Meditation: A Beginner's Guide
You may often hear from people that you should meditate or perhaps you read up on articles on how beneficial meditation is for your health, so you set a timer, plop yourself on the floor, criss-cross applesauce, palms resting on your knees and facing the heavens, and close your eyes. After couple minutes of being uncomfortable, you can't wait for that timer to go off so you can get to all the things that you need to get done today. Finally, the timer goes off and off you go! You do the same next day, as you force yourself in hopes of feeling better. You couldn't do it the third day because you were "too busy," and by the fourth day, you completely forgot about it! Sounds familiar? Meditation should never feel like torture. You should feel calmer and energized, not antsy and frustrated. Meditation is not something you will "master" it overnight either. It will take your patience but when you begin to get the hang of it, it does get addicting.
Some may say that there are "proper" ways to meditate and certain body and hand postures that must be in place to call it "meditation." In no means, I am saying that is wrong, and if that works for you, that's great! But it doesn't have to be that way. There are a million ways to meditate but how ever you meditate, it's about staying in the present moment.
Our minds these days are constantly thinking and stimulated, over-stimulated perhaps. Meditation is there to de-clutter your overactive brain from past regrets and future worries, and placing your brain to focus on the constant fleeting present moment. By being in this present moment, only then, can you manifest your heart's desire in your future; the past, it doesn't matter. What is done is done but know that those regrets and experiences are what has shaped you, in this present moment, right here, right now.
The meditations I am going to introduce to you today requires you to sit down and be still.
Remember, meditation is your own personal journey. It's not about who is able to sit down longer and be still. Adjust and find your own way that works for you! So sit down in a comfortable position and relax your body and mind.
Guided Meditations
The first type of meditation that I love are called guided meditations. As the name implies, this meditation is guided, meaning someone is there, talking and guiding you to focus on the words, rather than sitting in a quiet room, allowing your mind to wander. There are numerous kinds of guided meditations with varying lengths online so look around and find one what fits for you! So for starters, I have chosen a 5 minute meditation for you by Deepak Chopra. JUST FIVE MINUTES of the entire day.
First thing when you wake up, play it. It will be life-changing.
For those who say that you don't even have 5 minutes to spare out of the ENTIRE DAY, I have a ONE MINUTE guided meditation by Farzana Jaffer Jeraj for you! Now you have no exceptions, what-so-ever! Worst case scenario, just stay in the bathroom for one minute longer! HA!
Candle Meditations
Once you begin to get the hang of the feeling of meditation, keep doing as many guided meditation as you like, but I want to introduce you to a different kind of meditation, called candle meditation. Yes, you will need a candle and any sort of a lighting agent such as a lighter, match, etc. Basically, you light the candle and observe. It helps when you darken the room, so you are less distracted by the things around you. Make sure you are breathing but don't blow out the flames! It will teach you to control your breath to more of a calmer yet deeper breathing technique and now having the flame as the point of your focus.
Sit Down Meditations
Lastly, the real deal! Dun-dun-duuuuuun! Sitting down either on the ground or in a chair, closing your eyes, and focusing on your breath, in silence. Many people might think that meditation is all about not thinking anything for the duration but that is not necessarily true. You will have every day thoughts that enter through your mind during meditation. And that's OK. Just don't get too caught up on the drama of the thoughts and let it go. Imagine a river (where littering is permitted) and begin dumping those thoughts that enter your mind. Your mind is MADE to think, so don't ever beat up on yourself when you catch yourself thinking. Instead, bring your focus on your breathing, in from your nostrils and out from your mouth and pay attention to the emotions and the sensations that you experience during your time of meditation.
Surely, it's not a must to do this silent meditation and whether you listen to guided meditations or do candle meditations or any other kind of meditations, it is completely your choice. However, the reason I wanted to introduce you to this sit down meditation is because I think (coming purely from my own point of view) there is something really nice about sitting in silence. It may feel uncomfortable and weird at first but really, when do you consciously take your time out of your busy day, constantly on your smart phone, checking emails, listening to the radio, watching TV, etc., and give yourself a good-feeling couple minutes of break? And ALL that information?!?! Where does it go? It ends up in your head! Ever experience those times when you're just too tired to think about thinking?
It's never too late to begin meditating. The more you are busy, the more you need to meditate. Sounds a bit counterintuitive and many might say, "You're telling me to sit in silence and do nothing when I have a BAJILLION things to do?" and I say, "YES!" I want you just imagine during that duration of however-long you meditate that EVERY. SINGLE. THING. is going exactly the way you want and all the things you have to do dissipates, and embrace that feeling of love and support from the Universe. (Don't worry, I can promise you that you WILL NOT forget all the things you have to do when you come out of the meditation. Trust me.) When you meditate, you align yourself with who you truly are, the unconditional love and light that is you, and not the "you" that you trained yourself to become through "your" life experiences.
As I wrap up this blog post, I wanted to introduce you to an amazing app called an Insight Timer and it is THE meditation app that you definitely want to get, regardless if you have just begun meditation today or you've been meditating for the past 100 years. (FYI: I am in NO WAY endorsed by this company to advertise!) There are 5,300 free guided meditations by 1,200 meditation teachers, as well as 850 free music mediation tracks! And to top it off, it comes with a meditation timer! How cool is that! As you utilize the app, you can track your progress and earn milestones as you meditate more and more! It's basically the social media of meditation! There are simply too many awesome aspects of this app that I can go on and on! It is best that you go and download this app on your mobile devices, available at both Android and iOS stores, and experience it yourself! Meditate away!
Today, I leave you with not a song but a guided meditation. But not just an ordinary guided meditation. It is a guided meditation by Jason Headley, and well, you get the idea from looking at the video thumbnail below! Try not to laugh every 2 seconds! (⚠️ WARNING: Not for those easily offended by cuss words!) Enjoy! 😉
What kind of meditation has worked for you? Have a favorite guided meditation you listen to it everyday? Comment below and share with us!
Keep flying high!