I’ve read so much about the benefits of meditation that I knew it was something that I absolutely had to try. Research studies have shown that meditation improves your health, decreases stress and anxiety, improves your productivity, and increases your capability for self regulation. (see Psychology Today article, 2013)
Those all sounded like great reasons to start meditating, but I had no idea where to begin. After much research and talking to friends that already practiced, I was able to figure it out. I’ve found it really has helped reduce stress. Here are some tips that I learned to get me started that I hope will help you as well.
Find An App
For someone like me who had no idea where to start, apps are a perfect way to get into it. They have lists of guided meditations on reducing anxiety, practicing gratitude, etc. that tell you exactly what to do. I have tried out 3 different apps, Headspace, Calm and Insight Timer. I really liked the look of Calm, and thought their free guided meditations were good, but there aren’t a lot of free options. A lot of those meditations required you to pay a subscription rate. I have found that there are the most free guided meditations on Insight, and have been happy with the ones that I have tried. Here are a few of my favorites: Positive Thinking Meditation, Relieving Anxiety – Feeling Grounded, and Law of Attraction and Abundance.
Sit in a Comfortable Position
You don’t have to sit in a yoga position, on the floor, legs crossed, back poker- straight. When I started that way, I found that the whole time I was trying to meditate, I was concentrating on how uncomfortable I was. Instead, I now sit in a comfy chair in my bedroom, in the semi-dark, and have found that to be the most relaxing and best way for me to focus my attention.
Meditate in the Morning
When I first started, I thought that I would meditate after I got home from work. That is when I am most stressed, after all! I thought that would help me relax and be more present with my family. But life happens and I would get home from work late and need to make dinner, or we would have an activity to go to, and I found that when I waited until after work, I skipped a lot of days. Meditating is like anything else, you have to do it consistently for it to work. Which brings me to next point.
Meditate Everyday
This is very important. Just like you can’t diet some days and lose weight, or exercise sometimes and build stamina, you have to meditate everyday to feel the best effects. Everything I have read says to work your way up to 20 minutes per day. Some even suggest twice a day, but I have found positive effects by doing it once a day and started to really feel the effect after around 7 days.
Be Patient with Yourself
Meditating is not easy at first and some days it is harder than others. I thought turning off my mind and relaxing was going to be a cinch but what I found was that my mind kept returning to a problem I was worried about or what I things I had to get done that day. It is not easy to completely dismiss your thoughts, but I’ve found that the whole idea of meditation is to become mentally strong so that you can control your mind. This can then help you when things get tough during the day. So when you feel your thoughts wander during meditation, it is important to be kind to yourself and gently let those thoughts go. Some of the guided meditations will ask you to think of those thoughts as a bubble and watch them float away.
Although still a beginner, meditation has already helped me reduce stress and given me techniques to train my mind to let things go and have more peace in my day. As I become better at this, I want to try meditating without the help of guided meditations. I feel that this will show improvement in how well I am able to focus and separate myself from stressful situations.
I hope you will give meditation a try and let me know how it goes. If you are already practicing and have any helpful suggestions, please leave them in the comment section below. We are all better together!
Thanks for reading this post. Until next time!
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These are very helpful tips. I already tried to meditate but I am struggling with doing it consistently.
I know what you mean! It takes practice, but it’s hard to get in the habit. That is why I started doing it in the morning. That has helped me. Good luck!