Guest post by Rebecca Muir
What if there was an all-natural vitamin that did all the following:
• minimized your stress and anxiety
• strengthened your emotional health and self-awareness
• lengthened your attention span
• reduced age-related memory loss
• enhanced feelings of kindness
• helped fight food cravings
• improved your sleep
• lessened your pain
• decreased blood pressure
Would you be interested in taking this vitamin? The good news is that you can get all these benefits without even taking a pill. The “bad” news? You’re going to have to meditate each day. If this sounds overwhelming, don’t worry! I have seven tips for cultivating a daily meditation habit to get you going.
What is Meditation?
Meditation originated in India, but it has been incorporated into countless cultures and spiritual practices around the world over time. Although meditation can be utilized in the pursuit of spiritual growth, the many physical and mental health benefits it facilitates make meditation appropriate for secular pursuits, as well. Whether you are a seasoned pro who may have lapsed in your daily practice or a meditation novice who doesn’t know where to begin, here are some helpful tips for incorporating this beneficial practice into your daily routine and learning how to meditate daily.
1.Purpose
Before setting out to incorporate this healthy habit, take a moment to define your reasons and intentions behind developing a daily meditation practice. Maybe your purpose is mainly to relieve anxiety. Perhaps you are looking to help alleviate depression symptoms. You may just be looking to connect with your inner sense of self or expand your spiritual life. Maybe you want all these things.
There is no single “right” answer except the one that is right for you. The important thing is to clarify your goals. Why are you taking up meditation? What do you intend to do each day? What exactly do you want to get out of your practice? Write your answers down and make this a personalized meditation daily practice from the very beginning.
Related Reading: Mindfulness Exercises for Depression
2. Space
Deciding where you want to meditate and preparing your meditation space is a huge factor in solidifying your commitment to the practice. It is very beneficial to create an environment that makes the transition into settling your mind take much less effort.
Find a solitary space in your home away from people, screens, and distractions is important in learning how to meditate and clear your mind. Invest in a meditation cushion or repurpose an old pillow. You can bring a candle and/or plant to this space or hang up a piece of artwork that is particularly inspirational to you. Alternately, leave your space bare. It’s your meditation space, make it your own.
If you are short on space, for example, if you are living the college dorm life, just do what you can. Investing in some quality, over-the-ear noise canceling headphones can be extremely helpful in creating the peace you need to focus on your meditation daily practice.
3.Timing
When you meditate can have a huge impact on your day and/or your sleep. Decide if you want to meditate in the morning, afternoon, or evening. Chose a specific time or connect meditation to before or after another daily habit (i.e., after a shower or your cup of coffee or before your daily yoga practice), which is a great way to “piggy-back” into a new habit.
If you are a morning person, meditation first thing in the morning can help you focus, set intentions, and set you on the right track for the rest of the day. Meditating in the afternoon when you may find yourself more overwhelmed and exhausted can calm anxiety and refresh your mind to tackle the second half of your day. Meditating at night can help alleviate anxiety built up from the day, process worries and difficult situations, and slow down your mind to float effortlessly into sleep.
You don’t have to limit yourself to just one of these times but pick somewhere to start your meditation daily practice and stick with it. If your chosen time doesn’t work after you’ve given it a solid trial, try a different time to see if that works better. Finding the right time for your body and mind is a key part of learning how to meditate daily.
4. Guidance
There is an incredibly wide variety of meditation videos and apps that offers every kind of meditation experience under the sun. Meditation does not have to be just sitting in silence staring at a wall, but that is fine if that is how you prefer to practice.
Currently, my favorite apps for meditation are InsightTimer, Calm, and FitMind. InsightTimer is a completely free service with a treasure trove of different types of meditations. Calm is a long-time favorite of mine. From SleepStories to focused daily meditations, Calm provides high quality meditations with customizable background sounds, lengths, and focal points. There is a one-week free trial for this app.
