Cleansing your environment is a huge step toward using meditation for improved relaxation.
Meditation is a great way to deal with stress and to relax. It enhances happiness, increases focus, protects your mental health and decreases anxiety. However, sticking with meditation over the long-term often proves difficult, especially for busy professionals. That?s why starting with the proper mindset and behaviors are important; you?re more likely to stick with it. So, here are a few tips for improved relaxation.
- Control your environment. Don?t let it control you. Many beginners forget to make 100 percent sure they will not be disturbed. Even if they are not interrupted, it?s in the back of their minds that something could happen at any moment. Tidy up the clutter. Turn off your phones and your coffeepots.
- Meditate in the morning. Meditating before you go about your busy day is optimal for many people, and it decreases the risk of interruptions.
- Accept imperfection. Many meditation beginners find that their mind wanders, especially since some people recommend meditation lengths of 20 to 30 minutes. That seems like a lot of time, but focus on training your mind. Once you meditate regularly, the mind wandering decreases. And don?t worry if you can?t set aside 20 to 30 minutes a day. Plenty of people mediate for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Listen to yourself when your interest decreases. It?s normal to lose interest in meditation and to put it on the back burner. However, these times are when you most need meditation because you?ve probably lost focus in other areas as well. Rather than stopping, go back to the basics. If you started with a book or CD, go back to it. Check out more books and CDs. Add or change an element. For example, switch out your scented candle for a candle that has a different scent. If you?re used to breathing as your technique, try chanting.
