meditation is really not that difficult to do, you can find your way around it pretty easily. I find meditating without too many aids, tend to be powerful since it teaches you self-reliance. When you learn to meditate, you become less dependent on external things to bring you into the flow of meditation. You can do it whenever and wherever you like. But, once you are ready to give it a try, and you sit down to meditate, then to some, it can seem like torture.
Once you sit down and realise that you have nothing to do for the next 10 minutes can be daunting
This is in essence what a lot of us find challenging at the beginning. You are for the first time getting your brain to stop ‘doing’. If you look back at one of your normal days, you are constantly goal achieving. Be it to make that cup of coffee or publishing a blog post. Meditation is just about letting the engine idle for a bit. When that happens, you get a little grounded. When you are grounded, you are calm. When you are calm, you are happy.
This post is a technique which I’ve found helps to ease into the meditation sessions.
This is how to make your meditation sessions a little easier
When you sit down to meditate, there will still be an inertia from your day-to-day stuff, which you’ll need to work through, before you get into the flow of meditation. This can vary depending on who you are and what you are going through. But there is a hack to get yourself grounded faster, so you can dive into your meditation session a little easier.
All you do is this breathing technique before you start. It will take less than 3 minutes, but it’ll power-up your session. This is the box breathing technique used by navy seals and has its roots in yoga. It’s a powerful technique to calm and ground yourself.
Box Breathing
Start off by doing a couple of deep inhalations and exhalations. Breath so your stomach expands, not just your chest, this is diaphragmatic breathing. Relax into it. Once you are ready.
- Breath in slowly, hold your breath, then breath out slowly. This is the foundation.
- If you want to structure it then you can time your breaths. 4-7-8 is easy to remember, but it doesn’t have to be this long, it’s up to you. So you breathe in for four seconds, then hold your breath for 7 seconds and exhale for 8 seconds.
- Do this for a few times, or until you feel grounded – then start your meditation session
