Meditation sounds exciting and mysterious, but you just don’t have the time or patience to start this practice, right? We hear you! We do! But what if we told you that you don’t need a mat, a room, or anything to meditate!
You don’t even need to take out time if you don’t wish to. All we need is you. Here’s a quick challenge for you – play your favorite song right now.
Yes, you heard that right, your favorite song. Now, listen to it.
It Sounds Easy, but Here’s the Challenge:
Listen to the entire song, including each word of the lyrics, listen to each musical tune, pay attention to every pause between the music, and identify each instrument while paying attention to every second of your favorite piece? You’ll notice that your mind drifts away to memories or other thoughts even while listening to your favorite song. It’s normal. The goal is to simply bring your focus back to the melody, lyrics, music, and silent pauses until the song ends.
Done? Well, congratulations!
You just meditated. Meditation is mindfulness. In this case, you just meditated by mindfully listening to your favorite song.
If you enjoyed this short meditation challenge, you’d find it easy to include meditation in your daily life. Every day, out of 24 hours, all you need is five minutes. Yes, just five minutes. You don’t have to set aside any additional time if you don’t wish to.
If you can set aside 5 minutes in the morning to simply listen to your breath before jumping out of bed, you’ll feel refreshed and ready for the day ahead. Or merely include any of the other suggestions listed below. Whatever you choose to do, it’s essential to avoid feeling burdened and always remember that the goal of meditation is to be free and enjoy life.
Art of Meditation in Daily Life
Short Morning Meditation Sessions
Do you check your work schedule every morning? Those who do would agree that it helps us shift our mindset and sets the tone for the days. Well, the same principle applies to meditation. Starting your day with a short 5-minute session of meditation is a very effective way to attain clarity of mind and prepare you to have a productive day ahead.
How can you achieve this? It’s very simple.
When your concentration improves gradually, over a few weeks or months, you can increase the length of your meditation sessions. But that’s optional.
5 Minutes Meditation
Meditation sessions don’t have to be lengthy and last for hours. In fact, it is highly recommended that we begin with short and crisp meditation sessions of 5 to 7 minutes.
They can be very effective in refreshing the mind and building concentration, rather than sitting down for an hour with a lethargic and unaware mind. Instead, you can hold two to three sessions of 5-minute meditation per day. It can be spread out such that you have a session in the morning, one at lunchtime, and one before sleeping. And it can be any type of meditation, but concentrative meditation is the best method to tame the mind initially.
Sleep Meditation on Breath
Do you know one of the secrets to a good night’s sleep? Meditating for at least 5 minutes before heading off to bed every night can have a beneficial impact on the quality of your sleep. Meditation on your breath is very effective in reducing the restlessness of the mind, helping us relax before sleeping.
Alternatively, you can try the Yoga Nidra guided meditation in the Black Lotus App.
Mindfulness in Daily Life
Did you know that it’s possible to be mindful while speaking, eating, working out or even in the office? Mindfulness is the process of focussing on the task at hand, whatever we may be doing.
In fact, mindfulness in itself is a form of meditation, and it can be practiced throughout the day. It’s simple and doable too. And however unusual some of the following examples may sound, they are in fact very beneficial to our minds.
- Mindful Speech
How many times have we uttered words which we regret? If we could control our speech, most of our arguments would cease to exist. But the good news is that mindful speech is a possibility.
We can avoid uttering lies or words which hurt others by pausing for a few seconds before speaking.
Then, as we mostly express ourselves using pleasant and loving words towards others, our conflicts reduce and our relationships improve.
- Daily Mindfulness in the Shower
Being aware of our bodily movements and the flow of the water on our skin, while remaining in a state of gratitude during the shower, is a great way of practicing mindfulness meditation.
- Walking Meditation
Similarly, as we walk or go for a stroll, being aware of the muscular movements of our legs and the weight we place on each foot at every step, requires utmost mindfulness. It is a great way of staying in the present moment and taming the mind.
- Mindfulness While Eating
Chewing mindfully, by keeping our minds focused on the food, jaw movements, the taste, and the act of eating, is mindful eating. Each bite of food usually has a variety of tastes and textures, whether that’s sweet, sour, crunchy, or soft, and through mindfulness, we gain the ability to enjoy every bite of our meal, with contentment and gratitude.
- Mindfulness While Driving
We can also drive mindfully by remaining aware of our limb movements and focusing properly on the road ahead, instead of allowing our minds to drift away.
- Stress Reduction Through Mindfulness at Work
It is possible to practice mindfulness at work too. An effective way to be mindful and productive at the same time is by completing our tasks in order of urgency. If we begin our workday with the most important tasks, the clarity of mind automatically increases our focus.
If we establish what’s required of us and act accordingly, we have successfully included mindfulness with quick 5 minutes meditation in our work life. So next time we are tempted to browse the internet instead of completing pending tasks, ask yourself the above question.
With this focus and deep breathing to realign our energies, our productivity and happiness levels increase automatically.
Meditation Journal & Its Importance
As we progress and decide to increase the length of our meditation sessions, the quality will also start to vary from day to day. The ability to concentrate in one session doesn’t necessarily mean that the next session will be as good. Therefore, it is beneficial to keep a Meditation Journal with the purpose to raise self-awareness and help one progress in your practice. It complements the meditation practice, and any meditator can derive immense benefits through this exercise. Ideally, it is recommended that the meditation journal is filled daily for at least 40 consecutive days with discipline at the end of each daily meditation. You may use this free to download meditation journal, that has been uniquely designed by Om Swami who has mastered the art of meditation.
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