Here I leave you different options and tips that will make you see meditation with different eyes and find your own way for meditate.
If you think that sitting with a blank mind does not work for you, that it creates more anxiety or that you cannot stop, that you are a person of action… Whatever you are, you can also meditate! You just have to find the best way for you, the one that best suits how you are. Of course, there are many levels and wisdoms behind meditation, but here I want to start with the basics, with something simple that we can all start doing today!
Let's start first by destroying the myth that meditation is "putting our mind blank." This belief what causes us, is that during the time that we are "meditating" we are constantly fighting with our mind because it does not stop thinking.
Meditating is being present, in the moment, connecting with our breathing, giving our mind a rest, creating a moment of silence and stillness within ourselves ... as my friend Rosaia used to tell me, it is like the shower that we all give our bodies every day, meditating is the shower that we give to our spirit, to clean ourselves, refresh ourselves, rest, stop ...
In the society we live in, it is sometimes difficult to find a time to stop and go within. We constantly live outside at hectic rhythms and totally disconnected from ourselves. For this reason, if we want to work on ourselves, it seems to me essential to create a little time for ourselves, to connect with our interior, for silence, for internal listening….
There are different ways you can meditate, and I encourage you to try all of them. Even if at first it is only for five minutes, trying and experimenting, you can discover the one that resonates the most or works for you:
1. Sitting or lying down, with your eyes closed and your back straight but not tense. These may be the typical positions that we are most used to seeing. In this position, you can simply focus on your breathing, count to 10 continuously when you breathe in odd numbers and when you breathe out pair numbers, follow some guided meditation, put on music to help you focus….
2. Contemplation: this is once again about bringing our attention and concentration to the present and we can do it in any position (depending on what we choose to contemplate), with narrowed eyes, and contemplate the sea, a tree, the flame of a candle , a drawing or painting that we have on the wall, etc. Contemplation can also be in movement, although, a slow movement, for example walking barefoot on grass and paying attention to each step, simply walking around the garden or room and contemplating everything there is, seeing the beauty of each thing, without hurry, slowly ...
3. Doing some of your hobbies alone: ​​it can be painting, doing crafts, cooking, doing some sport (running, climbing, riding a bike, walking in the mountains ...), trying to put all your attention and concentration on what you are doing. At that moment nothing else matters, there is no past or future, only the present in which it is time to add the tomato to the soup, add a little yellow to that sky that I am painting, or slow down in the area of ​​the path with rocks….
4. Meditation in movement: there are guided meditations in movement that you can find on YouTube for sure, and I recommend those of Osho. You can also meditate by dancing freely, letting yourself flow and feel the music, or doing yoga for example.
In addition to these proposals, experiment, find your own, because there is no single way to meditate or a correct one. Each person is different and that is why we must find our unique way. However, there are things in common in all of them to keep in mind that can help us:
- Always connect with your breathing, be aware of your breathing and if at any time you notice that you have stopped breathing (such as with the adrenaline of a complicated step climbing), it is ok, when you realize it, breathe again at the rhythm you need, but breathe!
- Put all your attention in the present and in what you are doing. If other thoughts come to you, or you start to think about all the work you have accumulated, it is ok, we accept those thoughts that come, we observe them and as far as we can, we let them pass as if they were clouds or a falling leaf to a river ... And if we remain hooked on some thought for a long time, when we realize it, we let it pass, if we can, and we continue.
- If you don't last long in meditation, or at the end you spend the 5 minutes thinking about a lot of things ... it is ok, be patient and keep practicing. Everything is practice and even if it seems that you do nothing, you are doing it. Little by little you can increase the time or even the times a day ... it all depends on you and what you need.
I say goodbye encouraging you, as always, to try and experiment !! And if you have any comments, questions or want to share your experiences with me, I will love to read you in the comments or by mail.
I send you a hug full of silence, listening and internal stillness