Sunday, April 3, 2016

7 Simple Things You Can Do to Start Your Mindfulness Meditation Practice, NOW

A couple of people requested me to write about some tips on how to start practicing mindfulness meditation, and I'd love to help! Below are the tips and tricks that I picked up along the way, so hopefully it would be helpful. However, if you still feel confused, don't hesitate to reach out! We can schedule a skype chat to talk more about it! :) 

A quick note before we start: if anybody wants to know the differences between Mindfulness, Mindfulness Meditation, and Basic Meditation, you can check ou this helpful article from The Huffington Post here

And without further babbling from me, here are the 7 superduper easy things you can do to start your mindfulness meditation practice, NOW. 



1. Find a quiet place

This is very important. If you want to start practicing being focused and present, you should not be
distracted by outside noises. Finding a calm and quiet place enhances your ability to place your
attention on yourself and your immediate surrounding, not the distractions going on around you.
This designated space can be your bedroom (without kids) or your own corner of the house. If you
just can't seem to find one, wait until everybody goes to sleep, or try to wake up before everybody
else does.
Meditating right before I go to bed and after I wake up seem to be the most beneficial (and
easiest) for me. It calms my head and sets me up for a night of deep sleep, as well as prepping my
mental focus for a productive morning. You can start with one session a day first and then build it
up. As you get better at it, you will see the benefits it has on your daily life and have more
motivation to up the duration and frequency.

2. Find a comfortable posture

Contrary to popular belief, there is no single correct posture for mindfulness meditation. You can start by sitting on a chair, sit on the floor or any flat surface with your legs folded, or even lay down on a bed (just make sure you don’t fall asleep!). Choose one that is most comfortable to you, so that your mind doesn't get drawn back to the discomfort of your position. I sit on my bed with my leg folded, and I am constantly working on having my back straight and tall. If you like this position, you can put a small pillow or a light blanket under your butt to support your posture. This will help you straighten your back without too much resistance.




3. Have an app that guides you through the first couple of sessions

There are many apps out there with voice guidance to help you get acquainted with the practice. My personal favorite is Headspace because Andy, the narrator, has a very smooth and calming voice. They also have cute animations to help you understand the concept better. However, Headspace can be very expensive. It is $7.99 a month if you choose the one-year subscription, so it's like Netflix for meditation but you have to pay for the whole year at once. One justification for this hefty price tag is the fact that it's very reflective of the app's quality - Headspace library is full of helpful content and well thought-out designs. If it is too expensive for you, just try their take10 package for free. It is a 10-day program for 10 minutes each day to help you learn the very basics of meditation. After this, you can choose to redo the program or move on to more affordable ones.
There are also many videos and websites online that provide guidance for beginners, some are
free and some are not. Depending on how committed you are, you can play around with the
different options and choose the ones that work best for you. I found this helpful link online, so try
it if you are not ready to invest in a paid one just yet.

4. If you want to go freestyle, use a timer app

Some people (like me) need some guidance, but others like to read about the practice and then go
off on their own. If this is you, try a timer app to support your meditation practice. I find it very
hard to just sit still for an infinite duration of time without a goal, so setting up a timer reassures
my mind that there are a beginning and an end, and I can move on to my daily activities once the
timer goes off. This significantly reduces the amount I take a peak to check the time, which would often result in getting distracted. You can simply use your phone's timer function or download a timer app that's geared toward meditation.
I use Insight Timer for my freestyle sessions because it has a bell sound to start and end your
session with. The bell is surprisingly real and vivid, and it fades out just like a singing bowl. I
actually do not know the scientific reasons of why this sound helps with meditation, but here's
what I found on an Amazon's description of a singing bowl:
"Singing Bowls are one of the ancient Tibetan meditation tools. The pure sounds produced
when the rim is rubbed by the mallet is said to put the brain into a meditative state. The
vibrations of the singing bowls have the same wavelength found in the brainwaves that
produce feelings of relaxation."
If you decide to give Insight Timer a try, do take advantage of their free guided sessions. They have a "Relaxing into Deep Sleep" session by Dr. Stuart Kaplan that I use when I can't fall asleep. I remember the first time I tried it, I had the deepest sleep that I have never experienced before!


5. Remember two most important phases of meditation: body scanning and breathing

If you want to do it on your own but don't know where to start, there are two important phases I
see in most mediation programs that I tried: body scanning and breathing
  • Body scanning is the technique of scanning down from the top of your head to find any comfort, discomfort or other sensation of your body. This can be a strong smell in the room, the feeling of your clothes touching your skin, a sore muscle, the weight you exert on the surface, and more. You will become more mindful of your own state of being, as well as reconnect with your own senses.
  • The breathing phase allows you to focus on your natural rhythm of inhaling and exhaling. During this time, you actually don't need to put effort into deep breathing, but just simply observe what your body does on its own without interference. This is also where I find myself getting distracted the most. If it happens to you, just gently guide your attention back to your breath. Headspace suggests that counting your own breath helps with focusing, so give it a try! This practice helps tremendously with self-control and willpower, as author Kelly McGonigal explained in her book The Willpower Instinct: By keeping your focus on your breath and guiding it back when you stray off, you create a powerful habit of slowing down and thinking about your end goal before acting, hence reducing the likelihood of you doing something you will regret later!

6. Light a scented candle or use an essential oil diffuser

By introducing a stimulus such as a pleasant smell, you create something you can anchor your focus on during meditation. Choosing different essential oil blends can also bring more benefits outside of mediation, such relaxation, relieving anxiety or even inducing concentration. Depending on your preference and purpose, you can tailor the smell and strength to achieve the perfect balance for you room. Do some research before you buy your oil to avoid cheaply fragranced ones; they can turn out to be too strong and unpleasant. Crunchy Betty has a comprehensive article about 21 things you should know about using essential oils to get you started.


7. Last but not least, remember: mindfulness meditation is NOT about shutting down your thoughts or solely focusing on only one thing, it's about awareness

When you are focusing on your breathing, you are aware of your body's rhythm, and when you catch yourself wandering off, you are aware of what your mind is doing. This awareness will, in turn, give you the power to concentrate, but being focused itself is not the main goal. That is why it's called "mindfulness meditation", after all. By being aware of what's going on to your immediate surrounding, you become more mindful of the presence and can therefore actively engage in the here and now. This implication is important because many people kick themselves for not being able to keep their focus for the whole duration of the practice. When you understand that knowing when you wander off to readjust is more important (and doable) than emptying your mind the whole time, you can be kinder to yourself in your journey and will more likely stick with it.


That's my advice on how to start your mindfulness meditation practice. Try it out and let me know in the comment section below which ones work for you!

*Disclaimer: This is not a paid article and I am not receiving any compensation to mention the products above. It is simply my two cents that I want to share with you :).

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