Inhale through your nose exhale through your mouth.
Pull your breath from the base of your spine and channel it up to your head.
Send your breath and any negative energy out of your mouth.
Close your eyes.
Do it again.
Meditation is something that wannabe gurus have made into this colossal trend that no one seems to understand. From the concentrated breathing to the erasing your thoughts, the whole process can get a little confusing. Merriam-Webster defines meditating as a form of concentration, reflection and/or mental exercise for the purpose of reaching a heightened state of spiritual awareness. But what does that really mean?
Meditating is different for everyone and should hold a specific purpose to you. There are different levels of engagement for every person. The point of meditating is getting back to a state of just being and becoming one with your breath. Anything beyond that is totally up to you.
First, if you want to meditate you need to be comfortable. The point is to center yourself. I don’t know about you, but I can’t do that in jeans or a bra. Wear comfy clothes, seclude yourself from harsh sound, set up a relaxing area and maybe even light some candles. If you can create a space that you feel comfortable in then your path to meditation will become much easier.
Once you’ve set up your space, cop a squat. I’d say lay down, but that’s an entirely different move and too tempting to fall asleep. According to How to Meditate, meditation requires an appropriate posture and breath. When your head, shoulders, knees and toes–and everything in between–are in place, breathe a controlled breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Concentrate on that for at least a minute and then increase your meditation time every time you practice until you can meditate for at least 30 minutes.
And that’s it!
You’ve just conquered the first stage of meditation. In the first stage, you are focusing on clearing your mind, ridding yourself of distractions and becoming a more lucid being.
If that’s all you want out of meditation then you can stop there. Meditation isn’t something that should make you feel any type of pressure or anxiety. It should come naturally and become a fluid part of your day.
However, there are some more advanced steps if you’d like to continue your journey of enlightenment and balance.
Incorporating mantras, affirmations and intentions are a great way to dig deeper into your practice. A mantra can be a word, sound, syllable, etc., that you repeat over and over while you meditate. Some mantras can be found in the Sanskrit tongue that are thought to carry psychological and spiritual powers. Affirmations are short, powerful statements that you repeat during your practice. Like the power of visualization, by repeating your affirmation you manifest the power and feelings conveyed by your affirmation. Intentions can be your motivations, actions or goals that you have and want to carry out during your practice. One day your intention may be opening your heart more during meditation and another day your intention may be to send love to your BFF while you meditate.
As you grow in your meditations, you may want to practice different types. Types of meditation vary based on where you are in the world and who you ask. But, there are five basic meditations outlined by The Chopra Center. They are as follows.
Primordial Sound Meditation (PSM) is a silent practice using a mantra that focuses on comfort. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) brings awareness to your breath and body by doing a body scan while you focus on your breath. Zen is about observing the breath and the mind while trying to obtain enlightenment. Transcendental Meditation uses mantras to help practitioners focus on their breath. And lastly, Kundalini Yoga is a form of meditation using the breath, mantras, hand positions and focus to help whoever’s meditating flow through his/her body and mind.
When you’ve mastered these meditations hit me up because I’m pretty sure you’ve reached enlightenment and I’d like to enlist you as my own personal guru.
But really, in all seriousness, meditation has helped me a lot and I know it will help you. Meditation is my go-to whenever I’m stressed, anxious, sad or any type of out-of-control. It keeps me grounded and reminds me of who I am. I can center myself and my breathing. Then, I can focus my energy on where I’m feeling the worst(Or the best! Meditation isn’t just for bad moods!). Once I feel where my energy is coming from I can pinpoint what triggered it and why I allowed myself to react the way I did. Other than that, I just like starting my day with a few calming breaths. You’d be surprised how everything else aligns itself after that.