5 Simple Steps To An Effective Meditation Strategy

Meditation has countless benefits which I will save for a deep dive into another post. But here are 5 simple steps that should help you take the first steps to meditating in your daily life.

1. You don’t have to do it for hours

   Contrary to many people’s excuse, ‘I don’t have time for it’, my personal experience has shown me that meditating for as little as 60 seconds to 5 minutes can start reaping some benefits, such as experiencing more peace and calm in the present moment. As you start meditating and start seeing some of the benefits for yourself, you will naturally be drawn to spending more time carrying out the process. The simplest way to start any positive habit is to make it an easy-to-complete task at the beginning.

2. You don’t need A teacher to begin

   Let me start this section by saying, there is absolutely nothing wrong with teachers in this space. I, myself am someone who guides amazing people through meditations 3 times a week. As amazing and inspiring teachers can be, it is not a necessity to being your practice. The beauty of meditation is that, from my perspective, you can’t do it wrong. You can only start, practice, practice and practice some more and learn new techniques along the way as you get more into it. There are countless online videos that you can even follow along with.

3. You only have to focus on breathing

   What I know to be the simplest form of meditation and something that I practice every single day now is meditation through breath. Its as simple as breathing in through your nose and breathing out through your mouth. As you breathe in, you want to aim to breathe into the belly and then your chest, and as you breathe out, imagine the tension and stress that you hold in your body slowly leaving you. The process of focusing on breath means you bring focus to the mind when you may otherwise be experiencing many different thoughts, feelings and emotions.

   Repeat this for as many times as you can or want to for your meditation. 2 minutes is a great way to begin.

4. Quietens the mind

   I believe that meditation is a powerful tool to help quieten the mind. After a little research and varying different answers, I’ve concluded that on average we can have between 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts per day. If you calculate that per second, at the top end, it seems like we have 1.2 thoughts per second (assuming we’re awake for 16 hours). That’s a lot of thinking! So if there was a practice that we could undertake that helped calm those thoughts down a little, I think it would definitely be worth it, right?

   So how can you use meditation to quieten the mind? This method is so simple and easy its almost too good to be true, until you try it and realise it for yourself.

   So here’s how you do it, mentally count your breaths in and out. And as simple and easy as it sounds, if implemented with intention, can be one of the most effective strategies to begin your practise.

   For example, while breathing in through your nose, focus on counting for 5 seconds as you draw breath in, and then count 5 seconds as you exhale out through your mouth. What you’ll notice is after some practice, while you’re focused on the counting and breathing, your thoughts will slowly fade away and you’ll be in a position where you’ve learnt how to switch off your thoughts. And those moments are amazing. As you practice and do this more and more, increase the seconds you breathe in and out for.

5. Can reduce anxiety, stress and worry

   By nature, we can all at some point experience varying levels of anxiety, stress, worry or fear. Whether its pressure from school, college, university or work, or something at home with family, partners or kids. There’s a million different things that are out there every day that can trigger certain thought patterns and belief systems causing us to feel ‘off centre’.

   Meditation could be a powerful tool in your arsenal to use at your disposal as and when necessary. By taking time out of your day to quieten your mind, it may allow you to not feel so overwhelmed by your day to day triggers and over time, give you a clearer mind to help you navigate through various situations that would have otherwise spun you into a negative reaction.

Have you tried meditation? Did you find anything above useful? I would love to hear about your experiences with meditation in all forms. Please leave a comment below.

This post is just an introduction into why meditation might be a useful practice for you. In no way is the above information an exhaustive list and is not intended be used as a replacement for the advice and guidance of a relevant qualified professional.