Anti-stress and Anxiety Meditation
Meditation is one of the best ways to relax and relieve all that stress and anxiety that can accumulate from your everyday life. It also has a variety of health benefits, and of course, reducing stress is always good for you.
How to Meditate to Help Relieve Stress and Anxiety
If you haven’t done much meditation before, it doesn’t take long to learn how and to start using it to your benefit. Here’s how you can meditate for stress relief.
Get Rid of Any Distractions
A big part of meditation is clearing your mind and staying in the present moment. It’s much more difficult to do that, especially for a beginner, when you have the TV on in the background or your cell phone starts ringing a few minutes in.
Before you start meditating, find a place where you won’t be distracted. Silence any electronic devices, and if possible, ask anyone who’s around not to disturb you.
Make Yourself Comfortable
When most people think of meditation, they envision a monk or yogi sitting cross-legged or in a double-lotus position. If you’re flexible enough, you can meditate like that, but it’s certainly not required. The most important thing about your position when you meditate is that you’re comfortable, which means it’s actually better not to get into any tough positions that stretch you to your limits.
You could meditate while sitting in a chair in your office or lying down on the floor. It’s entirely up to you, and all that matters is how you feel.
Focus on Your Breathing
Breathing is a major focus when you meditate. We often don’t think about our breathing much since it happens naturally, but doing it properly can make a huge difference in our quality of life.
As you meditate, make sure that you’re taking deep breaths with your diaphragm. Inhale and exhale slowly. By doing this, you’ll breathe more efficiently, which is good for your health and really melts stress away. Look at it like this – when someone is extremely stressed, they’ll often hyperventilate. To calm people down, we tell them to breathe.
Let Your Thoughts Pass By
When you meditate, it’s good to stay in the present moment and stop thinking about anything else, including any worries you have. This is obviously easier said than done, and you may be amazed at how difficult it is to clear your head.
It’s fine to have thoughts come to mind while you meditate. The key is to let them pass by without focusing on them. Allow them to come and go and you’ll be able to stay in the present much better.
The more you meditate, the better you’ll get at it. Eventually, you’ll reach the point where you can do mini meditation sessions just about anywhere and anytime you need to rid yourself of stress.