Daily Habit of Meditation - 7 Meditation Techniques

Meditation has a tremendous impact on all aspects of life once you have gotten the techniques down. There are countless books written on meditation. However, I continuously see that my clients have an easier way learning to meditate by following the easy outline below. Please do modify these as you see fit yourself, since we all are comfortable with different ways. A problem that many face is the difficulty to get started in a way that encourages them to continue. Constantly, I encounter people who have tried to meditate on several occasions, but stopped since they cannot "get it to work." What does not work is the ability to quiet the mind. Often the amount of thoughts swirling around in the head actually increases the moment people start to meditate. I consider this to be the largest obstacle for making meditation a daily habit. The solution is rather simple once you start applying it.

STEP 1: Be comfortable. Pad with towels if you are uncomfortable, e.g. under your legs/knees/ankles. Wear comfortable clothes. Not too cold or too warm. Socks often make it more comfortable to keep the legs crossed.

STEP 2: Straighten your spine. Sit on a thick pillow or something that elevates your buttocks. This will bring your spine into a natural relaxed position, makes crossing your legs much easier, and benefit your mind/body more. I suggest that you have a wall or something supporting your back, so you can really relax and just lean back. Later on once you get better at meditating, you can start to do it without support and see if you are comfortable with this.

STEP 3: Keeping the mind at ease. DO NOT close your eyes while meditating until you are able to quiet down your mind. Reason being that while keeping your eyes open, your mind will be distracted by whatever you are looking at, and thereby, your mind will not start to think about tons of things. Usually, the outdoors is a great visual distraction. Keep your eyes on something that pleases them. Relax your vision, do not focus. Remember it is all about relaxing all your senses, giving them a break from the everyday hustle & bustle. Also, make sure no one will come and interrupt you, inform them before you start your session. Once you get better at it, you will be able to close your eyes without thoughts coming at you from left and right.

STEP 4: Stop the mind chatter by saying or thinking "stop" or "next", every time a thought pops up, then the thought automatically disappears. If needed, distract your mind from thinking, by focusing on your breath in/out, on relaxing one body part after another, or listening to some meditation audio.

STEP 5: Once you are all set, sitting down comfortable, start scanning (feel for) your body from top to toe. Anywhere you feel tension, contract that area while taking a deep breath in, hold your breath five seconds if it helps. When you breathe out, imagine all the tension releasing and going out with your breath. You will get better at relaxing this way every time you practice.

STEP 6: Once your body feels more relaxed, you can start to focus more on your breathing. You should learn diaphragmatic breathing, to get the most health gains. This is how all babies and kids breathe automatically - all the way down to the stomach. If your chest moves when you breathe, then you are a shallow breather. If your stomach moves when you breathe, then you are a deep breather. When we grow up, we have a tendency to gradually become shallow breathers due to environmental stressors getting the best of us, which in the long run can make you more anxious, stressed, fatigued, and sick. Deep breathing can add significant benefits to your health. Feel the healing air and energy when you breathe in. Let the stress and tension go when you breathe out.