How to Create the Habit of Daily Meditation
Someone e-mailed me the other day with the following question, they said:
“I would love to start meditating daily, but I can never seem to find the time. After I get home from work, I have dinner, one thing leads to another, and I never get to meditate; any suggestions?”
I want to answer the above question in this particular article. However, let me begin by defining “meditation.” After I define meditation, I’ll explain the benefits of daily meditation as well as how you can easily form this very important habit.
What does it mean to meditate?
To meditate means to purposely engage in “thought” or “contemplation,” it means to think, especially in a calm and deliberate manner. My favorite definition of the word “meditate” is to plan in the mind, or to intend. I like that, to plan in the mind, or to intend something; to lay a blueprint in your imagination.
The Benefits of Meditation
“Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.” – Buddha
Meditation is a way of clearing your mind; it offers you the ability to enter new levels of relaxation, it’s also a technique that can help you conceive new ideas.
I believe everyone should practice meditation daily in order to recharge their body and reignite their focus. Meditation is a way to get clear on what you really want from life, and if you meditate on your desires long enough, you will discover a way to manifest them.
Meditation (as far as I’m concerned) serves four main purposes:
- It serves to clear your mind
- Relax your body
- It also serves as a way to generate new ideas, and
- It helps you manifest your intentions
1. Let’s discuss the first purpose of meditation, which is to clear your mind. After a long day at work, it’s essential that you take time to relax your mind and reduce your stress. I like to say, time-out is better than burn-out. Meditation affords you the ability to significantly reduce your stress-levels because it gives you a much needed break from the hustle-and-bustle of life.
2. Meditation also relaxes your body. Through meditation you can leave your suburb or apartment and transcend to the shores of Hawaii. Just doing this for a few minutes a day will give you a higher-quality of life by relaxing your body and changing your mood.
3. The third purpose of meditation is to generate new ideas, if you’re struggling with a particular problem; meditation is a great way to come up with new ideas to solve your problem. How do you do this? Just think about your particular problem for a second; then begin to generate ideas in your mind to solve that problem, let your mind run free until it finds a solution to your problem.
4. Finally, meditation is a way to create your future. If you can believe what you see in your mind, your mind will also give you the instructions on how to attain your vision. Meditation is a great way to attract the life you intend to live.
Finding the Time to Meditate
You don’t need to meditate for hours, although that would be nice. You can accomplish everything that I mentioned above with just 15 minutes of daily meditation. We all have 15 minutes to spare!
Here’s what I suggest you do. Tomorrow after you get home from work, following your “first” major activity (maybe it’s having dinner, et cetera.), dedicate fifteen minutes to meditating in a quiet place. You can:
· Clear your mind of all distracting thoughts and go away to a beautiful island (in your mind), or
· You can imagine your future the way you would like it to be, or
· You can focus your mind on a problem that you would like to solve, et cetera
Fifteen minutes a day is a small enough commitment to convince yourself that you have the time to do it (if you have time to go to the bathroom, you have time to meditate). Once again, you should meditate immediately after your first major activity upon arriving home; you’re going to do this for two reasons:
1. So that you don’t postpone the task any further, and
2. So that you can connect this new habit to an existing habit
Forming the Daily Habit
In order to experience the benefits of daily meditation, you need to first form the habit of daily meditation. It may be a little tough to start the habit initially, so here’s what I suggest:
“Force yourself into the habit for the first week. Just do it. Commit to meditate for 15 minutes a day as soon as you get home from work, or at a convenient time that works for you (be sure to setup a reminder as well).”
Often times we have the time to meditate, but because we’re not in the habit of doing it, we don’t. Just go ahead and “swallow that frog.” If you can just spend fifteen minutes a day meditating, you’ll quickly find that you want to spend more time in this meditative state. However, start with fifteen minutes (it’s an easy commitment) that will help you form the habit.
Some psychologists suggest that over 90 percent of what we do everyday derives from our habits. From the way we brush our teeth, to the way we eat our dinner, including the activities we perform after we finish our dinner. If you start spending fifteen minutes a day meditating after dinner, daily meditation will be become second nature to you. Soon, you will be experiencing a more relaxed and fulfilled life.
In closing, daily meditation is a life-changing experience so be sure to do it.
Thank you for reading!
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