Meditation You Can Do At Home

Just about every “how to be more productive” and lifehack article will sing the praises of meditation. Meditation is no longer viewed as something that just hippies and yogis do. In fact, meditation has substantial health benefits, like stress reduction, improved self-image, a more positive outlook on life, and may even reduce age-related memory loss.

Meditation comes in different forms, but in a nutshell, it’s a way to train your mind to increase attention and awareness or to achieve a mentally and emotionally calm state of mind. Just like any new skill or activity, it will take a while to learn how to meditate correctly and experience its full effects. While your friends and mentors may be able to meditate for 45 or 60 minutes a day, you may only be able to do 10. That’s totally okay.

There are many ways to meditate, so don’t be discouraged if the first technique you try doesn’t work for you. Meditation is meant to be calming, so it’s best to start simple and progress to more advanced techniques over time.

Simple Meditation for Beginners

1. Set a timer for two or three minutes and place it to your side.
2. Sit or lie comfortably in a quiet room with no distractions.
3. Close your eyes.
4. Breathe naturally as you would throughout your day.
5. Start to focus your attention on your breath and how your body moves with each inhalation and exhalation. If your mind begins to wander, return your attention, and focus back to your breath.
6. Start with two to three minutes and work your way up to 10 minutes or more.

Once you’ve mastered the basic meditation techniques, you can start to play around with more advanced techniques. Deep breathing is often utilized in meditation and it has a lot of benefits. Deep breathing has been shown to calm your nerves and keep you in the present. Although we may think that breathing is easy, it’s not.

How to Breathe Properly

1. Take a deep breath in through your nose. Feel your rib cage and diaphragm expand.
2. Once you have filled your lungs all the way, hold it for a count of four.
3. Release your breath through your mouth as if you are sighing.
4. Repeat.  

If you need a little extra push to start meditating, there are a ton of apps and podcasts that will get you started.

Meditation is a wonderful technique you can do at home to help you clear your mind, reduce your stress, and improve your awareness and mindfulness. Start your meditation journey by simply focusing on your breath for a few minutes each day. You’ll be amazed at how much calmer your mind, spirit, and body feel afterward.

Namaste!