Anyone who wants to practice meditation should understand that we need to get the basics right. Sometimes we think that playing a track on an app, or a YouTube meditation channel is all we need to have a good meditation session. But there are more details that need to be attended to, and you can learn them here.
1. Stay regular with meditation
This is so obvious with any kind of habit that we would like to form. And it’s rightly so for a reason. We should not expect overnight changes to happen. To understand the importance of meditation, we should commit to it. Try to set aside a period of time and do it daily.
Only then can you see the changes happening to you, even if it is at a slower pace than what you were expecting.
Make sure you choose the right time to meditate as well, a time when you’re okay with keeping aside 20 minutes for meditation.
2. Meditate on a light stomach or empty stomach
When you’re on a full belly, the first thing that you want to do is – sleep. And since meditation requires you to sit, two things will happen:
1. Your food won’t digest.
2. You’re more likely to fall asleep.
Similarly, try to avoid having food that will interrupt you during meditation. It could be spicy food, soda, or the unnecessary kick from coffee.
Meditation should be a practice that lets you become aware of you and your body in it’s natural state. It needs alertness (which is not induced), and if you’ve had caffeine, you’re taking your body out of its original/natural state.
3. Avoid meditating after dinner
Even if you have a tight schedule, it’s best not to place meditation as a thing to do after dinner. If you tend to struggle with sleeping, and found that meditating puts you into a sleepy state, then it’s fine. Unless this is the case, try to set aside time for meditation, before dinner. This way you won’t fall asleep.
4. Don’t have high expectations
We all want to reach enlightenment. A place where there are very few mental interruptions from thoughts and a state of mental calmness.
But having this expectation forces us to work. We work very hard at pushing thoughts away. We work hard at increasing our progress from previous meditations. This is wrong.
When we sit down to meditate, we have to sit in a zone of zero expectations. This way, when thoughts come, we don’t stress about the fact that the same thing happened last time.
Remember, expecting a great meditation session can diminish the value of a small change that will go on to improve your life.
5. Practice meditation with a guide.
If you can find any course online, website or app that provides guided sessions, take it up. An even better option is to join a course and enter a community.
You can share and receive experiences that can help you with your technique and outcome. Try to find an instructor to help you whenever you face any issues during meditation.
Stay positive and practice these 5 tips!