The Basics of Meditation in 4 Simple Steps
MEDITATION FOR STRESS MANAGEMENT
Meditation is one of the best techniques you can use for stress management. A person who feels bogged down with problems often finds it hard to focus, which can lead to more problems. Meditation techniques help a person achieve a calm state of mind without having to resort to drugs or relaxation tools and implements. Every step to meditation is done in the mind.
Remember that meditation is not a one shot deal. It is almost impossible to attain a calm state of mind in just a matter of minutes, especially if it’s your first time. It’s essential that you keep practicing meditation until you have conditioned your mind to instantaneously achieve that calm state just by thinking about it. Here are 4 simple steps for a beginner to start using meditation as a stress management strategy.
Find a quiet place to start your meditation. Distraction is a hindrance to those who are just learning to meditate. When you close your eyes, your sense of hearing will be amplified, so almost any noise in your surroundings will make it hard for you to concentrate. For beginners, it’s important to start in a quiet place in your home where noise is non-existent. Close your windows and lock your door if needed to ensure that you will not be interrupted. You can also tell everyone in your home to minimize their noise so that you won’t get distracted.
Choose your position. It’s recommended for beginners to avoid lying down when practicing meditation. The aim here is not to sleep, and it is likely that you will fall asleep if your mind reaches a relaxed state. To stop this from happening, you can start your meditation in a seated lotus position (cross legged) or you can sit upright in a chair. Make sure that your back is straight and your hands are relaxed in your lap or on the armrests.
Begin your meditation with proper breathing. A good way to start meditating is to use a breathing technique where you inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. This allows you to create a rhythm that you can easily focus on. Also, the amount of oxygen in your body will help keep you relaxed. Keep practicing this breathing technique until you can do it easily without having to think about it.
Focus on your mind. While you are concentrating on your breathing, you will enter a relaxed state where your mind may start showing images to you. These are mostly random events of the day, future plans, problems and worries, fears, and so on. It will be hard to ignore these thoughts and you don’t need to. The idea is to acknowledge these thoughts when they enter your mind and then quickly release them. This might sound hard but it’s easier than you think.
Here is a simple example to illustrate the concept: you know that you have furniture at home and you can see it clearly with your eyes, but you are not really concentrating on it. In other words, you regularly acknowledge the thought and then let it go without realizing you are doing it. If you choose to focus on the furniture instead, you will typically think of its color, its material, how it looks in that part of your home, and so on. In this same way, you need to be able to acknowledge these random thoughts that pop up during meditation in a detached state, seeing them clearly in your head but not focusing your attention on it.
There will come a time that these random thoughts will stop and you will notice that you are already in a blank space in your mind. This is the state you aim to achieve during meditation. This is the place where you can think about a problem and focus on it until you can find a solution for it.
By following these simple steps you can successfully master the basics of meditation and use it to help with your stress management. To help stay grounded or increase your focus, you can work with our intentional oils and sprays before and during meditation.