After facilitating more than 400 meditation circles and maintaining a personal meditation practice almost daily; I am often asked how to start and/or deepen a meditation practice.
While I have not had any formal education on the topic; I have experience, knowledge and a lot of success in helping others, so I thought I’d share.
First and foremost, I’d suggest you take everything you think you already know about meditation and throw it away…. UNLESS it’s working for you, in that case… keep going!
Meditation is NOT about silencing the mind, it doesn’t have to be done in the lotus position with a certain music or no music, it isn’t hard or “for” some people and not “for” others, there are NO rules.
Meditation is about connecting with self, it’s about observing your thoughts so you can befriend, love and honor what needs your attention and allow the rest to fall away. It’s about disengaging in with the outer world and bringing your intention, focus and awareness withIN.
Close your eyes, connect with your breath. There, you just did it. You meditated.
Here are my top tips for meditating:
- Let go of all expectations – each time you meditate it’s a new day, a new you; don’t judge it.
- Understand that it’s called a PRACTICE for a reason.
- Make an appointment with yourself at the same time every day until you don’t feel that it is necessary anymore. Our human mind likes predictability and routine, it will surrender more easily if we work with it.
- Meditating first thing in the morning or in the mid evening when our serotonin/melatonin balance is at its sweet spot is ideal AND yet not necessary.
- Find a group (suggested) . Group meditation is more potent than doing it alone.
- Find a meditation that feels good as well as sounds soothing to you. This part might take some experimentation but is well worth the time. You are working not only with the mind but the sympathetic nervous system, therefore everything sensory about this experience needs to feel safe, soothing and loving.
- One of the biggest health benefits of meditation is the deactivation of the sympathetic nervous system and activation of the parasympathetic nervous system. In knowing this, we understand we are building a form of ‘muscle memory’ in our practice. The best way to do this is to use the SAME mediation (music or guided), in the SAME location consistently until results are achieved.
- Surrender and Trust. Allow yourself to fully surrender into the process, knowing you are safe and that you CAN do this.
- Wear earbuds. This allows you to immerse yourself into the meditation more deeply by eliminating distractions and other sounds within your space that may vie for your attention.
- Start with 5mins and build from there. If you are already meditating do the opposite; do not put any limits on your experience. Be willing to ‘go in’ to meditation and have no deadline as to when you’ll be finished. Allow the process to guide you.
Know from a practical level you can simply connect with your breath in any moment, in any situation or surrounding and you ARE meditating and benefiting from the experience. Also understand that there is also NO LIMIT to your ability to connect with yourself, your guides and all that exists in all forms of consciousness through the practice of meditation.
I have some guided meditations on my You Tube channel if it resonates for you to begin your exploration there. If not, there are lots available via the internet and various APPs.
I wish you the highest, most loving form of connection possible for each now.
Namaste
Life Coach and Spiritual Guide 