CREATING A DAILY PRACTICE
Now that you have seen all the benefits and types of meditation, you may be wondering how to start meditating in a way to see lasting results in your life. In short, the most effective way to meditate in order to experience all these benefits is to create a daily practice.
A daily practice is a meditation session that you do every day, ideally at the same time every day. This session will get you in a set routine, give you a time to relax, and recur enough that you will benefit from the meditations.
How do I create a daily practice?
Daily practices are easy enough to create. Begin by choosing a time of day that you would like to meditate. Many people choose to meditate either in the morning or at night. Both times come with notable benefits.
Meditating in the morning will start your day on a good note and motivate you to accomplish and stay focused on your tasks. This time may be ideal for you if you need help finding motivation or have extra time in the morning.
In contrast, meditating at night will give you a chance to reflect on the day and work out any unresolved feelings before you go to bed. This will help you sleep easier and feel more prepared for the next day. You may want to meditate at night if you have trouble sleeping, need more time to self reflect, or hate getting up early.
If you are really motivated to start meditating, you can always meditate in the morning and night. Just make sure that you do not overwhelm yourself because this may cause you to forgo meditation altogether.
After you decide when you want to meditate, you should also decide on the length of time for your practice. Meditating for the same amount of time trains your brain to focus under a time constraint. It is recommended that your daily practice lasts anywhere from 5-minutes to an hour, depending on your needs.
Although you should aim for your daily sessions to last around the same amount of time each day, you can always adjust the time later on or make certain sessions last longer or shorter than others. This time commitment that you were deciding on now is not a hard and fast rule. Simply think of it more as a guideline or suggestion for yourself.
Next, you may want to set up or decide on a daily practice area for you to meditate in. This may be a small corner of your living room or a yoga mat in your office. No matter what, you want to create a safe space so that way your mind immediately goes on meditation mode for your daily practice.
After that, you should settle on a go-to meditation technique. Having a go- to meditation technique will save you time and energy on days that you're tired or don't feel like meditating.
Having a go-to technique does not mean that your daily practice has to be that meditation style every single time. Your daily practice should reflect your daily needs while being rooted in routine. So, some days you may choose to do your go-to meditation technique, while other days you may choose a different technique.
Doing your daily practice
Once you have decided on what your daily meditation practice looks like, it's time to start doing your daily practice. Here are some things to remember about doing your daily practice.
Try to do daily practice at the same time and for the same minimum length every single day. This will train your brain to get in the groove of your meditation and allow it to do its work.
Additionally, remember that every day is different. While sticking to your schedule is ideal, improvisation is good too. Change up your technique, meditate longer, or even rearrange your meditation space. Improvisation based on your daily needs is always encouraged because it ensures that your meditation is relevant and helpful to your present life.
Finally, be kind to yourself. There will come a day when you either forget or don't have the time to do your daily meditation practice. When this day comes, do not beat yourself up. Be kind to yourself and gently remind yourself to start back on your daily meditation schedule the next day.