Close your eyes. Sit up straight (wherever you are is fine). Smile. Take a deep breath in through your nose and silently count to ONE. Slowly let that breath out through your nose and silently say TWO. Repeat this until you get to TEN. Start over each time your mind wanders and you lose your count
Meditation doesn’t have to be motionless. Walking meditation is a form of meditation in action. You simply focus on walking. Go outside and take a walk and just have the actual walk be your focus. Don’t pick up your phone and text people or use this time to call someone.
Simply spending a few minutes petting an animal can be a very relaxing and calming activity, especially when it’s done mindfully (when you’re focusing on the activity rather than while you’re doing something else). There is a two-pronged effect whereby your touch calms the animal and at the same time, releases feel-good endorphins in you, reducing your heart rate.
I used guided meditations over 50% of the time when I first started. It helped focus my mind and I thought of them as my “personal trainers” for meditation. There are so many awesome guided meditations available for free online and for many people this is a great way to get started (or to enhance your practice).
Close your eyes. Sit still. Now open up your floodgate of thoughts. Don’t even attempt to not to have thoughts. You won’t be able to. Instead let them come and simply observe them. Even better, treat them like leaves falling from a tree. Watch them simply float away. Don’t get attached to them.
Gratitude is one of the most powerful emotions that we can experience. I’ve talked before about how gratitude changed my life and it’s something that I practice and live every single day (no matter what else is going on). It’s a way to step outside of yourself for a bit and a great way to slow down.
