Morning Inspiration-Personalized Meditation Practice | Part 1

I am not a morning person but I love the morning time. It is the calmest & quietest part of my day. My morning regimen starts with dragging my pillow to the couch (yes, this is a habit I brought from childhood). After I throw it on the couch, I then head to make a comforting cup of coffee. Cuddled with my pillow, under a blanket on the couch I sit in complete silence sipping my coffee preparing mentally for my day. This use to involve checking email and browsing the internet creating unnecessary stress & anxiety. Not the perfect way to start a busy day. Now, I try to experience & live in the moment through awareness and reflection. This is somewhat of a personalized meditation practice. The thought of me meditating is quite laughable but, it is something I am exploring.

Studies have found that meditation has the ability to decrease stress, anxiety, and increase tolerance (which I'm sure we all could use). The core concept of meditation is creating awareness while shutting out jumbled thoughts. The term awareness relates to paying attention to your current state. Let's take a short break to experience this.

Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths releasing any tightness in your body. Pay attention to where you are holding tension and focus on pushing your breath through this part of your body, feeling the tension melt away. (i know, it sounds silly at first. trust me?)

With eyes still closed, focus on your breathing-listen to it and feel it moving throughout your body. Your goal here is to empty the mind and be present in the moment-a concept that takes practice!

After a few deep breaths and the removal of tension in the body, open your eyes. Hopefully, a sense of calmness will be present. 

This practice can go on how ever long you wish. There is a reason it is referred to as practice. For some of us "multitaskers" this can be excruciating at first. The thought of "wasting time" on breathing use to make me sick to my stomach. In my mind there was always something to be done and to make the most out of my time I would find creative ways to multitask (--> exhaustion & fatigue). Believe me when I say, it is hard to let go of your thoughts. So hard that it use to affect me physically (insert more deep breathing). My stomach would turn as I attempted to pull my mind away from the days tasks. It took time and practice.

Your meditation does not have to consist of the traditional practice and doesn't even have to be called meditation. Don't get rapped up in the terminology. Just focus on the goals of practice: clear your mind, become present in the moment, and create awareness. Smiling helps too =)

click lil' birdie to tweet

I hope this post inspires you to try something new and create your own personalized meditation practice. Follow-up Thursday morning for Part 2 of this series.

Let's chat. Do you currently practice or would you like to start?