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Hi everyone,
And welcome back to another Hammer Mountain mindfulness session.
Today I am not sharing a new meditation,
But a how-to full of tips and tricks for those new to meditation.
I,
Not too long ago,
Was new to meditation and had a tough time getting started.
Now that I have my practice where I feel comfortable,
It came to me,
In a meditation no less,
That I should share tips and tricks that helped me navigate the world of meditation to find what works best for me.
The next few minutes I will share with you three considerations to make or things to try to help beginners find what clicks for them.
Tip number one,
Find a comfortable space.
The age-old start to any meditation is a teacher saying,
Now find a comfortable space.
But this is so true.
However,
It's not just your physical surroundings or how you are seated,
But timing is also key.
As a beginner,
It may take time to identify what works best for you,
And trust me,
There are no right or wrong answers,
Just what feels best for you in your practice.
Some things to consider before practice are time as in the time of day,
Time as in the length of the session,
And physical space.
The first time I would like to mention is time of day.
What works best for you,
Morning,
Noon,
Or night?
Personally,
I'm an afternoon guy.
I have tried meditation in the morning,
And when I do,
I feel as though I have not woken up yet,
So my practice does not feel as thorough or deep enough,
And I still feel half asleep.
I have also tried meditating right before bed,
And sometimes I would even fall asleep before finishing my practice,
Which just didn't feel right to me.
So I've settled for early to mid-afternoon.
I find meditating during this time also gives me a pick-me-up afterwards when I may be experiencing low energy.
The second time I would like to mention is length of session.
When I first started meditating regularly,
I found it would take me so long to get in a head space where I could feel connection to self and source and quiet my mind.
This was when longer,
30 minutes or more,
Guided meditations helped.
However,
As my practice advanced and these things became more natural to me,
My meditations can be 10 to 15 minutes and still be fulfilling and beneficial.
Find a length that feels good to you,
And find sessions that fit that.
Have your time be enough to where you feel the benefit without being so long that you start thinking of other things,
Getting bored,
Or falling asleep.
Once you have found the time of day and length of session that best fits you,
Remember to also find where and how you practice best.
Finding a space that feels right to you and your practice is just as important.
I have tried meditating lying in bed,
Sitting on a chair or on the couch,
Or laying or sitting on the floor.
I have even tried meditating in the shower,
At work,
In the living room,
And even in the car.
Trying out all of these different spaces led me to realize I am most comfortable sitting on the floor,
On a pad,
In my living room,
In front of one of my crystal grids.
I also found I have a better meditation experience if I surround myself with crystals that have powers that link to or support my meditation's intent.
So as you begin your meditation journey,
It may be best to identify what feels best to you and schedule a time as frequently as you wish,
Making sure the time of day,
Length of session,
And space you prefer are all perfect and available.
Tip number two,
Taste the rainbow.
When starting out,
Finding what type,
If you even knew they were types,
Of meditation works best for you can be a daunting task for a beginner.
There are myriad options and platforms to experience them on.
So taste the rainbow,
Explore what is out there and try a few out.
Do you prefer guided or not?
Tastes with a certain intent or just ones to help you connect?
Do you prefer background music or noise?
Do you just like nature sounds or binaural beats?
Give them all a try and see what feels best.
You may have different tastes based on the intentions behind your meditation session.
For example,
Would a voice guided meditation targeting the release of anxiety help you more than a non-guided session of calming beach soundscapes?
Try them out and see what feels most appropriate.
Be sure to make note of teachers or artists you come across that speak to you in your soul.
I know I have and they have become my go-tos because they just click for me.
Tip number three,
99 red balloons go by.
No,
I'm not talking about the song made popular in the 80s by the alternative German band Nena.
My next tip is to develop a method to help you calm your mind during meditation.
Okay,
Picture it.
You've identified your intent for the meditation and a teacher or artist session to help and the best time and space.
Great.
But after you start your session,
Your mind starts drifting away from your intent and you find yourself thinking,
What's for dinner?
Do they let the dog back in?
Oh,
Stop thinking,
Stop thinking.
Okay,
Focus on my breath.
Shoot,
What did they just say?
Is sitting like this going to hurt my back?
Similar thoughts used to flood my head during meditation sessions and I would find it so frustrating until I learned how to manage them.
What has helped me manage my thoughts during a time when I'm trying to turn that side of my brain off is to one,
Accept you're going to have those thoughts and it's not bad,
It's natural.
Don't get frustrated with yourself as everyone experiences this.
And two,
Develop a mechanism to help you release those thoughts as they form or even before they are fully formed.
Mind mechanism is to picture my thought as a red balloon and I'm standing in a beautiful field with nothing around for miles.
There's a slight and enjoyable breeze and whoosh,
I let that balloon go and it flies high into the sky.
I've trained myself to instantly transform a thought into the image of a balloon and let go of that balloon so I can quickly focus back on my practice.
In sum,
As a newbie,
I found it beneficial to find the right time and a comfortable space to practice,
Identify what types of meditations worked best for me by trying a few and developing a way for me to help quiet my mind so I can focus more on the practice,
My intent and my connection with source.
I hope these tips and tricks will be of benefit to you as you embark on your meditation journey and find what works best for you.
If you are a seasoned pro or just have some tips you'd like to share,
Be sure to comment on this session with what works best for you.
Who knows,
You might just help somebody better their practice.
Thank you all and enjoy your day.
Namaste.
