Meditation is simple , if you know how to do it. Here are 3 exercises , from beginner to advanced level, to bring meditation into your daily life . From the more traditional practices of sitting meditation to those to be carried out while doing a practical activity.
Here is the way to live better and be more aware and relaxed.
Tatiana Berlaffa
Want to learn to meditate but don’t know where to start? There are meditation exercises for all levels.
If you have never meditated before you can start with meditation exercises for beginners and then go deeper.
Sukey and Elizabeth Novogratz explain it to us well in the book Basta Poco. And, as the title itself says, it really is. It is a practical book, which manages to remove the aura of mystery that surrounds meditation. It is a work that provides interesting insights and suggests simple meditation exercises for those who are not already experts and are afraid of not being able to do it.
But which exercises to start with?
Meditation exercises for beginners
1. Classic sitting meditation
The first exercise you can try is the most classic one: sitting meditation . It may seem the most difficult, but for this very reason, if you start with what scares you the most, the rest will be downhill. If you are a beginner, you are not asked to sit cross-legged for 1 hour. Follow these few simple rules and you will have found a way to practice daily without excessive effort :
- Point a Timer. Our mind is in constant motion. He often goes from one thought to another with lightning speed and seems to have no peace. If you don’t use a Timer, it’s likely that your thoughts often go in this direction: ‘When does this meditation end?’. If, on the other hand, you know that, after the established time, an alarm clock will sound and bring you back to your normal activities, you will have found a way to “keep your mind quieter”.
- Start with 5 minutes. Yes exactly. It really starts slowly. It is the only way to be sure of continuing the practice. Later, if you wish, you can increase the sitting time. But don’t be in a rush or performance anxiety. In meditation there is nothing to prove to anyone.
- Find a comfortable position. If keeping your legs crossed and sitting on a cushion on the floor isn’t your thing, don’t blame yourself. A chair will do just fine. Just make sure that your back is straight but not rigid and that you don’t lean back, otherwise you could risk leaning forward little by little.
- Focus on the breath. Feel the sensations of the breath going in and out of the nostrils. When a thought comes (and it’s bound to come), as soon as you realize your mind is “following” it, return to your breath. Repeat this mechanism as many times as necessary during practice.
That’s all? Yes, that’s all it is. What you have to do is continue. And the initial difficulties will decrease more and more as you practice.
How to meditate: 10 tips
Meditation exercises to do at home
2. Meditation in daily life
Any activity, if done in a mindful and non-judgmental way, can be considered a form of meditation . For example, daily activities such as brushing your teeth, setting the table, taking a shower, opening a door, can become practical meditation exercises to train our awareness.
Here is an example of a meditation exercise to do at home daily and in a simple way .
Turn the shower into a form of meditation
In order for a habitual action like “taking a shower” to become a form of meditation , you must learn not to do it ‘automatically’ but by paying attention to everything you perceive with your 5 senses. That’s how:
- Use Touch: feel the sensation of the cold metal under your fingertips when you turn on the tap, feel the warmth of the water flowing over your skin and the smooth surface under your feet in the shower.
- Use the sense of smell: what is the scent of your shower gel? Try to feel the difference between when you smell it inside the jar and when you feel it on your skin.
- Use Hearing: What is the sound of flowing water like? What sensations does it give you?
- Use Gusto: just before starting the shower, or as soon as you have finished it, try drinking a glass of water. What does it taste like? Have you ever wondered that?
Sight is often one of the senses we use the most. To give more room to smell, hear, touch and taste, try closing your eyes while you take a shower. Inevitably, the other sensations will seem more vivid to you.
Another little ‘trick’ to transform any activity into a ‘little meditation’ is to slow down the pace a bit. When you take things slower, you can notice more of all the aspects that you would overlook if you went ‘in automatic mode’.
DOWNLOAD 4 EXTRACTS FROM THE BOOK “BASTA LITTLE”
Guided meditation exercises
3. Some Apps to meditate with a guide
If you want to start meditating and you’ve never done it before (or even if you’ve been meditating for a while and want to strengthen your practice), technology can come to your aid.
In fact, since studies have shown the effectiveness of meditation to improve and maintain a good level of physical and mental health, many sites, apps and tools have sprung up to facilitate the practice.
The most famous and most used App in the world is undoubtedly Insight Timer . Contains guided meditations of all types and in several languages, including Italian.
It is simple to use and most of the meditations it contains are free to listen to.
Another very simple App to use is Mindfulness App . It contains a Timer for silent Meditation and the ‘Mindfulness Bell’, a simple sound that you can program at the cadence that is most congenial to you (once every 1/2/3 hours for example) and which reminds you to ‘come back to here and Now’. That is, it stimulates you to return to your breath and bodily sensations to remind you not to ‘stay always inside your head’.
Finally, there’s Zen in the City , an App that offers guided meditations for whatever activity you’re doing (from cooking, to doing crafts to peeing!).
It’s a way to try to be aware in every moment of your day.
Discover our guided meditations
One last tip for really meditating
Even if you think you’re “not made to meditate”, you think it’s useless (even if scientific evidence now proves the opposite) it’s a NO day or you feel like you don’t have time, give it a try.
Sit down and try to meditate, no matter what. 5 minutes is enough for you (and you can’t not have 5 minutes of time). Yes, this is precisely the only real secret to succeeding. And you will see, the results will surprise you.
