How to sit? How to free the mind from thoughts? How can I establish a commitment to practice? These are some of the most recurrent questions that arise after the first meditation sessions lillian too. Therefore, I share with you 5 tips to start meditating, tips I would have liked to hear when I started with the practice 12 years ago.
Meditate in a comfortable position
The physical comfort is paramount. If you feel some type of body discomfort when meditating, change seats, lie down and readjust your body as much as you need. Find the most comfortable place in your home and convert it into your sacred space to meditate. With time, the seat or the mat, if you meditate on the ground, take your essence and your prana and each time you return to it, your brain associates that place with relaxation, peace and well-being.
Do not force
Thoughts are part of the process. That’s why it’s important not to create any kind of effort or friction with them. Meditation does not consist in leaving the mind blank, it consists of slowing down the force and frequency of the thoughts. We really learn to meditate when we understand that nothing should be done. Just sit down, close your eyes and observe.
Be constant
In the repetition is the key. Although I recommend meditating if you can 20 minutes in the morning and 20 in the afternoon, 5 minutes is better than nothing. If the lack of time is an impediment, try to make short meditations throughout the day. I suggest you try to place your moment of meditation between two activities that you always do. For example, between brushing your teeth and taking a shower. In this way, you will create a new habit almost without noticing it.
Remember that the ultimate goal of meditation is to enrich your life
When you begin to meditate regularly, you will begin to observe that the true results appear outside the moment of meditation. You will have a more serene attitude with the daily vicissitudes and you will approach the problems with greater calmness and clarity. Your intuition and creativity will increase and you will feel happy for more time and for more times of the day without an apparent motive.
Do not take everything so seriously
The characteristic that all my teachers shared and that I liked the most is good humor. Our society teaches us to take things ‘seriously’ and of course there is a part of truth in all of that, but really what diminishes your energy and increases your stress and fatigue in large part is the excess of seriousness!
These are the tips that I can give you if you have started meditating recently or you are in the process of resuming the practice. I am sure that they will be useful and will help you in your evolution to rediscover the best version of yourself.