Quick Guide to Meditation
This is a sequel to my previous post, Mindfulness: How I Got Started with Meditation
I used to think that meditation was simply a tool to help you quiet your mind and be more at peace with yourself. Later on, I discovered that there is more to meditation than just that.
“Meditation is listening to the Divine within.” ~ Edgar Cayce
If you are serious about getting started and if you are willing to make meditation part of your daily life, Purpose Fairy’s Quick Guide to Meditation will help you achieve just that.
1. Set your intention and make the commitment
It’s that simple. Set your intention. Commit. Achieve 🙂
2. Make it a habit – it only takes 21 days
Research shows that it takes 21 days to develop a habit, that’s 21 days of doing something new. By giving yourself permission to practice for 21 days, not only will you benefit from spending time in silence and quieting your mind, but you will also become more disciplined and focus on building other new positive habits in different areas of your life. If you tell your mind you want to try something for 21 days, it will most likely be willing to co-operate. 21 days doesn’t feel like a very long time.
After you have completed your 21 days, your conscious mind will have the choice of stopping or carrying on with the meditation practice…or at least that’s what it thinks. Your neural pathways have formed already and chances are that you will continue with the new healthy habit. You have seen the benefits along the way and your unconscious mind will want to continue if it has been beneficial.
FREE: How to Uplevel Your Meditation to Become a Super Performer at Work & Life
3. Keep it short and sweet
For the first 21 days, if you are just getting started with meditation, make the routine short and sweet. 5 to 10 minutes per day is a great way to start.
You don’t want to feel overwhelmed and give up before starting.
You can meditate for 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes before you go to bed. Start fresh and end fresh.
Once you have finished the 21-day challenge, set another target. Go from 5/10 minutes to 15/20 minutes and later on you can move to guided meditation, again for 21 days 🙂
4. Assume the proper meditation position
You can choose to sit in the lotus position, Burmese position, seiza position, sitting on a chair or lying down on the floor. (watch the video bellow on Meditation Postures and how to sit during meditation).
Choose a position that feels the most comfortable for you. If you aren’t comfortable you will not be able to meditate 🙂
5. Be patient
Know that you will probably experience some resistance in the beginning but if you keep on going and if you keep on practicing, the resistance will dissolve.
“Meditation is painful in the beginning but it bestows immortal Bliss and supreme joy in the end.” ~ Swami Sivananda
FREE: How to Uplevel Your Meditation to Become a Super Performer at Work & Life
6. Focus on your breathing
When you are in the meditative state, your mind might start to make a lot of noise. If or when that happens, it helps to focus on your breathing. By doing so, you bring your mind back into the present moment and you are able to enjoy your meditation practice.
7. Start with the end in mind
One of the most beautiful lessons I have learned from life is to always focus on the desired outcome. To keep your eyes on the things you want to attract in your life and to act as if they are already with you.
8. Learn to feel
What is the desired outcome? A peaceful and tranquil mind, more love for self and for others? Whatever the desired outcome may be, assuming the feeling of your wish fulfilled will help a lot.
Wayne Dyer talks about this so beautifully in his book, Wishes Fulfilled. I highly recommend this book and if you are interested, you can get it here.
Feel the feelings that come from having your wish fulfilled and carry those feelings with you wherever you go. Get excited in anticipation of what’s coming 🙂
9. Believe
Beliefs become self-fulfilling prophecies and if you believe you can’t do it or that it is nonsense, you won’t do it. Make sure your beliefs help you grow and what’s most important, make sure your beliefs make you feel good about yourself and also about the world around you.
If you want to experience the many benefits that come from practicing meditation, you have to believe you will get there and you have to believe that it is possible.
10. Detach from the outcome
Be flexible. Don’t get too attached to how things should be and on what you should get out of it. Keep the good feelings in your heart but be open and willing to embrace whatever may come your way. From personal experience, I can tell you that if you go with the FLOW, life will give you exactly what you need, not what you want. Life knows better. Trust life 🙂
It does help to know that you are not alone in this and it does help to share your meditation experiences with other people but if you feel like there aren’t any other people around you who are meditating, you shouldn’t give up. Just get started. There is no wrong or right way, or at least that’s what I have discovered.
If you really want to make meditation part of your daily life, you will get there, you will learn how to do it 🙂
P.S. If you want to use background sounds, feel free to do so.
For more information on meditation postures and how to sit during meditation, watch this 6 minutes video:
Do you meditate? How has meditation improved your life? Join the conversation in the comment section below:)
FREE: How to Uplevel Your Meditation to Become a Super Performer at Work & Life
And this is the Purpose Fairy’s Quick Guide to Meditation, I would love to know if you have struggled with any of these 1o steps. You can share your comment in the comment section below 🙂
~love, Luminita💫