New Year, New (Me)ditation Practice
Why is everyone talking about meditation? What’s the hype? It seems like it’s all over the place when talking about stress management and mental health care.
Meditation is an intentional mind-body practice that aims to help you focus, increase self-awareness, and grow in mental clarity. Meditation can be a great way to connect with yourself, feel grounded, and reduce stress. It’s worth noting that there are many ways to meditate! It’s for anyone in any kind of body and at any level of experience.Some people practice meditation in the context of their spirituality, although not everyone who meditates understands it in this way.
In addition to calmness and getting in tune with the present, the benefits of meditation include improving mood and sleep, decreasing anxiety, lowering cortisol levels (AKA: the stress hormone), enhancing attention, and lowering heart rate and blood pressure.
Your therapist may recommend trying a meditation practice outside of sessions to encourage you to practice being in the moment, to try deep breathing that helps with emotion regulation, and to get more familiar with your mind and body.
Let this be your sign to get started with your own at-home meditation practice and try some of our tips for - no elaborate equipment or expensive workout clothes required!
1. Pick a Comfortable Spot: Sit on the floor or a chair that supports you. Use a cushion, blankets, or rolled up towels to prop yourself up if needed. If possible, choose a place that is quiet or has minimal distractions. Perhaps it is in your bedroom, closet, or living room. Maybe you want to light incense. It doesn’t need to be fancy!
2. Keep it Simple: Begin by simply noticing your breath and sitting in silence. Pay attention to how your breath feels going in and out of your lungs. How does your body feel on the floor or chair? Where do you feel tension or tightness in your body? One thing to try is breath-counting ten times and then starting over.
3. Start Small: You don’t have to be a Zen Master or be able to twist your body into knots! Starting with 1-3 minutes of meditation is still practicing. You can always build upon this skill later if you choose. Don’t expect to get it just right - it takes time to grow your practice and find what works for you. Starting small is great practice in giving yourself grace while figuring out a new skill. Meditation practice is like a muscle - you need to stretch it and stay consistent for it to become stronger. Think of it as paving the way for a further fortified practice later on.
4. Know Your Mind Will Wander: This is normal and probably one of the most challenging parts of meditation. We are so used to distractions, mindless scrolling, and avoiding being with our own thoughts, so when we intentionally sit in silence, this can be difficult. Know that your mind will wander again and again and this is part of strengthening your experience of mindfulness. When you find your mind wandering, try to come back to focusing on your breath.
5. Use Structure: Guided meditation audio or videos are your friend! They can help give you a format when you feel stuck. Guided meditation can be short, medium, or long. Depending on your preference, pick a meditation that you want to try and sink into the guidance offered by the audio or video. There are all kinds of guided meditations out there for relaxation, stress management, sleep, and more. You can find videos for guided breathing techniques, body scan, and progressive muscle relaxation. Give yourself permission to explore! Using guided meditation is not a failure on your part - it shows you are open to learning what works for you!
Meditation doesn’t have to be about sitting just right or finding your inner peace in ten minutes or less. It’s about sitting with yourself and allowing yourself to observe thoughts that arise with a non-judgmental approach. It’s for connecting with your body and mind in a slowed down, on-purpose way. Meditation offers us the chance to grow in our self-awareness and to simply be present with ourselves.