Tips for Building a Daily Meditation Practice

Why should you meditate? Meditation acts as a soul lifter. Attuning to consciousness directly is a heavenly sensation. It boosts both mental and physical health and uplifts your mood for a stress-free day ahead. In the first instance, meditation seems a burdensome activity. But once you experience the feeling of empowerment and self-control it induces, you would never quit it. Here are a few tips for building a daily meditation practice.

What Is Your Excuse For Not Meditating?

Newbies sometimes take it wrong. They presume that meditation is demanding and works only for people with good self-control. Or it requires much time. Some people consider themselves unfit for meditation because they are relentless thinkers. However, it is not like that. Any person irrespective of their mental caliber can do it. It helps the overthinkers and people with anxious minds to be mindful of their thoughts and regulate these later. Meditation is the most easy-to-execute routine. It is free of any restrictions of time, place, or equipment. Take a five-minute break and here you go.

How to Become a Habitual Meditator?

1. Start with less

Start with the shortest duration of two minutes of mediation and stick to it. Two minutes seems quite a short time but is enough for mastering the most basic skill. There is no need to extend the practice unless you start seeing the difference. When this happens, gradually extend the duration based on your comfort level.

2. Select Your Time and Place

Although meditation needs no ornaments, picking a certain suitable time and tranquil area helps the doers. Creating a meditation-friendly ambiance for beginners gradually helps to adapt their minds to the meditation state. Most people find solace in the early morning. Evenings are also appropriate when busy mornings do not spare you for meditation. Or take a meditation break on your bed before sleeping. You can pair your meditation time with any routine habit like morning coffee, evening walk, or lunch break.

3. Keep It Casual   

Keep it practical and easy-going. Avoid accessorizing as much as possible. The more preparations or arrangements you make for a task, the more difficult it becomes. Developing a meditation habit with certain attire or equipment would prevent you from doing it anywhere or at any time. Sit in a comfortable position. You could sit on a floor cushion, pillow, couch, chair, bed, or sit on the bare floor with your back against the wall or in a cross-legged position.

4. Less and Steady

Why start with two minutes if you can do more? For beginners, it is not important to do more or do better. They need to be steady and consistent in developing the habit. Keeping the duration short is more helpful for developing a long-lasting meditation habit. Once they become accustomed to meditation, they can increase their duration gradually.

5. Watch Your Breathing

Paying attention to your breathing is the basic step toward practicing mindfulness. Sit straight, rest your gaze on the floor or close your eyes if you want to. Breathe in and trace the path of air as you inhale it through your nostrils, mouth, throat, windpipe, lungs, and blood capillaries. Later, the back way through the same path, go with the flow until you exhale it. If you lose track, let it go. Focus on where your mind is taking you and then bring it back to breathing again.

6. Focus On Practice, Not On Consequences

Take it as a practice, not as a miracle. No doubt, meditation could yield instant results for relaxing your mind. The practice takes time and effort before offering positive outcomes. But if you expect instant results, you might end in despair and quit soon. It is mindfulness that is important to achieve through practice.

7. Avoid Immediate Jumping Into Meditation 

Jumping into meditation at the peak of stress is a bad idea. Your body would not immediately resort to calmness. Give yourself some time to slow down and clear your mind to enjoy relaxing moments of mindfulness. Just take a few deep breaths to signal your mind for the upcoming practice.

Conclusion

Meditation allows you to take a short break from the fret and fever of daily life. You get the best out of meditation when you do it as a daily practice. There is no complexity involved in learning meditation. Keep it simple and short to make it a daily ritual.