Meditation Tips From a Beginner

Written By Eric Collard, founder of Efficient Coaching.

I don’t feel I’m quite qualified to tell you all about meditation but at least I can pass along some tips that have helped me.
I find meditation is like running in that everyone sees it as a good exercise but not many people actually do it. It’s not easy on the mind but it’s quite beneficial for wellness as more and more studies point out.
I find myself “meditating” (or being aware of conscious thoughts) a lot when I do long-distance exercise, especially if I’m running or cycling. So that’s a start.
I tried meditating a few times but never maintained it because I found it too tough and I was very bad at it. I thought it was about shutting off the mind. And I failed time and time again. A few podcasts I listened to recently made me think about it quite differently.
Here are some tips that helped me along:

• Be comfortable: Go somewhere where you won’t be distracted and sit comfortably, even if it’s on a chair. If you’re thinking about how much something hurts or is uncomfortable, it’s hard to listen to the mind.
• Get help: Guided meditation has really helped me, and I’ve been using the HeadSpace app, where the video above came from. I also tried a workshop where I got exposed to a lot of different styles and that opened my mind quite a bit on top of giving me tricks.
• Start off small: You’re never going to be able to sustain a 10-minute session when you first start, let alone a 20-minute one. Start off with a few minutes and slowly build it up. Your brain is a muscle, remember?
• Be easy on yourself: That’s the toughest for A types. You wanna be killing it at meditation but unfortunately, it’s not something you can will yourself to from my experience. And as always, less is a bit more. And some days are better than others. It’s okay!

Like everything in life, trying something even if it’s small is better than having huge dreams and doing nothing about it.
And I’ve been applying some ChiRunning philosophy to it so it’s helped. I’m pretty sure this time it will stick. I’ll keep you posted!

This post was originally published on Efficient Coaching.

The post Meditation Tips From a Beginner appeared first on Wisdom Feed.