How To Make Meditation Easier
Are you having difficulty meditating? Do you want to start a meditation practice but have no idea where to begin? This post will help you on your meditation journey with 5 tips on how to make meditation easier!
Meditation is not 'easy'
It can be so easy to try meditating a few times and fall into the pattern of thinking, “Well, meditation just isn’t for me, I can’t sit still and I can’t quiet my mind”.
The most likely cause of this is that you haven’t given it enough time. We need to have patience for good things to happen in life; we can’t rush the results and we need to give ourselves time to practice. This is especially true with meditation.
I totally understand that meditating can be very challenging for people. I used to be there myself and thought that it was literally impossible for me to quiet my mind. This really was just a limiting belief that I was placing on myself. I needed to meditate because I was not in a good place in my mind but I was in such a state of sabotaging myself that I was having trouble getting past this belief.
What I finally did was truly dedicate myself to a meditation practice. I made it part of my daily routine and I started to push past my usual thought patterns. The crazy part is, I truly believe that meditation is one of the main components that has helped me come this far in taking control back from my mind. It has brought so much positivity into my life which is why I’m sharing this post with you!
With my story, I hope I’ve encourage you to continue to try meditating.
It really isn’t easy to sit still and quiet the mind, it takes practice like anything else. If you want to run a marathon but never train to run, you wouldn’t just go out and run 26 miles on the first day. You might go for 1 mile and you know what, that 1 mile would probably suck. But, it will get easier if you consistently keep showing up and running.
Same goes for meditation. I think people give up on meditation because it looks like it should be easy. You’re just sitting there with your eyes closed right? What could be so hard? But controlling and relaxing the mind is not a task to be taken lightly. It’s challenging to do this, the mind wants to keep feeding you thoughts, it takes practice to get it to quiet down. But when you do start to find those moments of quiet in the thinking mind, it can bring about amazing results.
Most things in life that are challenging bring the best results anyway right?
Below you’ll find 5 tips on how to make meditation easier to help you along your meditation journey. I hope these tips encourage you to either start a meditation practice or to not give up on one!
How To Make Meditation Easier - 5 Tips
1. Start with a short meditation.
Remember the marathon example from before? Don’t try to sit for a 30 minute meditation right away, all you need is 5 minutes to start. Work your way up to whatever time you would like but get there slowly!
Meditation is about letting go and calming the body & mind, there is nothing rushed about it so don’t try to ‘rush’ to sit for a longer meditation if you’re not ready. Take the time to build up this skill because quieting the mind is a skill that needs to be forged.
2. Use guided meditations.
Guided meditations are really helpful in the beginning. I personally do both guided and non-guided meditations currently but in the beginning there was no way I was sitting for a non-guided meditation.
Guided meditations will make it way easier to get into that meditative state. They can also be helpful if you’re struggling to quiet your thoughts.
For a 5 minute guided meditation for beginners, check out this video here: 5 Minute Guided Meditation
3. Sit how you are comfortable.
There’s no rule that says you have to sit cross legged on the floor to meditate. If you’re comfortable in this position, then by all means go for it but this isn’t the only way to meditate.
If you want to sit on the floor but are uncomfortable, try to use props to make your seat more comfy. Some options can be to use a meditation cushion or to place pillows under your legs.
Play around with this until you find that perfect position for yourself. This took me time as well! Now when I meditate I know what position I will be able to sit in with the least distractions from my body.
If sitting on the floor just isn’t for you, then sit in a chair. Sitting in a chair isn’t going to make your meditation any less effective. The most important thing is that you’re comfortable because if you’re not, then it’s going to be even more difficult to sit still and relax. If sitting in a chair I do suggest you keep your feet in contact with the ground, it just helps to keep you more grounded through your practice.
4. Find a place in your home that you can dedicate to meditation.
You don’t need to have a giant home to do this. I currently have made a meditation/zen corner in my home that I use that’s relatively small but works wonderfully. What’s so amazing about this is that once you sit in this area, your mind will already start to go into that meditative state. It remembers ok, this is the place where I get to relax.
If you don’t have the space in your home to have somewhere that’s dedicated to your practice, that’s ok, just go to the same place in your home each time you sit for meditation.
For more tips on creating a meditation corner, check out this post: Creating A Meditation Corner, Tips to Get Started
5. Don't be so hard on yourself.
Like I said before, meditation takes practice and it is not a time for us to be judging ourselves. If you find that during a meditation your mind was all over the place or you had to keep moving your body, who cares? You still showed up and took the time for you.
These things improve with time, so give yourself the time needed and be kind to yourself.
There are your 5 tips on how to make meditation easier! I hope you find these tips helpful for you meditation journey.
For those looking for more guidance in their meditation practice, my free 7 day yoga experience is a great place to start. Here, you get to try different aspects of yoga which includes 3 different types of meditations. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP!
You can do this guys! Happy meditating 🙂
