Most people are not aware that there are two sides of life – there is the inner world and the outer world. The outer world is controlled by the inner world and the inner world is controlled by you. It is common for people to live their life backward thinking that they are a victim to their environment not knowing that they can easily change anything about their life just by relaxing their mind and getting in touch with what they want. Meditation is one of the most effective ways to do this. However, meditation is not just the simple act of closing your eyes and sitting silently for 10 minutes. There is a process to make meditation effective so you can enhance your experience and get a much better effect from practicing it. In this article, we will talk about 5 ways we found to make meditation more effective.
Forget About Trying To Get It “Right”
Once you understand how powerful meditation is to get your mind into a much better state, it is common for people to try hard to make it work. This is the easiest way to actually fail and not get the full effect from meditating. The reason is, if you are focused on trying to get meditation right, then that is what you are focused on instead of actually relaxing your mind and body. Some people fall into this trap if they have a big presentation to make that day, or if they need something to go their way, but to make meditation as effective as it could be it is important to remove any hidden motives of trying to get it right. But don’t be mistaken, it is completely normal for the voice in your head to continuously try to find things to focus on and prevent you from calming yourself. However, if you start meditating with the mindset that you “don’t care” about trying to “get it right” then it automatically relieves a load of pressure which allows your mind to move into a relaxed state much quicker to make meditation much more effective.
The Five Second Rule
Think of a time that you have been totally relaxed… how hard were you breathing at that time? When you take long deep breaths in and breathe out very slowly, your brain is wired to believe that you are in a relaxed state because you wouldn’t breathe like that if you were feeling different emotions such as fear or anxiety. We call this the five-second rule which means it should take around five seconds to breathe in, and fives seconds to breathe out. At first, you may have to mentally count to five for each breath, but after practicing meditation more consistently, you’ll be able to develop a rhythm and to do it unconsciously without counting to five for every breath.
Rise and Shine
Meditating in the morning is more effective than practicing it at any other time not only to set your day up to be a big success, but it’s also easier to get into a relaxed state as soon as you wake up. One of the reasons is that the morning gives everyone a fresh start which allows them to calm their mind without the stress that comes from everyday life. It is common for people to have a difficult time getting into a relaxed state if something happened at work that day which bothered them. Not only that but there are also fewer distractions from your surroundings if you are able to meditate early in the morning because most people are still asleep. We suggest meditating sitting up on the floor so you can avoid falling back asleep right in the morning.
Be Patient
Just like anything, it takes time to become good at something. Meditation is no different. At first, it may not be easy to control the thoughts that are rushing into your mind while you meditate but as you stay consistent with it you will get better. It’s important not to give up if it isn’t a good experience for you the first time. Meditating with the mindset that you’re willing to be patient enough to make it work will also relieve some of the pressure from yourself which will allow you to relax just a little more. Ultimately, patience comes from wanting the positive impacts that meditation can bring to your life and the willingness to make it work. Think of meditating as a part of your lifestyle instead of something that you have to do. Once you start to experience the benefits and great feelings from proper meditation you will look forward to it every day.
I hope you are able to benefit from these tips. I’ve been practicing meditation for awhile, but only started to really experience the great parts of it when I implemented these four ideas. These ideas is what made the biggest difference for me.
Mathew Morettin