Throughout my life I’ve always had a mental resistance to meditating. As I mention here, whenever I would ever hear the word ‘meditate’, I always pictured some bald monk sitting in a dark room, his legs crossed and chanting ‘om‘ over and over in a deep voice.
Imagine my surprise when I found out that in order to strengthen my spiritual connection and psychic abilities, meditation is a must. And while the first form of meditation I gave as an example is completely valid, after researching how to strengthen my bond to the Universe I’ve learned that there are other ways to meditate- ways that actually worked for me. And if there’s a way that works for me, there’s a way that works for you.
The truth (and the good news) is that you probably don’t actually hate to meditate- just the idea of it. Or maybe you think it’s boring. You might feel this way if you can only picture the first example I gave, or maybe you only know of guided meditations. But those are not the only ways to meditate! Let’s first start with some tips on how to bridge the gap of being turned off by meditation.
Start with forgetting all of the cliches that you think you need to do or have to meditate.
Forget having to sit cross-legged, back stiff, with incense and candles lit and your moon tapestry hanging on the wall nearby. These aren’t bad things by any means and if you choose to incorporate them, great! But that doesn’t mean you need them. All you really need is yourself, and somewhere with minimal distractions.
Do not worry about having to block out all sounds and distractions.
These distractions include those that come from the world around you (the sound of cars driving by, children screaming as they walk down the street by your house), and those from within you (worrying about what you’re going to have for dinner, the next thing you have to do for work). It’s impossible to completely block out all distractions the entire time. Instead, what you can do is allow the distractions to happen. Don’t fight them. Let them happen, acknowledge them, and then send them away gently. Meditating is not about complete silence of your mind, but rather the shifting of your focus to higher energies.
You can meditate for as little as 5-10 minutes a day, but 20-30 minutes a day is best.
Meditation does not have to be a big, lengthy process. It can be a short little getaway that you can squeeze in during your day on your lunch break. What matters isn’t the amount of time you spend meditating, but rather the effort you put into the connection you’re trying to establish.
A Simple and Effective Meditation Process
1. Begin with finding a place to go to meditate. This place can be anywhere you can find as much peace and quiet as possible, to minimize distractions. This is the only criteria for finding a place to meditate.
2. Sit or lay down in a comfortable position. I choose to lay down on my back, with my hands laying down at my sides.
3. Begin to relax your body. Actively focus on your body from head to toe, relaxing as you go and not moving on to the next part of your body until the prior is fully relaxed. What also helps is if you take a deep breath as you go, feeling your body relax with every out breath.
4. Take three deep breaths. Use the breaths to settle in to your session. Something that helps me is to visualize myself crossing a figurative bridge between the earthly world and spiritual world.
5. Protect yourself from negative energy. When you meditate, you are opening all of yourself up to all kinds of forces and energies. While I believe there are a many more good forces in the world, this also includes becoming vulnerable to the bad. Therefore, it’s important to protect yourself. Simply recite, whether in your head or out loud, “I give and receive love and light. I am, love and light.” Say or think this as many times as you feel you need.
6. Begin to meditate. Quiet your mind and shift your focus and awareness. Let any intrusive thoughts to occur before sending them away gently and resuming. Actively quiet your mind and if you feel yourself slipping, focus on your breaths. You may zone out completely, and not realize it until you come out of it. You may begin to feel the energy flowing through you. Personally I begin to feel my hands get very warm, or my feet begin to tingle. Appreciate these feelings, and continue to just be.
7. Once you decide to be finished, actively close your meditation. Begin to ground yourself, by wiggling your fingers and/or toes. If laying down, sit up slowly and feel the surface you’re on. You can even choose to rub your hands together- anything to guide you to begin to physically feel your body again in the physical world.
Conclusion
As mentioned previously, I don’t mean to knock the typical meditation methodologies. In fact, I’ve come to appreciate more structured meditations since I started meditating the way I described above, such as guided meditations.
The purpose of this post is to only help you become more aware that meditation does not have to be a lengthy process with all the bells and whistles, a fully structured endeavor, or sitting in silence and attempting to completely silence yourself and the world. There are little boundaries set on how to connect spiritually and, ultimately, the best way to meditate is the way that works for you.