Meditation Part 2 - Meditation a habit (How to meditate for beginners)

Making meditation a ‘habit’

So you are aware of all the benefits of meditation and you are ready to try to try to make it part of your daily routine.......

When you first begin to try to meditate the body and mind may put up some resistance to your new habit.  (Even after meditating regularly for two years, I still have days when I procrastinate about meditating but I gently remind myself of all the positives and just do it.)  The body likes routine and the ‘norm’ and may fight you when you try to introduce something new.  When you started to smoke you didn't automatically like it, you had to keep smoking again and again for it to become second nature.  When you first started to read or write you couldn’t do it right away you had to practice again and again, making plenty of mistakes along the way....but now for many people reading and writing come very easily.  It is the same with meditation, you will have to try to like it at first.  You may feel like you are getting it wrong, or you might forget to do it the odd time, but if you keep in mind all the benefits you will find it more and more natural. 

 

Practicing meditation is just like breathing. While working we breathe, while sleeping we breathe, while sitting down we breathe… Why do we have time to breathe? Because we see the importance of the breath, we can always find time to breathe. In the same way, if we see the importance of meditation practice we will find the time to practice.   Ajahn Chah

 

I have found that meditating first thing every day works best for me.  If I leave it until later in the day it is often easily swept aside as insignificant.  Meditation doesn’t have the same pull as a quick five min on Face book of You Tube.  Some people like to meditate on the train to work, some do it at lunch time, some do it last thing before they go to sleep, some even do it on the toilet!  It doesn’t really matter when or where you meditate, just as long as you do it. 

Tip: You can try attaching your meditation to one of your daily habits that you have already established, such as cleaning your teeth. E.g. Before you clean your teeth do your five minutes of meditation. Or do it first thing when your alarm goes off, set your alarm for five minutes and sit on the edge of the bed or on the bed under the covers.

I am not a meditation expert but I have found an effective simple way to meditate that works for me and it may work for you too!

 

 Meditation is actually really simple…..that is the key…..meditation isn't actually as complex as you might have been led to believe.
 

One way you can begin to meditate:

 

First you are going to train your body and brain to know that meditation is something beneficial.  To do this you can start your meditation by reading or reciting a short positive statement or affirmation which is like a short story to explain over and over again to yourself why it is worth your time and effort to develop this new meditation habit.

This is the affirmation I use.  You can also use it or use as a template/guideline to write your own meaningful affirmations/statement about why you want to meditate.

 

My meditation affirmation /statement

This is time for me. This is my five minutes of peace.

There are 1440 minutes in the day I can take five/ten minutes to help me to become a better version of me

I deserve a little peace every day, I owe it to myself.

This is my time to stop and be still.

I know I will benefit from this short time of calm.

Meditation will help me think clearly and be calmer.  It will help me stay focused on the things in my life that are truly meaningful and aligned with my long term goals and success.

I enjoy this break from the business of everyday life.  Sometimes my body and mind put up a fight against meditation but I ignore the resistance and reinforce my meditation habit.  Every day I meditate it gets a little easier. 

I know that when I meditate my mind will bring up thoughts and feelings,

I know this is normal. I just let the thought pass. I don’t get engaged with any chitter chatter in my mind. 

I can’t get this wrong - just by doing it I am getting it right.   
I release any judgement of myself, others and my meditation practice.

 

If you are unsure what to write/say email me any questions and I’d be happy to help! foodmoodhealthhappiness@gmail.com

 

Then set your intention for the meditation.  This is just a short statement about what you want to gain from this practice e.g. My intention for this meditation is to: feel more peaceful, get rid of my headache, feel refreshed and energised, be more patient with my children etc.

(Maybe just chose one thing to focus on.)

 

Next sit or lie down in a comfortable position, somewhere quiet or put your head phones on to block out the distractions around you.

Set your timer or alarm for five minutes

(Or start a five minute meditation you have found on the internet/ YouTube or mobile phone app)  

Link to a 5 minute piece of music .https://youtu.be/UfkT9m9NQpg http://www.wideopenroadwellness.com/meditation-timers.html

Link to a very simple 5 minute timer on YouTube

(Some people like to have music on when they meditate and others find it off-putting.)

Close your eyes or chose a spot on the wall to focus on.

Rest your hands on your knees or somewhere they are comfortable.

Then begin to relax-

Screw up your face then relax - letting go of any tension held in your face.

Stretch your neck by moving your head from side to side and nodding up and down.

Roll your shoulders back and down making space between your ears and shoulders.

Make a tight fist with and then shake out my fingers like you are shaking water off them.

Next make three big sighs (take a big breath in your nose and let it out your mouth with a sigh ‘aaahhhh’) - this helps you to relax or even yawn-  this is a good sign!

Then just focus your attention on your breath - just breathe normally and relax. 

-Some people like to focus on actual words when they breathe e.g., breathing in peace and breathing out stress or breathe in love and out with the hate.  (Breathe in something positive you would like to feel and breathe out an emotion or feeling that you are trying to get rid of)

-Other people like to imagine breathing in pure white light and breathing out dirty smoggy, grey air.  It depends on the way your brain works.  (If you like to think with colours breathe in a ‘happy colour’ like bright purple and breathe out a ‘sad colour’ like a dirty green.  This is very individual and just depends on how your brain is wired.

-Other people like to count their breaths. (Sometimes I try to count backwards from 100 because it reduces other thoughts coming into my head.) 

-Or you can count as you breathe in e.g. "1, 2" and then count as you let your breath go "3, 4, 5". 

(There are literally hundreds of different ways of meditation but these are just a couple of simple techniques you can use easily.  You might want to try different ones until you find one that suits you.  The thing to keep in mind is that you can’t do it wrong.  If you are doing it at all then that is great! And you will reap the benefits.) 

Keep focusing on your breath until your timer goes off.

You will find that your mind wanders off and you start to think about all sorts of random things, especially when it isn’t used to having a little bit of quiet.  When your thoughts come into your mind just let them go again, try not to get involved in the chitter chatter.  Gently remind yourself you can deal with all these thoughts later and that now is just time to be quiet.

That is all there is to meditation,

it’s not really complicated at all! 

 

The 5 minutes for 5 weeks challenge 

-Try to commit to just five minute every day for five weeks. 

Photo credit : Instant Humour

(This works out at almost 3 hours of meditation -175min in total!)

-After five weeks you can decide if your new habit is something you wish to continue.  

-You can build up your meditation time slowly if you feel you can do a little longer maybe do seven weeks of seven minutes, then ten weeks of ten minutes and so on.  You just move on in your own time and do what feels good for you. 

-If you stay with five minutes a day and consistently hit your target this will be great but if you initially set unrealistic targets for yourself you are more likely to quit.

- Over time your mind will become clearer and meditation may become easier.  

-Mediation is never quite the same.  Some days it is easier to still the mind than others and some days your ‘monkey mind’ runs wild for the whole time- this is just as it is – you don’t need to analyse or judge it.

 

 I hope you enjoyed reading my meditation blog and consider taking on the

5 minutes for 5 weeks meditation challenge 

                    I would love to know how you get on and will support you all the way!

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and hope it will benefit you in some way

In my next blog 'Meditation Part 3' I will share my personal journey into meditation and examine why meditation isn’t a bigger part of  mainstream, Western culture.

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Live healthily, live happily .......Ruth @ FMHH

foodmoodhealthhappiness@gmail.com