Tips for Easier Meditating

Have you ever tried to meditate but gave up because you felt you just couldn’t do it? Maybe you were expecting that you had to stop all your thoughts before you were doing it “right”?

Well, meditation, like many things, takes practice. And you don’t necessarily have to stop all thought to get the benefits.

When I started meditating about 50 years ago, my mind was full of thoughts or persistent chatter. It still is if I haven’t been consistent. And sometimes, it takes several minutes before I feel my mind or body calm down.

Listening to environmental sounds while lying down (with the only sound products available at the time -- vinyl records or cassette tapes) helped me get to a place where it felt like I was actually meditating.

Early on, I also took a class in meditating and noticed that every night we had class, I would need less sleep (I usually slept 9 or 10 hours in those days).

Then I became aware that answers to my “everyday” or more philosophical questions were being answered. Not during meditation, but the answers would come to me when I would go about my daily routine.

It’s amazing how when you quiet your mind and open yourself up to finding solutions or a better direction in life, you are guided to where you need to go or what you need to do.

Here are some tips to help you get into a meditative state:

1.      Start by lying down or sitting up and listening to environmental sounds, relaxing music without lyrics, or sound bowls. All these are easily available on the internet.

2.      Focus on one thing, like your breathing - your rib movement, your belly expanding, the air flowing in and out of your nose - or find an uplifting/calming word or two to repeat.

3.      Don’t feel like you have to meditate 20 minutes at a time to do it “right.” Or that you have to not be thinking at all.

4.      Improvement usually happens over time but not necessarily each time. Some days are easier than others.

5.      Do practice, even if it doesn’t feel like you’re meditating. Keep going. Maybe just focus on breathing for a minute or two at a time.

6.      Partner up with someone else who is already meditating or just starting, so you can help each other be consistent.

Meditation has many benefits that are worth the practice. It helps you calm down, feel peaceful, release tension, relax, and cope more easily. And you may find the answers to your big (or not so big) questions.