Meditation for Beginners
I’m trying to revive my meditation practice, which over the years has been eeked away with the crunch of daily life. Ironically, I think my excuses for avoiding it are exactly the reasons I need to do it — stressed, tired, and racing mind full of lists of things I need to do.
While it can feel like taking time out and away from our goals, meditation can actually help us to be more efficient and focused. And you can reap benefits from just a few minutes!
1. Sit in a chair and allow your body to settle
2. Slowly scan your body from toe to head, noticing where you feel tight
3. Bring your attention to your breathing, inhaling and exhaling though the nose but never forcing your breath. Keep your mouth softly closed, your jaw relaxed
4. Become more and more sensitive to your breath, in tune with where your body moves (and doesn’t move) on the inhale and exhale
5. Allow your awareness of your breath to bring ease to your entire body. Imagine your body moving toward the earth, fully supported
6. Continue observing your breath moving in and out of your body
7. At the end of the 10 minutes (or 5, start out slow and go easy on yourself), breath deeply three times, allowing the inhale to move down to your toes and the exhale to move up and out of the tops of your shoulders. Pause and then open your eyes
Voila! Good luck!
-Katie