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Life can sometimes feel like it’s flying by, right? Days turn into weeks, months into years. With each New Year’s celebration, we’re astonished by how quickly an entire year has passed. Living in a fast-paced world with a racing mind isn’t easy. You might be going into autopilot every now and then, having been up to your ears in day to day affairs and responsibilities. That's when you need a signal to wake up and take the lead in your own life, which is also when daily meditation comes into the picture. Meditating daily, even for a few minutes, can have an incredibly powerful impact on how you live your life. Each day you meditate keeps life from passing you by, enlivening your day to day.
Research says that meditation can have both psychological and physiological benefits. We’re more relaxed and at peace when we enjoy our presence in life through meditation. You don’t need to be an experienced meditator, spending long hours meditating every day to reap the benefits of meditation.
Here are some of the positive effects you may see after establishing a regular meditation practice:
As you see, meditating can have numerous benefits that you’ll see more and more as you meditate on a daily basis. Typically, it’s more effective to meditate each day, even just for a few minutes, rather than once a week for longer periods of time. As the frequency of your meditation practice increases, the positive effects also increase.
In fact, you can see some of the benefits of a short meditation practice even within the same day, such as fewer negative thoughts, a higher state of mindfulness, positivity, and a more objective and non-judgmental perception of self. When we say a higher state of mindfulness, we’re referring to the temporary functioning of the brain and the way the brain operates on a neural level. The transient, short-term effects of meditation can be maintained and can become more permanent with a regular daily commitment.
Consistency is the key here as our minds often work well with patterns and routines, especially ones that are comfortable, familiar, and offer us a kind of security in their predictability. Daily meditation can be that routine, an anchor for yourself that also helps to ground and connect you with yourself and the outer world. Each day is different and meditating daily will create space for you to know that you’re a whole and complete human being and you can weather whatever each day offers you.
Make sure to meditate in the same place and around the same time every day. Sticking to a specific place and time will help you get used to it, making it a familiar and welcoming process. Be open to making changes until you find the right spot and right time for you. You can decorate this place to your own taste, maybe putting a cushion on a blanket to make it more cozy, or positioning yourself where you can see your favorite views, whatever makes you feel comfortable.
Imagine trying to get into a parked car and then it starts to accelerate from zero to the fastest speed. It would be dangerous trying to jump into a moving vehicle, right? With meditation, start at zero before diving in full speed ahead. A few minutes each day can eventually build up to a longer practice in time, but embrace starting slow and steady.
Set goals that you can achieve in a short time. Maybe that’s aiming to meditate for 5 minutes today, for example. Make sure those goals are realistic and flexible, reminding yourself not to be too harsh if you don’t reach them. You are trying to establish a routine, it’s not easy and will involve some trial and error. Most importantly, pat yourself on the back when you reach your goals. Celebrating yourself for achieving a goal can boost your motivation to keep going.
Make changes when you feel unmotivated and take that feeling with you into your practice, letting yourself arrive as you are each day. All moods, thoughts and mental states are welcome here without judgment. Don’t see the days when you don’t meditate as setbacks. When you think of your whole life, a couple of days where you don’t sit and meditate is nothing. Doing your best is important and you get to define what your best looks like.
You can keep a journal that you take notes in during or after your practice. Keeping a daily journal can help motivate you to meditate every day and go write in that journal. Buy or make one of your own and put it somewhere in your meditation space. However you are, whatever you are experiencing each day, write about it in your journal. Reflecting on yourself and your emotions is a big part of mindfulness and it’s not always easy to sit with ourselves when we don’t feel our best. Putting those feelings into words can help you to accept and eventually let go of those negative thoughts. Allow each day to shape your practice. That way, you won’t get bored because all your practices will be unique and different.
Invite your family, your partner, or your friends to meditate daily. Having someone with whom you share this process can give you the motivation you need to keep going. You can share your experiences with each other or you can give yourself small rewards that you can earn as you continue this process. Meditopia also has challenges that people can join and follow a meditation journey with people all around the world.
Start with something small, like a one minute meditation. Then, as you get accustomed to the practice, increase the length of time little by little. If you wait to be ready for a long and deep practice from day one, day one may never come. Instead, you’ll get there with smaller steps, each one forward being a precious gift and well worth the wait although it may seem insignificant at the beginning. You’ll be surprised how quickly you get deeper into and feel more comfortable in your practice. Just keep in mind that it’s a process. Enjoy it!
Be open to following the guidance of others. Guided meditations can be perfect for you if you have no idea where to start when it comes to practicing mindfulness. We often need guidance from someone else we trust when we intend to start something new. We want to know what we should expect, what we need to start, and what first steps to take. There are thousands of guided meditations with several options for your different moods, emotions, or needs. It will become clearer, making more sense after you look at the wide variety of pieces thoughtfully curated by people who know what they’re doing and who genuinely want you to be okay.
Don’t limit yourself by just practicing meditation. Mindfulness and meditation can create a shift toward a more balanced life and a clearer mind. Moments of awareness are actually sprinkled throughout our day. Do everything you do, big or small, with a meditative mind. Include different mindfulness activities in your daily life as you proceed and deepen your practice. Try to use the foundations of mindfulness while cooking, walking, or communicating. The more you get into such a mindset, the easier it is to make meditation a habit.
Starting something new is exciting, right? Take advantage of the driving force of excitement. Use this excitement in the first days of your meditation journey until it naturally becomes a habit.
