Tips for Meditation
Meditation is basically sitting in silence. It’s a state between being awake and asleep, somewhat of a conscious dream state, if you must. Your senses are active, while your focus goes inward.
My mom always praises the wonders of meditation, and how much it would help me. I’ve tried to meditate a few times with her, but ended up nodding off or feeling drowsy versus refreshed afterwards. I decided that it’s not for me, and maybe people are just a bit crazy to think that sitting in silence does any renewal or bring forth any knowledge. And yes, I was wrong and she was right. Now that I am at the tail-end of my twenties, on my journey inward *and* during this accelerated crazy time of 2020, I find myself needing clarity, focus, stamina, and peace more than ever before. I’ve read my birth chart, booked psychic readings, read beautiful stories that speak of the birth and deaths of existence. I’ve acquired all the information I need for now, a roadmap so to speak, and all that’s left to do is to act and practice.
My goal is to arrive at the center of my being, and to be the full expression of what I am.
I realize that meditation brings your being into a different speed or frequency than we normally operate on, especially if you live in cities and work around electronics a lot. It is a time or place of letting the dust settle, absorbing experiences your mind simply cannot fully analyze or digest, and ultimately releasing debris clogging your system.
Below are some tips and tools I find useful when it comes to meditation:
- There is no right or wrong way to meditate. What has stopped me before is thinking that just because my experience doesn’t match up to someone else’s experience of meditation, I am doing it wrong, and therefore it isn’t for me.
- Close your eyes and breathe through your nose.
- You can focus on breathing deeply into different parts of your body, or you can avoid actively controlling your breath. One gives you energy and one helps relax your body.
- Find a seated position that is comfortable to you, whether it’s cross-legged or on a chair. You are more than “permitted” to lay down on the ground if that’s what you like, but I do find it both easier to enter the awakened dream state, and harder to remain in that state when I am seated (which is a good thing). Being seated and still is a great challenge and training for your mind. Overcoming physical discomfort and impulses to ease your discomfort are great ways to build space within yourself. Patience and focus are the two things I’ve gained the most from meditating so far.
- Hold a mudra to help open and clear a chakra or energy center in your body that is in need of your attention. or if you want to send more attention to a specific area during meditation. You can find out which one of your chakras need more attention by taking a chakra test.
- Allow your mind to wonder, but actively call your attention back to your breath or the center of your mind – a focal point to reside in.
- Use an app to get started. App I find most helpful for meditation – Insight Timer. It has a huge database of free guided meditation and talks, as well as a simple timer that allows you to choose the duration of your meditation, background sounds or music, and interval bells if you prefer to meditate without a guide. I often like to search the database for specific needs, such as releasing trauma or tension, new moon manifestation, opening the sacral chakra etc. Besides guided meditations, there are also plenty of sound baths and sonic therapy. The app offers a premium version of ~$70/year that allows you to rewind, fast-forward audio, and access to premium content offered by the creators on the app. *this is most definitely not a sponsored post, I simply find this app super useful for my meditation practice* I use the free version.
- Start easy – meditate 5 minutes everyday or as consistent as you can, then build up to 10 minutes, then 15 minutes, and so on and so forth. I add more time when I want to meditate longer or feel like the length simply isn’t enough for my practice anymore.
Hope this helps you in some way!
