One Minute Meditations
There is a common belief that in order to meditate effectively you need to spend at least twenty minutes sitting in a quiet place with your eyes closed. While meditations of this kind are certainly useful it's equally important to be able to meditate throughout the day. This allows you to relax in the midst of the activity, busyness and stress of daily life. Have you thought of meditating:
- whilst travelling to and from work
- at the gym
- at meal times
- at your work desk
- while waiting in the supermarket queue
- in the shower or toilet
- whenever you walk somewhere
- when you're put on hold during a phone call
- when you're irritated or upset
- during the ads on TV
- whilst waiting for pages to load over the internet
If you take the time to take a few seconds or minutes out during the day to do 'spot' meditations, you'll soon find that you're racking up 20 or more minutes of meditation without having to discipline yourself to get up early or find that extra time.
In every day there are countless opportunities to focus on sensory things - such as the food you're eating, the air you're breathing, a passing sensation, feeling or emotion, or a song on the radio - and by doing this you'll be moving into the present and away from the thoughts that stir you up and keep you more stressed than you need to be. This is all that you're required to do in order to meditate.
'Spot' Meditation Instructions
Stop reading for a moment and breathe in. Make it a long slow breath. Close you eyes as you breathe out and focus on the subtle sensations in your nasal passage, throat and chest. Feel your whole body relaxing as you do so. Continue two or three times then just watch your body expanding and contracting in time with the breath. You could stop now, or keep going for a minute or more if you felt like it.
Every time you take a conscious breath like this you allow the body to slough off a little stress and tension - this helps to keep you in balance throughout the day.