Ever try to meditate but gave up because you felt you just couldn’t do it? Maybe you
were expecting that you had to stop all your thoughts before you were doing it “right”?
Well, meditation, like many things, takes practice. And you don’t necessarily have to stop all thought to get the benefits.
When I first started meditating about 50 years ago, my mind was full of thoughts or persistent chatter. It still is if I haven’t been consistent. And sometimes it takes several minutes before I feel my mind or body calm down.
Listening to environmental sounds while lying down (with the only sound products available at the time -- vinyl records or cassette tapes) helped me make the transformation into feeling like I was actually meditating.
I also took a class in meditating and noticed that every night we had class, I would need less sleep. (I usually slept 9 or 10 hours in those days.)
Then I became aware that answers to my “every day” or more philosophical questions were being answered. Not during meditation, but the answers would come to me when I would go about my daily routine.
It’s amazing how when you quiet your mind and open yourself up to finding solutions or a better direction in life, you are guided to where you need to go or what you need to do.
Here are some tips to help you get into a meditative state:
1. Maybe start by lying down or sitting up and listening to environmental sounds,
relaxing music without lyrics, or sound bowls. All these are easily available on the
internet.
2. Focus on one thing, like your breathing -- your rib movement, your belly
expanding, the air flowing in and out of your nose. Or find an uplifting/calming
word or two to repeat.
3. Don’t feel like you have to meditate 20 minutes at a time to do it “right.”
4. Improvement usually happens over time but not necessarily each time. Some
days are easier than others.
5. Do practice, even if it doesn’t feel like you’re meditating. Keep going. Maybe just
focus on breathing for a minute or two at a time.
6. Partner up with someone else who is already meditating or just starting, so you
can help each other be consistent.
Meditation has many benefits that are worth the practice. It helps you calm down, feel
peaceful, release tension, relax, and cope with stress easier. And you may find the
answers to your big (or not so big) questions.
For more tips to help you focus, center, and calm, read my blogs at
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