When people have a spiritual awakening, they are often naturally drawn to wanting to meditate and I was no exception.
I had always liked the thought of meditating, taking some time out to sit quietly on my own, to just unwind and de-stress and to quiet my overactive mind.
Image by Shahariar Lenin from Pixabay
However, when it came to it, I would either find many reasons not to, or get as far as doing the first one, maybe two then talk myself out of doing another one.
Self-sabotaging and making excuses like…
I’m too easily distracted
I’ll never be able to empty my head of thoughts
Or be able to sit still and focus
I’m not sure it would benefit me much
I’ll be wasting my time
How am I going to fit it into my everyday life?
If this sounds familiar, you are not alone.
I have come to learn that there are many people who feel the same.
Now the way I got over the initial hurdle of struggling with doing regular meditations, some may say are obvious and easy. However, I believe the very fact that the approach I used is so obvious many people overlook it, including me at first.
Meditating wasn’t unfamiliar to me as I’d been introduced to the practice in my early twenties by a group of friends who meditated regularly. We would all gather round and listen attentively, whilst one of the group would transport the rest of us to some tranquil setting and honestly afterwards, I really did feel good. However, although I found meditating in a group enjoyable, I could never quite muster up enough enthusiasm and staying power to continue them alone, so over time i lost interest.
That was however, until I had my spiritual awakening. Meditating became something that I very much wanted to include in my daily spiritual practice. However, my previous experience of meditating on my own had left me with doubts about whether I could meditate “properly.”
Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay
Now however meditating is part of my everyday life
and I miss on the rare occasion when I am not able to do one.
Now I’m not saying from day one I was sitting there crossed legged on the floor feeling very Zen…. quite the opposite. My first few attempts I spent most of the meditation just getting comfy. My mind, as always, full of thoughts, concerns and conversations from the past day, week, month or the coming day, week, month etc……..at that point I was thinking how on earth am I going to quiet the mind, let alone actually see any other benefits of meditating.
Image by FHD511 Ksa511 from Pixabay
However, it occurred to me that one of the things that put me off last time, was the length of time I thought I should begin to meditate for, sometimes 30, 40, 50 minutes or more! I know…no wonder I was put off.
So, this time I started short, very short….. just 5 mins.
I didn’t want to put pressure on myself so as well as keeping them short I decided not to fight any thoughts that came in or to start with trying to clear my head of thoughts. I realised that thoughts were going to keep coming in until I got used to meditating and that by fighting them or engaging in them, I was only feeding my mind of thoughts, keeping me from achieving exactly what I wanted to achieve. To quiet the mind and reach a state of feeling calm and inner peace.
Image by EnergieDeVie from Pixabay
I promised myself to do one a day, which I did. Knowing myself like I do, I knew that if I didn’t do one every day then my first one would be my last.
What also worked for me was I didn’t restrict myself to doing them at a particular time of the day I just went with the flow to begin with of whatever suited me on that day. Of course, everyone’s lives are different and I was lucky enough to be able to do this. However, when you really start getting into meditations, morning meditations can be very beneficial. As they set you up for the day.
Something I can highly recommend is getting headphones, it’s a must and something I didn’t have to begin with. To be able to totally immerse myself in the meditation without any distractions makes such a difference to the over-all enjoyment and benefits of meditating.
I know a lot of people choose guided meditations when they start but for me, I preferred unguided. I wanted to let my imagination be free to visualise. However, it really doesn’t matter which you choose. Whatever works for you. I moved on to guided and mixing them up is good too. I always go with how I’m feeling on the day.
I stuck with 5 mins every day for about 2 weeks then I felt ready to up it 10 mins once a day. I then kept increasing the length whenever I felt ready. After a while of experimenting, I found a length that hits the spot for me. However, changing it up is good too. It’s about what feels right for you and taking it at a pace that feels good to you.
It goes without saying perseverance helped me too.
So that’s how I got started.
Image by wiredsmart from Pixabay
11 Tips that I learnt along the way….
Start short- 5 mins is enough to get you started.
Try not to hurry yourself to move onto doing longer than 5 mins before you are ready. 5 mins meditation every day is better than no meditation.
Try not to engage or fight thoughts that come in. They will become less and less frequent as you continue.
Instead acknowledge thoughts. Tell yourself you will deal with the thought / concern later.
Experiment with both guided and unguided and see what suits you
Invest in headphones.
Don’t feel you have to sit in the crossed legged yoga position.
Sit in a comfortable chair or lie down, whatever feels best.
I would recommend a short meditation everyday if you really want to improve. However, if that is not possible as often as you can but to begin with keep them short if you are struggling.
Don’t feel like you have to a meditation the same time every day, unless you want to.
Last but not least …. Perseverance.
Remember to enjoy the whole experience of each meditation you do. Please don’t get caught up in believing meditations are supposed to be done in a certain way, especially in the beginning.
A couple of other practises that I sometimes do in meditations are positive affirmations and using crystals. Those of you that have dabbled or are familiar with guided meditations will know that affirmations are used quite a lot. They can be very beneficial whist in that relaxed meditative state, definitely worth trying.
Crystals all have different healing and metaphysical properties. They all hold energy and can aid you deepen your meditation practice.
There are too many to mention here. So, I will try and do another blog on crystals and the ones that I like to use, giving you some guidance on them. It’s always best to find out about the specific properties of crystals to see which one would be best to use in your meditation.
There is a lot of misconception about meditating. I have come across many people who felt like I did, wanting to begin but either not sure how to and believing they won’t be suited to it. Meditating can be for everyone and is about getting into a relaxed state of being calm and peaceful. However, you don’t start off that way. Finding that calmness and inner peace is something you achieve through the practice of meditating.
The stumbling block for most is at the beginning. The approach I used, took the pressure off me at those early stages leaving me to enjoy the time I had to meditate and wanting to do more.
I would love to hear if you have any tips for the initial hurdle of getting started. What worked for you? Also have you tried any of these suggestions yourself? Please leave a comment and let me know!
Comments