Revolution GraySo you’ve made the commitment to meditate regularly. Wonderful! Meditation brings a variety of wonderful benefits. Perhaps you are looking at ways to improve your meditation practice or become a better meditator? Here are a few tips.
Try meditating in complete darkness. There should be no lights on anywhere in the room or even outside in your yard if you’re outside in an open space. Darkness helps our bodies to produce melatonin which puts us into a relaxed state so that sleep will come easily once our meditation practice has ended.
Sit down with your legs crossed if possible. If you cannot cross both legs comfortably, then sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor, palms resting on your thighs or in your lap. If you feel more comfortable sitting upright in a chair then that’s okay too. You can meditate this way and still receive many of the benefits associated with mindfulness practice.
Visualize something soothing like water lapping on a beach shore. Feel it washing over your feet first then rising up to embrace both legs thoroughly before continuing its journey upwards towards your heart. Allow the calming effect of this imaginary wave to permeate every cell in your body gently and easily until it reaches the top of your head where it leaves you completely refreshed and at peace so that no turmoil or anxiety can disturb you.
Be grateful for everything in your life. Even if things aren’t going well right now ( remind yourself how lucky you are to be alive and practice mindfulness. You have a roof over your head, clothes on your back and food in the refrigerator even if it’s only a modest amount of each…be grateful for everything you have been given in this life!
Perform a body scan after a few moments or whenever you feel comfortable enough to do so. This is an excellent way of becoming more aware sensations that are present in your body at this moment. Start with the top of your head and work downwards until you reach the tips of your toes (or feel like stopping if it becomes too uncomfortable).
Perform a progressive muscle relaxation exercise after performing the body scan. Work from top to bottom because it’s much easier to tense first then relax afterward instead of relaxing first then tensing afterward.
Take a shower or bath after your session. The physical sensations of water moving over the skin is very calming and can help you to unwind.
Try practicing mindfulness as often as possible by focusing on just one thing at a time. This will develop your powers of concentration gradually and make you a better meditator because it becomes much easier to reach a state of complete relaxation if we can hold our focus on one thing for an extended period of time.
Learn how to create your own visualization or guided meditation script from scratch. This way, you can tailor the messages presented so that they are relevant exclusively to yourself and address any concerns you might have at this moment in time.
Try practicing meditation without any expectations. This way, if peace does not arise, no matter how much it hurts to admit or remain unaware of this fact, then that is fine because there are no preconceived notions that would otherwise prevent us from achieving our goals…so let go of any ideas about what the ‘perfect’ meditation state might be for you personally and just focus on being aware right now instead.
If you are struggling to find inner peace, try practicing mindful breathing. This is how you can easily access a state of tranquility without having to work too hard at it…just let go of any concerns and stop focusing on finding ‘the zone’ for now…this will happen naturally if you just ignore all distractions instead.
Give yourself enough time to relax before attempting meditation. Try making yourself comfortable first and aim to clear your mind entirely before you start this e.g. by focusing on the different sounds around you and trying to identify as many of them as possible…when you can no longer detect any new noise, move on to the next stage of your session.
Learn how to give yourself a hand massage. Although this might sound strange, it can be very relaxing and enjoyable…use scented oils if possible because the scent will help you to become more relaxed as well as make you feel more pampered during these sessions.
Develop a new breathing technique for your sessions. Although it is important that we breathe steadily throughout our efforts, this does not mean that our breath should be too shallow or too deep…try to find the right balance between the two extremes so that you do not have to work hard at controlling your urge to breathe naturally in this way.
Try using scented oils or incense sticks. Fill the air with a scent that you like and which makes you feel more relaxed. Lavender is a good choice.
Keep your eyes open during meditation but do not focus on anything in particular. This may seem strange to begin with but it will take time before we can meditate easily enough in such a position so just allow random thoughts to drift by without following them too intently.
Sit down in front of a mirror when you meditate. Although it might sound strange, this method eliminates all potential distractions and allows us to concentrate fully on what you want instead because any thoughts that arise can be dismissed simply looking at our reflection…as long as you remain seated in front of the mirror, there is no need to focus on anything else.
Keep a diary of all the things that cross your mind during meditation. This will help you to analyze why you find it difficult to concentrate in this way and may even show us the reasons why you fail every time because these thoughts are usually caused by lingering negative emotions or memories that can be easily exorcized with regular practice over time.
Use nature as a focal point for your meditation. If you find it difficult to concentrate during meditation, try looking at something natural instead…if you sit by a window with trees or grass outside then just watch these things move gently in the breeze until they lull us into an inner world where all negative emotions have been banished to leave inner peace in their place.
Maintain a balanced diet to improve concentration during meditation. This point cannot be stressed enough because if we fail to maintain a balanced diet, our ability to concentrate will naturally falter especially after it has been disrupted by hunger or thirst which can lead to distractions that make it much harder for us to follow the advice mentioned above.
We hope these tips improve your meditation practice!