How to Meditate Daily

If you've ever attempted to meditate on a daily basis, you know how challenging that can be. Many people who set this goal, end up procrastinating, telling themselves they have more important things to do, or they simply forget to meditate. However, if you knew the benefits meditation has, particularly when you do it daily, you might consider making it a habit.

Here you'll learn the benefits of meditating every day, and what the steps are to incorporate it into your daily living.

Benefits of Meditating Daily

One simple benefit most people experience with meditation is the relaxation and joy it provides by simply sitting there for several minutes with no agenda other than to simply experience the quietness of the present moment. But meditation has many benefits, including that it can can help:

1. Relieve stress: It can help you relax and calm your mind.
2. Create new habits: It can promote a change in habits to unhealthy behaviors through self-awareness.
3. Decrease anxiety: Meditation can help reduce anxious feelings and symptoms of anxiety.
4. Provide techniques and clarity you can use daily.
5. Increase awareness of your surroundings, helping you to be more present, and appreciate the simple things.
6. Improve memory, happiness, self-control, and focus.
7. Promote health benefits: This includes immune health and cardiovascular health.

Some other amazing benefits you get from meditation are harder to explain, and intangible. For example, after a meditation session, you may experience special moments of clarity, increased self-awareness, or a deeper understanding of your actions and motives.

Steps to Meditate Daily

There are many ways of meditating. But, you shouldn't worry so much about the perfect form of meditation, rather turning it into a daily habit. The steps below will help.

Step 1

Make a commitment to meditate at least two minutes each day. This makes it simple, so the habit sticks. If you feel up to it, make it five minutes, but you need to commit to at least two minutes daily.

Step 2

Choose a trigger and time. Make it a general time, such as during your lunch hour, or in the morning upon awakening, and not an exact time of day. The trigger you decide on should be something you do regularly already like:

• Brushing your teeth
• Drinking your first cup of coffee
• Arriving home from work
• Having lunch

Step 3

Choose a quiet area. You might decide on the beach, a park, or another soothing setting. Maybe it's your front porch in the early morning. It doesn't really matter what the area is, just as long as you're able to sit undisturbed for several minutes.

Step 4

Sit in a comfortable position. Don't worry too much about what you're wearing, what you're sitting on, or how you sit. You might choose a pillow on the floor to sit on while leaning your back against a wall. Or, you might prefer a chair instead.

Zen practitioners will frequently sit on a azfu, which is a round cushion filled with buckwheat or kapok, but a pillow or cushion will do just fine if you don't want to go out and buy a zafu. Some individuals will simply sit on a bare floor.

Step 5

Begin with two minutes. This is essential. While you can certainly meditate for 15 to 20 minutes, at this point, it's really not about seeing how long you can meditate for, but rather trying to form a lasting habit. So, it's just easier to start with two minutes. After a few days, you can expand to five or seven minutes, and then go up from there.

Step 6

Begin focusing on your breathing. As you inhale, focus on your breath coming in through your nostrils and into your throat, lungs, and belly. Then breathe out, and follow your breath in the opposite direction. You can count if it makes it easier. If your mind wanders, acknowledge your mind wandering, but then bring your focus gently back to your breath.

Other Ways to Incorporate Meditation Into Your Daily Life

Meditation can be much more than sitting quietly in your home. There are other ways to incorporate meditation into your life, such as:

1. Link Your Meditation to a Regular Activity

Certain activities are deeply ingrained habits that don't take a lot of forethought or effort like:

• Brushing your teeth
• Showering
• Driving home from work

They're known as instrumental tasks. When you link your meditation to one of them (maybe not the driving home one), you don't need as much effort to initiate your meditation session.

2. Go to a Group Meditation

Meditation is something you do by yourself. However, there are also group meditations you can attend that can prove to be beneficial. Meditating with other people can reinforce your commitment to meditate, and offer a large reservoir of knowledge. A group can also create a tangible energy that could inspire you even if you're the most reluctant meditator. There are online meditation groups, and in-person meetup meditation groups, possibly in your local area.

3. Try Guided Meditations

When you're new to meditating, you likely aren't quite sure what to do during your meditation. A guided mediation is the ideal way of settling into this new practice. It leads you through the relaxation, breathing techniques, visualization, mindfulness-based practices, or mantra, taking the guesswork out of it. You can find many free or for-purchase guided meditation videos online.

Meditate Using a CBD Pillow

CBD pillows are calming and relaxing. They're infused with microcapsules of CBD that your body absorbs into your bloodstream. You can use a CBD pillow at night while you're meditating, and perhaps end your meditation with a good night's sleep. CBD is also good for reducing anxiety and managing pain — both could make it difficult to meditate. Order your CBD-infused pillow today at CBDPillow.com.