This month we’ll be offering ideas to inspire your best year ever in 2018. We won’t be calling these resolutions, they are goals. And as such can be implemented, tracked and the success can be quantified.
One of the first goals that I would highly recommend you implement in 2018 is to meditate daily. Meditating is one of the most powerful things I’ve ever learned to do.
Amazingly, it’s also simple, it can be done anywhere, anytime and you’ll experience immediate results. How many things can you say that about?
Meditating can be as simple as paying attention to your breath while sitting in your car or at your desk, or even while you walk or run. Even if you only have two minutes to focus in, you’ll still see measurable results.
Why Meditate?
For starters you will:
- Relieve stress and relax for a minute.
- See tangible results in the rest of your day.
- Begin to be more present in the moments of your life.
- Improve your focus, happiness, memory, performance and more.
- Help your heart and other physiological systems.
- Become more self-awareness which may help you be more confident and assured.
Most simply, just sitting and breathing for a few minutes will bring you calm and peace that we rarely find these days.
How to Start?
Your concern is not to find the perfect form of meditation. There are many ways to do this. Your goal is to form the daily habit of meditation.
I would recommend starting simple to get the habit rolling.
- Two minutes a day. Simply commit to two minutes of focus per day. This could be in the shower, your car, your desk or a chair in your living room. Where ever it is, stick with that place and the goal of two minutes. You may find some days this is very difficult and some days you’re there for 15 minutes. Great, as long as you stick to the minimum two minutes.
- Stick with a time of day. You can be general about this, like lunch time or morning. Then add something you do already to start the process. Example-my time of day is morning and I meditate after I get my coffee.
- Try to find a quiet place. If you’re at home and have a crazy house like I do-7 kids, then mornings before everyone is up is about the only chance you might have. But if you can’t commit to waking up earlier, maybe you can go to your car on lunch or meditate before bed, or in the shower.
- Be comfortable. you don’t need to sit in some specific way. I personally sit in a chair, feet on the floor. A few others I know, sit cross-legged on the floor or a pillow. Whatever is comfortable for you stick with that.
- Just stick with 2 minutes. This is important. From time to time you may be able to stay for longer sometimes not, that’s ok. All we’re trying to do is create a habit. And to do that, we want to start with just two minutes. Remember, you can always expand from there, don’t rush it.
- Just breathe. Breathe in through your nose deeply and slowly. Be aware of the breath filling your lungs. As you breathe out, follow your breath out. If it helps, count Breathe in for a five count, hold for a five count, breathe out for a five count, and hold for a five count. Or simplify by counting each breath in and out. Count backward from 10 to 1. When you get to 1, pause and reflect.
And that’s it. Simplicity in meditation. Do you think you can commit to two minutes a day in order to obtain hours of focus and intensity?
Originally published at thehumblegents.com