A Simple Guide for Meditation

I bet you have heard the word MEDITATION quite often this year. And by no surprise meditation is way more popular nowadays, since its a way to go inside (while we all are inside of our homes in quarantine, what a coincidence right?).

Maybe you already tried to start meditating daily after watching all those Instagram lives, and yet you can’t find a way to concentrate. Or maybe you can’t see the benefits of incorporating a meditation to your busy life. Do not worry, I have been there and trying to meditate isn’t easy at all. This guide helped me to incorporate meditation to my routine, heling my stress and lack of sleep over the past years.

Benefits of Meditation

• Help reduce stress, chronic pain (like headaches) and fatigue
• Regulate blood pressure
• May help reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression
• Increases creativity, concentration and memory (perfect for taking a break from studying or working)
• Encourages self awareness, kindness and compassion
• Promotes relaxation and improves sleep

Its ok to feel completely lost when starting to meditate. You can feel like you are doing something wrong or feeling weird sitting around without scrolling on social media. Like everything in life, meditation takes practice and consistency to master it. But honestly you don’t need to be a trained yogi or to have tons of time to enjoy the benefits of meditation.

These simple steps will guide you to feel less awkward and find your center while meditating.

What you Need to Meditate

• Yourself
  • You don’t need anything other than yourself to start meditating. Put yourself in a open and receiving attitude. Make time for yourself, even if its 5 minutes.
• Find a place where you feel comfortable
  • Designate a space to do your daily practice, somewhere you feel that you won’t be easily distracted. It can be a corner on your living room, office or even your favorite side of the bed (we all have one!). After you feel more comfortable meditating you will be able to practice anywhere, anytime.
  • Decorate it how you want it, but keep it simple.
    • Add cushions for sitting or laying down
    • Candles or essential oils
    • Include notes from your favorite mantras or inspirational quotes
    • I love to turn on my Himalayan salt lamp to keep the good vibes flowing
    • Don’t forget to add the crystals that bring you peace and calm your mind. I recommend amethyst, blue calcite and clear quartz to start.
• Music or no music… that is the question
  • This depends on your preference and mood. From my experience I would recommend starting with soft music, nature sounds or alpha waves (my favorite!). It’s the best for concentrating and avoiding the ‘Monkey Mind’.
• Apps that help you meditate
  • It is important that you set up a time everyday to meditate or have an alarm that reminds you to do it. These FREE apps can help you remember about your practice everyday and provide guided meditations, in case you feel lost.
    • InsightTimer
    • Calm
    • Mindbliss

How to Meditate

Ok now that you have your designated area, everything looks, sounds, smells and feels amazing; you can start by sitting cross legged or laying down on your back. Close your eyes. Feel the energy of the palm of your hands touching one another. By touching the palms of your hands, you are activating the energy in those chakras, this is important to start concentrating and connecting with your body.

Now that you are in the zone, start stretching. Let the energy of your hands flow around your body, like if they were magic wands. Move your head to the sides, and start noticing your posture. The posture is very important when meditating, since it helps on your breathing and the energy flow. Imagine that there is a string connecting you to the sky, to your higher self. This string is pulling every bone in your back, releasing all the stress and tension in between each muscle and vertebrae. Your feet should be grounded, imagine them connected to the energy of the Earth, activating your Root Chakra.

Place a hand on your heart and another on your stomach and just smile, think of how grateful you are of taking time for yourself. You are finally doing it! With the hands in your Heart Chakra and Solar Plexus start noticing your breathing. Are you breathing too fast? Or are you breathing only through your mouth? Try to notice your breathing a feel it in your heart when inhaling… then on your stomach when exhaling. Imagine that you are in your favorite beach, the water is touching your feet, grounded on the warm white sand. With each wave you will inhale through your nose, and then exhale through the mouth when the waves go back into the ocean.

Repeat this simple breathing technique until you feel comfortable and relaxed. I bet you are now thinking on how much the time has passed and how much it hurts to sit still or in all of your problems combined. Don’t worry, this is totally normal.

Start noticing your thoughts, you don’t need to leave your mind completely empty. Pay attention to what’s happening inside of your mind, paint a picture in the ocean of every thought, every stressful situation. It can be fear, tension or things that made you mad. Analyze them closely.

Take the time to feel each and every one of your worries and thank them for being here, in your mind. Be grateful for them teaching you something that you didn’t know before. Tell yourself that it’s ok to feel fear, it is ok to feel stressed, it is ok to feel sad… but now its time to let them go.

Feel the waves taking all your problems away, every time a wave comes, another problem goes, while you are inhaling and exhaling with the sound of the ocean. Be grateful and compassionate with yourself, you are finally doing it, and your doing it well!

You can finish your meditation with a mantra that resonates with you in that moment. A mantra is a word, phrase or sound that can help you keep the concentration while you are meditating. I love to say:

Whenever you are ready, you can start opening your eyes and slowly moving your body to keep the peacefulness vibe flowing. Thank yourself and the Universe for giving you this opportunity to relax, to take care of your mind, to love yourself! Namaste.

And just like that you started meditating, congrats! Let me know below if you used this guide to meditate or another guided meditation. How do you feel afterwards? Frustrated, relaxed or need to keep trying? All answers are valid.