.... (finish the sentence with a strong word to describe yourself) I am strong... I am capable.... I am motivated...
I am grateful for.... (think of up to three things/people/etc that you value)
List a few things you love about yourself. (More than just physical stuff here)
Today, I want to feel... (finish this with an emotion you want to carry with you through the day)
Tip #3 - Have Compassion.
Always remember to have grace and compassion with yourself. Like I mentioned earlier - each time you come to your practice, your meditation might look different. One day you could easily sit for ten minutes, the next you might only get through a minute or two. That is okay!!! Our journey will not always be a linear increase, sometimes it will wind up and down or even spiral. So accept yourself as you are in this moment when you meditate and you will find that it will get easier. Create a judgement free zone for you to explore the many, many layers of yourself and your mind.
Meditation is for everyone.
Don't be afraid to start today. Getting the opportunity to get to know yourself better will never not be a great idea. It will not always be easy, but always worth it. Wanting a couple audio meditations to start you off? Hop over to my youtube page under the Youtube tab to find some easy quick meditations. I would love to hear about your practice and connect, so feel free to reach out!
Namaste,
Analisia