One of the most popular ways to enhance your mental health is to meditate daily. This routine helps you to center your mind and focus on what really matters. It can help you stay more grounded throughout your day, and it can help you manage your stress better as well!
To find relief and success in meditation, you need to find the type of meditation that works for you and find a routine that fits into your lifestyle. This can be hard to do as we all lead busy and involved lives, but here are some tips that may help you work this habit into your daily life.
First, you have to decide what type of meditation you want to start doing. Here are three of the most common types of meditation that people find useful.
1. Mindfulness Meditation:
Mindfulness meditation is all about being present in the moment. It’s about grounding yourself in the moment you’re in and not allowing future worries or past regrets to influence you right now. You can practice this almost anywhere by just closing your eyes and refocusing your mind. Eckhart Tolle recommends going through a mental list of present items you are grateful for. Ex. "I am grateful for a heated home", "I am grateful to have a job", "I am grateful for fresh air to breathe.", etc.
2. Breath Awareness Meditation:
This one is pretty self-explanatory, but the main idea is to focus on your breathing. As with mindfulness, you can practice this almost anywhere, but it helps to be in a sitting position with your back straight. Sit and focus your mind on the present while controlling your breathing. Start inhaling through your nose and slowly exhaling through your mouth in a very meticulous manner. Focus on your breath, again the idea is to take your mind away from the future and the past, give it a little break and relax.
3. Yoga Meditation:
This type of meditation is the focusing of the mind while moving the body in specific stretches to enhance the meditation experience. You typically need a trainer to help you, but YouTube has plenty of videos you can follow --- many of which are only 5minutes long!
So how do you work these routines into your daily life?
With work, school, families, and other responsibilities, it can be incredibly difficult to find the time to add another item to your to-do list --- this is worth it. To have the stamina and endurance to be a rock star parent, entrepreneur, employee, supervisor, spouse, or student, you need to be in a good mental space, and need to prioritize self-care!
The best way to implement meditation into your day is to do it when you have a free minute. Carving out a half-hour is amazing, but not always possible. Sometimes all you need is thirty seconds. Look away from your computer. Put down your pen. Let your kids watch a few minutes of TV, and breathe.
Comment below with when and what you do to recenter!
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