FitMind is a new favorite app for me. I like to think of it as a mental gym. There are short, specific, daily meditation options to build different meditation skills. If you are looking to hone a particular technique in meditation or just looking for a good beginner’s guide, this is a great app to choose. Again, you can take advantage of the free trial.
YouTube has a wealth of meditation videos but be mindful of exposing yourself to advertising and possible meditation disruptions using this platform. The neat thing about YouTube is that you can pair something visual with your meditation. This can be especially helpful on days when a quiet mind seems out of reach or when you are wondering how to meditate and clear your mind.
5. Non-judgment
It can be easy to fall into the cognitive distortion of all-or-nothing thinking when building a new habit. For example, you may assume that you are meditating wrong because you can’t sit still or focus on what the guided meditation is about. Also, it can be easy to justify ditching your daily practice, because you woke up late or seem to just not have time that day.
Every person who chooses to include a daily meditation practice in their life will face these challenges. It is best to show yourself compassion in the face of uncertainty. You are not doing it wrong. It takes practice and mindfulness to develop the skills necessary to meditate with ease. Find perseverance when feeling doubts about committing a small portion of your day to this act of self-care. If you want to benefit from the plethora of health benefits mentioned above, it will take a little time and commitment every day. Remember, nothing changes if nothing changes.
6. Awareness
Developing a daily meditation practice is not a passive pursuit. Although meditation looks like you’re just sitting or just doing nothing, this is a misperception. It takes effort, patience, and mindfulness to cultivate the skill of meditation
On days when meditation seems particularly difficult, get curious about why that is. How did you sleep the night before? Did you do anything different before sitting for your practice? Did you have an extra cup of coffee? Maybe you answered a few e-mails before your morning meditation? Did you have a particularly hard day on the emotional front? Have you transitioned to needing a different amount of guidance during your meditations? Just note these things without judgment.
The more aware you become of yourself and what impacts you, the better equipped you are to remain centered. You will then be more capable of making helpful adjustments to improve your meditation practice. Like life, mediation is an ever-changing experience. No single sit (sitting for meditation) will be the same. So having a sense of curious awareness helps you continue to learn how to meditate daily.
7. Appreciation
Maybe you are fortunate enough to have supportive friends or family who understand the value of meditation. If not, you may not receive a lot of kudos from others to help keep you motivated. Meditation is an intrinsically personal practice, therefore the rewards and praise must come from within yourself. As you notice subtle changes in your stress, health, and well-being, take time to recognize how your efforts and dedication have begun to pay off. Know that this will continue to grow as you persist in your meditation practice.
If you do have a meditation buddy, utilize this relationship as a resource, support system, and source of encouragement to help keep each other going. Also, all the apps listed have options to share your daily progress on social media if you want to share this with a wider audience.
Related Reading: Calming the Storm in Meditation
Get started with Meditation
Now is the time to start, re-build, or maintain your daily meditation practice. Remember to utilize purpose, space, and timing. Consider using apps for meditation. In addition, guidance, non-judgment, awareness, and appreciation can help you. Create, fortify, and expand your ability to use meditation as your new favorite all-in-one tool for physical, mental, and spiritual health.
If you could use some help in overcoming obstacles to getting started with meditation and are in the northern Illinois area, please reach out to us at Life Care Wellness. Contact us to be connected with a counselor in our Glen Ellyn, Sycamore, Jefferson Park (Chicago) offices.
Rebecca is currently attending the online Master of Social Work program of Tulane University in Louisiana. She loves incorporating mindfulness-based strategies during therapy and encourages clients to use them outside of sessions to help create a more peaceful, joy-filled life. Rebecca is a Board-Certified Autism Technician (BCAT) as well as a Mindfulness and Meditation Therapist. As an intern at Life Care Wellness, she accepts clients on a reduced self-pay basis only. Her low sliding scale allows individuals of all financial backgrounds to receive therapy.
