Feeling that Meditation is Hard? Let Me Help You Ease it Out.

There are a lot of meditation technics and advice out there. If you are overwhelmed then my method might be a good start for you too.

“Meditation is good”

That is what the internet says. And, like everything, the internet is right. There is a lot of science behind it as well. You can read more about that here. When I started researching meditation I was overwhelmed and full of preconceptions. When I thought of meditations I imagined a Buddhist monk in the lotus position with his eyes closed, staying there for hours in a row. But after some time of research, I realized that is way simpler than that 😁.

The first meditation

In the last year of high school, I had a very important exam. Before that exam, I searched for methods to improve my learning capacity. I found out that the brain can assimilate more information if the body is relaxed. Also, I found out that you can relax your body by telling it to do so. 😀 Ain’t that wonderful? With this, I learned about a very interesting technique to relax my body.

I would lay down on my back, without a pillow, and with the neck straight. I would close my eyes and I would focus on every piece of my body from toes to head while telling it to relax.

I would move to the next portion only after I felt the current one relaxed enough. I would start with one leg, focusing on each toe, then on the foot, on the ankle, on the shin, on the upper leg. Start with the other leg in the same way. After that would go up with the glutes, abdomen, lower back, chest, upper back, shoulders, arms, the neck, face, and finally head. After doing this I would be relaxed, and maybe asleep 😁.

I realized that this is a perfect way to get myself to sleep if I can’t, as well.

The serious approach

At the point I learned about my little cheat for sleeping and learning better I did not think too much of it. Fast forward a few years later. And I reached a point when I got interested in meditation. I researched and found a few things.

I managed to separate meditations is 3 categories, at least in my noobie opinion.

• Body scanning
• Breath meditation
• Imaginative meditation

The last is just my invention 😁. I don’t know if it is a thing, but it will make sense once I will talk about it. Hopefully.

Body Scanning

This type of meditation is the easiest one and it is also the best one to start with, at least for me. It is the one that I have practiced for better learning and sleeping. I found out that there are some variations with it, but they all follow the same idea. You find a place where you can be relaxed, maybe lying down, on your back, and focus your attention on different parts of your body. Once you are focusing on a part, you can tell it to relax, or you can just feel it.

Breath meditation

On the internet, is common to have this type of meditation recommended as the easiest one. It involves finding a place where you are comfortable, closing your eyes, and focusing on the way you breathe. Follow the air entering and exiting your body.

For me, this was a hard meditation to do, because of the words associated with it. People say “follow the air without judging it” I don’t know what that means. And not knowing what that means I did not know if I am doing it or not 😅. Also “if you find yourself lost in thoughts, just observe them from outside”. Another idea that I don’t know how I can implement. My mind will start to wonder if it focuses on one thing. Bringing back to the point of focus is hard for me. That is why for me is easier to do body scanning meditations. At least in the beginning. I can say that in time and with exercise this becomes a lot easier to do. The mind becomes more stable and clearing your thoughts will be easier and easier.

Imaginative meditation

This type of meditation uses your imagination. You usually start with one of the other meditations, a minute or two of breath meditation or scanning some specific parts of your body and after that, you would go through an imaginative process.

One meditation that I like to do is a journey of the ball of light. You would stay in a sitting position and I would imagine a ball of light forming in my chest. The ball of light would gather all the tension from my body in the area it is in(I would use here the scanning of the body to feel how the tension leaves the body and goes into the ball). I would move it down my body until it would leave it and go downward in the Earth. I would imagine it going deeper in the Earth until it would reach a rock from where I would tie it with a rope and I would get it back up. It would reach my body again. It would travel through my body gathering the rest of the tension that has remained and it would leave my body from the top of my head. It would make a small “pop” when it leaves and it would go up in the sky. I would imagine it going through the ceiling, the rooftop, the sky, the atmosphere, the solar system, and farther in the universe until it would reach a very bright area that would be placed in from it. That is when I would move my light forward, not upwards anymore, towards the center of the bright area. When it gets to the center it would find a brighter, blueish ball of light. There I would say a few affirmations, stay a little, and get back following the same journey until I reach my body again.

Guided meditations

Guided meditation is when you listen to someone telling you what to do and do exactly that. Any of the types of meditations that I mentioned can be guided and they are awesome to start with. I have a playlist of guided meditations on Youtube that I use sometimes. Maybe it will help you as well.

Ok! But how long should it be?

…is what you would ask me. And that is a very good question. And the answer is “As long as you want it! 😁” In the beginning one minute or two would be enough. In time maybe bring the period up a bit. If you reach 10–15 minutes you are awesome. I rarely do longer meditations. It is important to start small, because controlling thoughts is hard, and if you start with long periods you will lose control over them and feel frustrated that you might not have done it correctly. I don’t want you to lose faith in yourself. Be patient.

What is more important than length is consistency. I recommend doing a small meditation every day. And, also very important, do it when you know you will not be interrupted. What helped me a lot was reading “Mindfulness, An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World” by Mark Williams and Danny Penman. It has a very nice plan with different meditations with different purposes. Awesome book.

Meditation is good and it is easy as well. It cleansed my mind and helped me tackle the world with less frustration and more patience and love.

It will do the same for you.

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