Have you always wanted to meditate, but you don’t know where to start? Or have you started, but you don’t know if you’re doing it right? In this blog post I would like to share my best tips with you that will help you easily start meditating.
You know what’s right for you!
First let me start by saying that I don’t think you can do it wrong. If it feels good for you, than it’s right! You’re the only one who can feel and know if something is the right thing for you to do!
I remember years ago, trying to be quiet, sitting up strait… And my back hurt when I was in that position. Still I stayed like that, because hey, that’s what I was told I should do. By someone on a meditation cd, or in a book that was supposed to teach me how to meditate. You can imagine that with this pain, it was really hard, or even impossible, for me to meditate. I’ve found that meditation is much easier when I’m in a comfortable position. So when I meditate, I make myself comfortable. It helps me to relax and go deeper in the meditation. Whatever meditation I choose to do.
Choose your meditation
If you’re completely new to meditation, you might want to try different kinds of meditation to find out what you like most. Maybe the first one you try is really your thing and you don’t want to look any further. That’s great! Maybe you have to try many different ones to find what you love. There are many different sorts of meditation and many different guided meditations. I’m sure there will be something for you too! So don’t give up!
Here are a couple of different meditation types you can choose from:
Guided meditations – There are many different guided meditations. It means you’re listening to someone who is guiding you into your relaxation. Some meditations go deeper with visualizations. Listening to someone’s voice can help you let go of your thoughts, because you’re focusing on something else. There are short guided meditations and long ones. Youtube is a wonderful tool to find meditations. You can also check out my blog post My favorite meditations where I share my favorites.
Mantra meditations – Listening to a mantra also helps you focus on something else. Instead of listening to a mantra you can repeat the mantra in your head. It’s something Oprah and Deepak use in their 21 day meditation challenges. You might as well make your own mantra’s, like “I am confident” or “I feel relaxed”. You can use anything that you comes up that feels good for you.
Walking meditation – Go outside and make a walk. Focus on your feet touching the ground, or focus on your breathing. Look around and notice all the beauty there is. You can also do this when you’re going somewhere, so no more excuses that you don’t have the time!
Listen to calming music – Put on some relaxing music and just sit and listen. Make yourself comfortable and feel what the music does for you. How does it make you feel? My favorites for this are River flows in you by Yiruma and Passagio by Ludovico Einaudi.
Sitting in silence – Find a comfortable position, close your eyes, and be quiet. If you still have thoughts… that’s normal! We have 50.000 thoughts a day, so how are you going to stop them all? To be honest: I don’t know if that’s even possible! What you can do, is observe your thoughts. Just let them pass by. You don’t have to give them any attention. The longer you sit, the more quiet you’ll feel. But of course you can start with 5 minutes if that makes it easier for you to start!
Better not perfect than not done
When you’re starting meditation you’ll probably want to do it all right: the right length, the right meditation, etc. But it doesn’t have to be perfect! You can do it your imperfect way. As long as it feels good for you. As long as you feel that you relax. As long as you enjoy it! And please remember: better not perfect than not done.
Find a moment for yourself
You just have to find a moment for yourself. I’m sure you can find 10 minutes somewhere during your day. You can go to your bedroom, or you can find some time when your kids are sleeping. And if your kids don’t leave you alone, why not meditate with them? They might even find it interesting! Maybe it’ll calm them to see you relax. Or you can choose a kids meditation to listen to, so it’ll be fun for them as well!
In short these are the 4 steps to meditation:
1. Choose your meditation
2. Choose your moment
3. Make sure that you’re comfortable
4. Meditate 😀
That’s it! It’s easy, right? Please let me know how you’re doing! And if you have any questions, please come over to my Facebook group for busy moms and ask them! I’d love to see you there!