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Are You Having Trouble Meditating? Is your mind too busy, and trying to be still just makes it worse? Have you tried different things, but none of them work for you? Then, keep reading. We are talking to you.
Meditation does more for your body and mind than just keeping you quiet and still. Meditation helps create life solutions for better sleep and immunity. It contributes to clearer thinking, reduced stress, better heart and lung health, and overall well-being.
Most people have trouble meditating because of misperceived ideas about what meditation is and what it’s for. Leading expert in meditation Emily Fletcher says, “The point of meditation is not to get good at meditation. The point of meditation is to get good at life.” How To Improve My Energy Field? 5 Fabulous Ways To Really Feel Better
You have been in many meditative states this week. Maybe you were sitting on the back porch petting the cat, watching the sunset. Then you realize that you really don’t have a thought going on. You are just…petting the cat. So, let’s break this down into some steps that get you out of the complications of meditation and back to the simplicity of meditation. Ready? Let’s do it!
Awesome Step #1 When You’re Having Trouble Meditating: Understand What Meditation Is And What It Isn’t.
Sometimes, people say they have tried meditation and just can’t do it. But most of the time, they haven’t tried what they think they have. They have attempted sitting for hours at a time. They have tried sitting in isolation, trying to empty their mind of…everything. But they haven’t truly attempted an honest meditation practice.
They have watched for visions or out-of-body experiences that didn’t come. They decide that their mind is too complicated and meditation is too unnatural. So, let’s untangle a couple of things.
Mediation is natural for you because the serenity of meditation is your natural state when you take away all that isn’t you. Back to sitting on the back porch, petting the cat, thinking about nothing, just being. Those moments when time doesn’t seem to exist could be minutes or moments, but they are very real. They are a type of meditation.
You Are Meditating.
That neutral state of calm is the real you. So meditation does come naturally to you…is natural to you. You don’t have to sit on the side of a mountain. You don’t have to say a mantra or buy a fancy pillow. How To Improve My Energy Field? 5 Fabulous Ways To Really Feel Better
You just need to be quiet and be in the moment…your moment. It doesn’t take sitting for hours. Think again of the quiet moment on the porch with the cat. Imagine sweet mindfulness as you stroke kitty’s fur, or you can settle into the quiet of your mind.
Out-of-body experiences can sometimes be a side bonus if you practice deeply and consistently. But tests show that often when people think they are the most in Crazyville, they are in the most profound meditation. You don’t need bells and whistles. You only need stillness, and stillness is a choice.
Awesome Step #2 When You’re Having Trouble Meditating: Don’t Overcomplicate It.
When you make anything weird, it becomes weird for you. Meditation isn’t complicated. It’s the art of simple. Forget what you think you know. Understand that it’s just you, your breath, and the moment in your simplest place.
You don’t have to sit on the side of a mountain in an ashram in India. Mantras are fantastic tools, but the art of meditation isn’t in the mantra. It’s in you. You don’t have to sit on a mountain anywhere. You can sit in your backyard. Sit in your car. Sit on your living room floor or, with practice, sit at your desk at work. How To Improve My Energy Field? 5 Fabulous Ways To Really Feel Better
Here are some tools that we like. Often it’s hard to sit in meditation because you aren’t comfortable. The way this cushion is filled it keeps pressure off your back, hips and knees. It also gives your mind a designated spot to work. When you sit in this special place your mind knows it’s time to meditate. Click here to check out our favorite meditation cushion (and get to get your own!)
These tuning forks are great for a gentle and soothing sound balance to bring your focus back to center, The weighted ones can be put on tension spots like neck and shoulders for gentle vibration and tension release. (Click here to get your tuning forks.)
We love our tools, but meditation can happen where you are as you are. You need you and a choice to practice stillness. In that stillness comes, ”Look, Ma, I’m meditating!” Messy mind, busy mind? That brings us to the next step.
Awesome Step #3 When You’re Having Trouble Meditating: Know That Meditation Isn’t About Emptying Your Mind. Meditation Is About “FOCUSING” Your Mind.
Often, the argument against being able to meditate is, “I just can’t clear my mind!” “My mind is too busy to empty it!” “I can’t keep a blank mind…do you know what lives in my head?” So, let’s get a sweet and helpful fact embroidered onto that busy mind of yours.
Meditation isn’t about emptying your mind. It’s about FOCUSING your mind. If a poopy doo show is happening in your head, you don’t have to clear it away before you can meditate. You meditate to clear it away. You don’t have to solve every problem you have before you can meditate. Meditation will calm and soothe you through the problem. It will give you clearer thinking and a better perspective.
When you give your brain something to focus on, everything else sort of falls into the background. Focus on your breath. Focus on the birds you hear singing. You can even just focus on the hum of the ceiling fan.
Thoughts will come and go. It’s natural. Let them pass on through. Have the thought, take a breath, and return to the ceiling fan’s hum. When the next thought comes, take another breath and focus on that breath. This is it. YOU are meditating. How To Improve My Energy Field? 5 Fabulous Ways To Really Feel Better
Awesome Step #4 When You’re Having Trouble Meditating: Keep It As Simple As Possible.
A.) Find somewhere comfortable and as quiet as you can. Later, quiet will be optional, but for now…quiet is simple…and easier. Decide if soft music makes it easier or if it’s distracting. You get to choose. Keep it simple.
B.) Set a timer on your phone for 5 minutes. Yeah, just 5 minutes is plenty to start. Add a minute at a time, up to 15 or 20 minutes, as you get more comfortable. Of course, you can do longer. But that’s all you need to notice a big difference.
C.) Remember you aren’t trying to clear your mind. You are focusing your mind. Decide what you want to focus on. It could be your breath, the tick of the clock, or the whirl of that ceiling fan we talked about.
D.) Own that thoughts are going to come. Then tell yourself that this is ok. Take a breath, and don’t engage or wrestle with your thoughts. Just breathe and watch them pass by. They are just passing through. Let them go while you come back to where you chose to focus.
E.) It’s called a meditation practice for a reason. Sit till your timer goes off. Some meditations will be easier than others. Then, come back to practice some more.
If You Are Trying, You Are Practicing.
If you are having trouble meditating, follow these steps, and you will have what you need to start your practice. There are as many kinds of meditation as there are reasons to meditate. These steps will give you the foundation to see what you want to try and do with your practice. If you are trying, you are practicing. So practice often and regularly. Take a deep breath and know…You Can Do This!!!
Pixi-Pebbles For When You Are Having Trouble Meditating.
Pixi-Pebbles are songs, quotes, videos, interviews, movie references, and books that we each personally pick for you.
We’ve used these little Pixi-Pebbles to move ourselves from a feeling we’re not enjoying very much…to a feeling that helps us discover our vision of intention, awareness, and direction.
They lead us to hope, possibilities, and a fire under our butt to live life by design instead of default.
In our blog, Are You Having Trouble Meditating? Let’s Make It Easier In 4 Awesome Steps, here is a Pixi-Pebble that came to mind…
Just a little inspiration to get you from here to there…
One of our favorite ways to help calm our minds and help with meditation is using YouTube Videos. We watch our friends at Lucid Dream‘s channel a lot. If you are needing some soothing, quieting music and visuals check out this Gentle Healing Live Feed (Click Here) from Lucid Dream.
