Meditation is the act of achieving a state of emotional stillness. When you worry, it muddies up the signal between your brain and the body. You'll notice that the more you meditate, the calmer you are in general. It's not that nothing in your life causes stress, but you can handle it better. Keep reading to learn 5 easy meditation tips for beginners so you can stay clear, calm, and present.
To meditate is to focus on one thing for a period of time with your full attention. That’s why worry could be considered a form of meditation. Your focus on your worries is, in fact, meditation. How about switching that focus?
Meditation might seem a little woo-woo or odd if it hasn’t been a part of your routine, but it is proven to be a wonderful way to reconnect the mind and body. If you’re new to meditation, here are the tips to get started.
5 Easy Meditation Tips For Beginners
Tip 1: Chose the Best Time for You
Early morning is the best time to meditate. There is a period known as Brama Muhurta in Eastern traditions like yoga and Ayurveda. It is the time just before sunrise and is considered the most sattvic time of day. It is called “The Creator's Hour” and is an auspicious time to meditate and pray. Spiritual activities performed during this time are said to have a greater effect than in any other part of the day because the veil between life and death is thought to be the thinnest.
Even if you don't believe this, it is still a very still and quiet time of the early morning, so meditation can be a little easier.
First Thing In the Morning
If you cannot wake up quite that early, the next best time to meditate is just whenever you wake up in the morning. Aim to set your alarm a little earlier than necessary so you have a few minutes of quiet before you need to get ready for your day.
Also, if you get your meditation done before your day gets too hectic, you will be on track for a mindful day.
In the Evening When You Are Relaxing
Some people struggle to meditate in the morning because it is often chaotic even right when you wake up. If this is you, then in the evening during your nighttime routine is another great option. Just make sure you are relaxed and the house is quiet and free of distractions.
If you have a sleep routine where you begin relaxing an hour before bed, that is a good time to fit in your meditation practice. It may help to put it next to a related activity at night, such as meditating after writing in your gratitude journal, or in bed shortly before you are going to sleep.
Tip 2: Start Small
Meditation is a quality exercise rather than quantity. Being able to focus on your breath and clearing your mind for a matter of minutes is a success. Meditation isn’t about chanting for half an hour in a trance-like state. Meditation is slowing down connecting your mind and body and becoming aware of the two working in unison.
Tip #3: Don’t Judge
There’s no judgment in meditation, only awareness. Observing your thoughts and feelings and noticing them rather than putting judgment on them matters most. Don’t feel you should or should not be doing things in a certain way. Notice how your body feels when it feels resistant, tired, painful. Begin to pay close attention to those feelings and sort through them.
Tip #4: Find a Routine
Meditation works well when it is integrated into your routine. Try meditating the same time and place until you feel you have a system in place that works well. Ultimately, you can meditate any time you want to slow down, reconnect your mind and body, and refresh yourself.
Tip #5: Accept the Challenge
Your meditation practice should grow. As in all things, the more you meditate, the better you’ll get at it. Keep challenging yourself to go deeper, meditate longer, and build a more meaningful relationship between your mind and body.
Meditation is designed to bring the mind and body back into sync. The art of meditation doesn’t have to be intimidating. Use these tips to begin a simple meditation practice and discover the benefits of a renewed mind and body.
Programs and Apps That Can Help You Calm Your Mind
Your smartphone can be a hand-held way to keep calm. Using apps to help calm your mind is easy. There are apps for meditation, sleep monitoring, and noise reduction. Most are no-cost or low-cost and work on most phones.
The Calm App
This app has a variety of features – some require the paid version – that promote wellbeing. Categories include:
- Meditation
- Sleep
- Music
- Body
- Master class
- Scenes
The Calm app can help with relaxation and meditation. There are guided meditations as well as soundscapes like rain, wind, and snow that can help calm the mind. A deeper dive into the masterclasses can unlock teachings from leading experts in mindfulness. If you have trouble sleeping, this app includes tutorials designed to get you to sleep with ease.
The Headspace App
This app was created by a former monk and combines ancient meditation techniques with modern-day technology. This app offers free and fee-based features that help conquer:
- Anxiety
- Sleeplessness
- Productivity
- Health
- Mindfulness
This app allows for meditation buddies and syncing your app to your Apple Health feature.
Zen12
Zen12 gives you a full hour's worth of deep meditation in just 12 minutes. It uses “brainwave entrainment” (it works like a tuning fork) to speed up the process of:
- Increased focus
- Greater creativity
- Improved mood, relaxation, and stress relief
It calms the mind and body, then takes you down into a deep meditative state.
No struggling. No difficulty quieting your thoughts. Brainwave entrainment gives you quick access to deeper states of consciousness, on-demand. Read full Zen12 Review here.
Apps That Help with Sleep
The Pillow App
Pillow is an app that works with your Apple Watch. The wearability of your watch makes tracking your sleep possible with this app. The app will monitor
- Your sleep cycle
- Sleep quality
- Sleep disruptors
- Sleep duration
The app can even educate you about your sleep and what you can do to improve your sleep quality and/or overcome the barriers that are preventing you from a good night’s sleep. This app also has features for napping and relaxation.
The Pzizz App
This app is unique. It can be used both on and offline, so you don’t need Wi-Fi to access the benefits. It also uses sounds specifically designed to help you sleep and to stay alert when you are awake.
The Pzizz app is widely used to treat insomnia. While many apps use nature-inspired sounds, Pzizz introduces a human-generated sound that is scientifically designed to help with sleep and alertness. The app also includes voice-over guided exercises like other apps.
Finding your calm space and reducing the noise doesn’t have to happen in silence. There are apps that are specifically and scientifically designed to help you get calm, find peace, and sleep well. Use these or other apps to help you clear your mind and reconnect with your body.
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The information presented here is in no way meant to serve as medical advice. If you are experiencing symptoms of any kind, please consult with your physician.
