Achieve a zen-like state and get the most from your meditation with these strategies.
Meditation (or mindfulness as it is increasingly referred to) is the practice of being in the present moment. Meditation has proven health benefits and has been shown to reduce addictive behaviour and improve your relationships with both yourself and others.
Many of us struggle to find the time or motivation to meditate, but this need not be the case. It can be done anywhere, any time. Here are my strategies to help bring you into the here and now
1. Focus on Your Breath
The moment you move your attention from your thoughts to your breath you have started meditating. Begin to feel your breathing by observing the sensations that arise in the nostrils, chest, diaphragm or abdomen as you inhale and exhale. Conveniently, your breathing is always available for you to use as a meditation, wherever you are and whatever you are doing.
2. Observe Sensations
As well as being aware of the feelings you experience as you breathe begin to notice other sensations that arise. Take a little journey around the body, making sure to cover every part. What can you feel in each area? You may feel hot or cold, tension, aches, tingling, perspiration or heaviness. The list is endless. But try not to label any sensations that you find; simply observing them is good enough.
3. Don’t Expect Anything to Happen
Meditation is the opposite of excitement. When we are excited we are anticipating something in the future. When we meditate we are simply being in the present moment, here and now. Do not expect some flash of insight or transcendental moment of enlightenment. Simply be with the sensations that are arising for you now. Stop searching for anything.
4. Do Not Judge The Sensations
Accept every sensation that arises anywhere in your body with equanimity; no sensation is good or bad. If we judge our sensations then we will begin to crave those sensations that we label ‘good’ or generate aversion towards ‘bad’ or ‘painful’ sensations. Learn to watch each sensation dispassionately.
5. Do Not React
We can allow the energy behind sensations to move through the body without reacting. The secret to overcoming addictive patterns is to practice non-reaction to ‘painful’ sensations or cravings. Allow aches and pains to be there and move your attention to observe another part of the body. You may even find that some time later that ‘unbearable’ sensation has completely disappeared.
6. Stop Listening to Your Thoughts
People say ‘I can’t meditate because I can’t stop thinking’. Want to know a secret? Nobody can. Every time you notice that you have stopped meditating and are thinking again, move your attention away from thought into feeling breathing sensations in the body. You have started meditating again. You’ll probably need to do this many times in just a few minutes.
7. Smile
The simple act of smiling releases endorphins into the blood stream, making you feel happier and more present. Even if you don’t feel that happy, try it. Feel the sensation of smiling in the face and especially the eyes. Even a ‘forced’ smile has been shown to make us feel happier. So fake it till you make it! The more you smile during meditation, the more you will start to enjoy it. And the more you enjoy it the more motivated you will be!
8. Meditate Anywhere
One of the myths of meditation is that you need to sit with your eyes closed to meditate. Do not wait until you are sitting on a meditation cushion. You can do it as you brush your teeth, walk down the stairs, sit in a meeting, play sports, do yoga, eat dinner (feel those taste buds and your tummy react), or make love. Whenever you remember to meditate, do it, even if it only lasts for a few seconds.
9. Start Loving Yourself
As you spend more and more time observing bodily sensations, you’ll begin to notice which thoughts cause you to feel negative, unpleasant sensations in the body. Start turning angry or hurtful thoughts into loving thoughts and feel the difference these make in your body. Instead of needing another person to say lovely things about you, say them to yourself! Meditate on the way they make you feel.
10. Set a Timer
Once you start to see the benefits that meditating brings to your life, start making more time to do it. Set a timer (for ten minutes initially) and do not stop your meditation until the buzzer rings. Of course there will be times during the ten minutes when you will go off into the world of thought, but that’s okay. Every time you notice you are thinking, immediately move your awareness away from thought and back into the body. The more you practise meditating, the more able you will be to resist the temptation to listen to your own mind’s endless thinking and chattering.