9 Tips To Help You Meditate
The benefits of meditation are multiple, among which are an improvement in the quality of life and an increase in general well-being. That is why it has become a highly recommended practice by health professionals. If you want to make it part of your life, read the following tips to help you meditate and enjoy its effects.
Broadly speaking, meditation consists of training the mind to achieve a state of peace and tranquility. This ability is not achieved immediately, as it requires patience and perseverance. However, once achieved, it is possible to feel genuine happiness as a product of inner calm.
If you want to undertake this training and make the most of its results, here are some tips that will help you meditate and make meditation a habit.
1. Make yourself comfortable
Before starting, make sure you wear comfortable clothing (preferably loose-fitting) and avoid having accessories that may be annoying, such as watches or bracelets. Also, try to be barefoot.
2. Choose a convenient time
Pick a time when you know that you will be free from busyness and interruptions. Use it for meditation and try to stick to it until it becomes a routine. An important feature of this activity is continuity. If you want deep and lasting changes, it is recommended to meditate regularly.
If you meditate discontinuously, you run the risk of reverting to old habits or being influenced by negative emotions, without the possibility of turning to meditation as a source of support.
3. Get in a quiet place
When starting this practice, it is best to meditate in a quiet place free from interruptions. Identify which place in your home is the most suitable for this activity. You can also move to a place that encourages serenity. The objective is to facilitate self-observation and involvement in the activity.
4. Sit correctly
Physical posture is a very important aspect when meditating, as it influences the mental state. Ideally, keep your back straight, while your shoulders and arms are relaxed. You must strive for a balance between relaxation and stiffness.
That is, avoid a too relaxed posture, as you will run the risk of falling into drowsiness; Also, do not adopt a very tense position, since it will cause a state of mental agitation.
Meditation guides usually provide detailed information about the posture, indicating step by step how to position each part of the body. The most popular positions are: sitting cross-legged, in a chair with your feet touching the floor, or on a cushion. The idea is to choose the one that gives you the most comfort and suits your needs.
5. Do some warm-up exercises
Among the tips that will help you meditate is to warm up beforehand. This helps you feel more comfortable during meditation.
You can do some yoga poses or stretching exercises for your neck, arms, and back. Thus, you promote good circulation and relax the body.
6. Focus on one object
One way to promote concentration and mental serenity is by focusing on an object. This can be the swaying of your breath, your own physical sensations, or a previously seen image.
Ideally, let the mind stay focused on that object and, in the event of a distraction, refocus on it as soon as you have noticed that you have been distracted.
7. View
Another way to work with the mind, while meditating, is to visualize anything, for example colors, yourself in another place, a path, a deity. This mental exercise is ideal for people who have an active imagination and who enjoy daydreaming.
8. Accept the thoughts that arise and keep flowing
The purpose of meditation is not to modify or suppress thoughts, sensations, and feelings. On the contrary, the objective of this activity is to learn and live with them. In other words, from acceptance arises the feeling of well-being and tranquility.
That is why during meditation you must observe the thought, without stopping; the feeling is looked at, without being carried away by it and any mental, sensory, physiological or behavioral content is observed passively. That is, without issuing criticism or establishing any conclusion.
That said, as these mental contents emerge, the ideal is to observe them, accept them and let them go. The way to move on is to refocus on that object or visualization you had in mind.
9. Increase the meditation time progressively
At the beginning, the ideal would be to meditate for short periods and, as you progress, increase the time of the activity. For example, you can start by doing sessions of short minutes and then gradually increase the practice time (until you reach 30 minutes a day or more). This will facilitate the establishment of the routine and the adaptation to it.
Additional recommendations to the tips that will help you meditate
The above tips will certainly help you meditate. If you take them into account, it is very likely that you will acquire the habit without major problems. Additionally, we recommend the following:
- Have a Guide – Ideally, have a spiritual teacher who has experience and knowledge of the art of meditation. If you cannot access someone like that, it is also valid to go to books or texts, which have been created to instruct and accompany people in this experience.
- Be persistent : meditate continuously, on a daily basis. Although it is not always an easy task, it is common for resistance to appear, both external (work, homework, travel) and internal (fatigue, lack of courage). The advisable thing is to overcome all these obstacles and always try to do the practice.
- Meditate regardless of your state of mind : the continuity of meditation should not depend on your state of mind at the moment. It is indifferent whether the practice is pleasant or not; what matters is to persevere.
- Avoid setting dates : it is common to want to perceive the benefits of meditation as soon as possible, however, impatience is discouraged. Haste and meditation go in opposite directions. If you want a deep transformation, then you must take your time.
