Meditation is one of the techniques often recommended for stress management and anxiety. A person who is dealing with stress can often find it hard to focus, which in itself leads to more problems. When we are dealing with stressful times, our ability to focus our minds directly links to our ability to effectively deal with the situations at hand. Basic meditation techniques can help a person achieve a calm state of mind without the need for any other tools. Every step to meditation is done in the mind, so in essence with practice, we can achieve a relaxed and calm state of mind in any situation.
Remember that meditation is not a one and done deal. It is a practice. It is almost impossible to attain a calm state of mind in just a matter of minutes, especially if it’s your first time. Therefore, it is essential that you keep on practicing meditation until you have conditioned your mind to achieve that calm state just through the power of your focus and intention. Here are some steps for a beginner to start meditation:
- Find A Quiet Space to Start Your Meditation. Distraction and noise can be a hindrance to those who are new to meditation. In time, and with practice outside distractions will not bother you. But for now, as you start your journey with meditation, it is very helpful to find a quiet spot. When you close your eyes, your sense of hearing will be amplified, so almost any noise in your surroundings will make it hard for you to concentrate. Close your windows and if possible, lock your door.
- Ready Your Position. It is advisable for beginners to avoid lying down when practicing meditation. The aim here is not to sleep, and it is likely that you will fall asleep if your mind reaches a relaxed state. To stop this from happening, you can start your meditation in a seated cross-legged position, or you can find a chair you can sit on. Make sure that your back is straight, and your hands are relaxed on the armrest or on your lap. The most important part here is that your back in relatively straight and your upper body is relaxed. If you are into crystals, you can also incorporate their energy to help you achieve a relaxed state by holding one and keeping it for each meditation. I have a blog on 5 crystals for anxiety which you might find helpful here.
- Begin Your Meditation with Balanced Breathing. A good way to start a basic meditation is to do the balanced breathing technique. This breathing exercise balances the nervous system of the body. If you need energy, it will bring it in, if you have too much energy, it will help you to release it. Begin by inhaling to the count of 4 through the nose and exhaling through the nose for a count of 4. The counting is also a good focal point for the mind to settle on. Repeat this breathing for a few minutes and then let the counting go.
- Focus On Your Mind. While you are concentrating on your breathing, you will achieve a state wherein your mind will start throwing images at you. These are mostly random events of the day, future plans, problems and worries, fears and so on. It will be hard to ignore these thoughts and you are not supposed to ignore them. The aim here is to acknowledge these thoughts when they enter your mind and then release them. This might sound hard but here is a simple example to understand the concept. You know that you have furniture at home- you can see it clearly with your eyes, but you are not really concentrating on it. Focusing on the furniture will usually make you think of its colour, its material, how it looks in that part of your home, and more. You need to be able to look at these random thoughts in a detached state, seeing them clearly in your mind but not focusing your attention on it. Another way to do this is to visualise, your mind as a lake. See the lake as calm and deep. Every now and then, bubbles of thoughts with move through the water. Don’t hold on to the thought and add to it. Let it rise up to the surface of the water and float away. Your mind is a thinking machine, so it will never be free of thoughts, that is its job! But what you can do is develop a sense of equanimity so that your thoughts do not disturb your peace and for me this is the goal of meditation. In this relaxed state, you will find that your higher self can communicate more easily too so that the mind can receive images, words and sounds that may be solutions to your particular problems or worry in the moment. If you do receive any messages, it is important to write them down when you finish your mediation while they are fresh in your mind, even if they do not seem to make sense in the moment.
- To Finish: Take a big full deep breath and allow your body to stretch. Slowly bring yourself back to the room by opening your eyes. I like to ground myself by touching the earth, just to bring myself back to full conciousness.
When starting meditation, I recommend not overloading yourself, expecting yourself to sit for an hour twice a day! Instead, commit to 5 minutes, twice a day and then build up your time slowly. Even when you are extremely busy and stressed, just a minute of balanced breathing may be enough to center you and can be done anywhere.
Please feel free to check out my blog post on surviving the holiday season, as this time of year is particularly anxiety provoking for most of us! You’ll find tips for finding balance in the chaos inside.
Let me know if you are a meditator or you are planning to give it a try, and if you have any questions, just add them to the comments below.