Three Gentle Ways to Start a Meditation Practice

 

We’ve all heard that meditation can reduce stress, promote better sleep, avoid illness and generally increase happiness. While beneficial, meditation can seem intimating. No fear, we have some tips to help you ease into a practice.

 

1. Set an intention

The first step toward gently starting your own meditation practice is setting an intention – something you aspire to feel or achieve. When setting an intention, turn inward and ask “What do I want to feel?” Intentions can be a single word such as “love,” or an affirmation such as “I am enough” or “I am abundant.”

2. Find your focus

The next step is choosing your focus while meditating. You can simply focus on your breath, which you always have with you. To do this, mindfully inhale a deep breath and exhale a deep breath – and repeat. You can sit with your breath for as long as you need to feel calm and grounded.

 Alternatively, you can choose to focus on something more tactile, like mala beads. With this method, you can turn your beads between your index finger and thumb, working your way around the necklace until you reach the end. This signifies a full meditation.

 Another option for finding focus is concentrating on a mantra. A mantra is a word or sound that is repeated internally while meditating. You can use the intention you set for the practice as your mantra.

 You can layer all three during a meditation. It’s about finding the practice that feels best for you.

3. Be kind to yourself

During meditation, your mind will surely wander. There’s no reason to be frustrated or to judge yourself. The point of meditation is not to eliminate your thoughts, but simply to become more aware of them.

 When your mind does wander from your focus, acknowledge that your mind has wandered and simply return to your focus with love and kindness. It’s a meditation practice – not meditation perfect - after all.

To learn more and join a 30 day meditation challenge, click here