Everyday life sometimes gets in the way. We are often too busy or perhaps too tired to connect with our soul.
Some of you know how to quiet their minds and can easily connect and listen to your inner voices. Others, not so much. Then this post is for you!
If you are just starting out on your spiritual journey, then it’s important that meditation is a huge component. It’s a great tool from your “spiritual toolbox”, that you can use to quiet your mind and listen to your inner guidance.
Yes, that’s right. You actually have all the answers within you. You just need to learn to get to them!
Benefits of Meditation:
- Many studies have been conducted, and have proven that slowing down your mind has many benefits:
- Meditation can reduce stress
- Gaining clarity, divine guidance, and inspiration
- Allows you to be focused in the present
- Receive internal insights about current situations
- Ward off diseases as this government funded study concludes
So, how do you go about meditating?
Do you need to sit with your legs crossed and chant ‘OM’? If that helps you, then yes.
Good news, there is no or right or wrong way to meditate. You do not have to sit still and keep your mind blank. In fact, the major key is to concentrate on one thing only.
One could start with just five minutes a day.
By learning to quiet the mind, you could learn not only to de-stress yourself easily but also you would be able to hear your inner voice more clearly.
Here are a few simple methods on how to reach your center:
Take a walk
You always have some time to walk either in the mornings or in the evenings. Get yourself out there, take deep breaths, inhale and exhale, letting go of all worries and stress. You can concentrate on your breathing or you can just look at the birds, the flowers, or the trees. Whatever gets your attention, just be aware.
Perhaps you are concentrating on your walk, how the ground feels, or how your shoes look like. The key here is to stay focused enough for just a couple of minutes. With a little practice, you can learn to shut out the world and just be focused on yourself. At last, you can learn to have peace within you, even if it is just for a few minutes a day. Enjoy your walk, and once you reach home, thank yourself and your body. It will greatly appreciate it.
Do some chores
Yes, you have to do them anyway, you might as well incorporate some time into a meditation technique?
Let’s see, you could be doing your dishes, cook or tidy up a room. Whatever choice you make, be sure to concentrate and be fully aware of what you are doing. If you are washing the dishes by hand, feel how you are cleaning the plates, feel the warm water, the sponge, and feel the texture. If you are tidying up a room, think of the object you are holding, think how it feels, look at the colors. The key here is to concentrate on the task itself.
Listen to some music
Put your headset on, listen to one great song you love, but make sure it’s at least four minutes long. When you listen to it, try to concentrate on either the lyrics or just listen to the music. When you are listening to the lyrics, listen to the singer’s voice, notice the different reflexes in the voice, listen intently, and you may even get goosebumps or have some tears in your eyes. If you are just listening to the music, hear where the drums or guitars are kicking in, or if it is panned to the right or left. You will all of a sudden notice all these little nuances that you usually do not hear while listening to a song.
Go outdoors and surround yourself with Mother Earth
She has amazing beaches, mountains, trails, lakes, or just sit outside on your patio or backyard. The essence is to get away from the noise, the everyday chatter. Just sit there for a few moments, and listen to the breeze go through the trees. Or if you are at the beach, listen to the waves crashing to shore or watch the pelicans. If you are in your backyard, can you hear the crickets? Whatever you do, just take a few minutes to concentrate on one thing only.
If you still are having problems to hush your brain chatter, then don’t panic. You can always use this tried and true method:
Guided Meditation
This is a traditional yet easy way to get yourself into a meditative state. In guided meditation, something outside of us assists us to reach an altered state of consciousness and move closer to our spiritual core. This assistance may come from music, a mantra, a chant or a technique such as brainwave synchronizations which induces a meditative state by slowing the brainwave patterns of the listener.
Be sure to check back as I will create a meditation for all of you who cannot visualize.
With love and light,
Dr Katana