When so many people think that meditation requires complete silence, totally emptying your mind of thoughts, and loads of time, it can be an overwhelming idea especially when you have never tried it before. Remember, everyone starts as a beginner and no one is expected to meditate like a monk whom has a lifetime of experience. The most important part of meditation is focusing on the present moment. This allows you to take a break from rehashing the past and worrying about the future. Removing these often negative thoughts, makes room for calm, for peace, even divine inspiration and/or spiritual communication.
Consider trying meditation with this intention in mind: focusing on the present moment with your mind, body and soul. With this goal, you will learn that meditation can be achieved in everyday life. Although, there are many forms of meditation, I’d like to share a few easy ways to meditate that don’t take a lot of time.
3 Fast & Easy Ways to Meditate:
- LISTEN – Spend 5-10 minutes listening to instrumental music, sounds of nature or even white noise from a sound machine. Sit however and wherever you feel most comfortable while you immerse yourself in the sound of your choosing. Pay close attention to how the sound affects your body. It could be how the sound waves feel as they move over body. Or it can be how the music influences how you move your body. Do not resist it but instead move with the energy of the sound. Recognize if this auditory stimulation brings up any emotions for you. Try to visualize how the sound would look if it were a color or a shape. Do you feel your spiritual energy rising? Becoming aware of the sound and how it affects your mind, your body, your soul helps you have a full and complete experience of the now, of the present.
- BREATHE – Take 5 minutes to breathe with intention and become mindful of your breath. Sit comfortably with one hand on your chest and one on your stomach. Inhale through your nose as you count to 4. Hold your breath for another count of 4. Then exhale through your mouth as you count to 8. This is often referred to the 4-4-8 breathing technique. During this breath-work meditation, become conscious of how the air feels as it moves through your nostrils. How does your body move as you take in your breath? Does your chest rise or your back expand? Is the air cold, warm, humid, dry? As you exhale, imagine yourself releasing the energy that is not worth holding onto. When you inhale, picture your body taking in light, positivity, and love. Holding your breath allows that love to stir around within you and knock loose any air or energy that is not serving your highest good. This practice does not require emptying your mind but instead, helps you understand the power you have over it.
- FOCUS – Find an object or an image you enjoy looking at. It can be a crystal, a piece of jewelry, an artwork, or a picture. You could choose a place in nature to focus on, whether is a river, a tree in your backyard or raindrops on your window. Take 5 minutes to study that image. If there is movement, how does it move? If there is color, what color make up that image or object. What shape does it have? What feelings does it invoke? Analyze it’s angles and curves. Are there sounds involved? If it’s an object, how heavy is it? Does it have temperature? How does it influence what is around it? Really pay attention to every aspect of what it is you are gazing upon. Then realize that in those 5 minutes, you did not worry. You did not stress. You were living in the moment. At peace, with calmness using your mind, your body and your soul to connect and make room for this moment.
When you meditate, you are not thinking of what has happened in your past that has caused you heartache, upset or pain. In this time of mediation, you are not stressing about the future. Instead, you have cleared out worry over that which you have no control over, the past and the future. Instead, you took 5-10 minutes to make room for positivity, for joy, for the divine to inspire you. With practice, you will learn to become more open during mediation. Over time, you will find that you will step away from these experiences feeling lighter, brighter, hopeful and uplifted.