5 easy ways to meditate every day

Everyone has probably heard about the benefits of 12 science-based benefits of meditation / Healthline meditation. It helps to cope with insomnia and anxiety, stabilize blood pressure, improve attention, and prevent age-related memory loss. However, not everyone likes or finds it difficult to sit in one position for a long time. Here are some simple practices that won't take a lot of your time.

1. Soul meditation

You don't have to allocate extra time for it. You just need to go to the shower as usual and turn on the water. And then - try to concentrate on your feelings.

Listen to the noise of the water, feel how many drops touch your skin and flow down - follow them from the crown of your head to your heels. Feel how the jets warm and relax you, or, conversely, invigorate and relieve morning stiffness.

Yoga instructor Shannon Irizarri invites A shower meditation to cleanse negativity / DailyLife.com to go further and imagine that the water washes away bad moods, heavy thoughts and feelings, illness and fatigue.

2. Meditation on the go

It can be done while walking or even on the way to work (if you are walking). Ideal conditions for walking meditation are a smooth road without obstacles, somewhere in nature or in a park. If this is difficult to find, try to choose a place where you can walk straight for at least 5 minutes without stopping at pedestrian crossings.

The object of meditation in this case is your steps. It is much easier to concentrate on them than, say, breathing - as during mindfulness meditation. You just walk in a straight line at your own pace and keep your every move in focus.

Here the right leg rose, bent a little at the knee, touched the ground. The left did the same. Here hands sway involuntarily. If you find it difficult to keep your attention, try counting steps: first from one to 10, and then in the opposite direction - and so on in a circle. Or say to yourself: "right-left, right-left." Continue meditation for as long as you feel comfortable.

You can complicate the A daily mindful walking practice / Mindful.org practice and in the process of walking shift the focus from steps to other objects: sounds, smells, your own breath.

3. Slow meditation

Whatever you do, try doing it several times slower and focus on each movement. You can practice this type of meditation while eating, walking, cleaning - or generally at any time convenient for you. It is not necessary to slow down for a long time - just a few minutes will be enough.

During lunch, it will look like this: you slowly put a plate on the table, bring a fork to your mouth, thoughtfully chew the food, analyzing its taste, smell and consistency. By the way, this practice, if used while eating, will not only help you become calmer and more aware, but will also prevent you from overeating.

4. Micromeditation

This term was coined in his book by psychologist and science journalist Daniel Goleman. We are talking about short sessions of meditation lasting a couple of minutes, which may not be comparable to full-fledged practice, but will still help you become calmer and more aware. Here are some micromeditation options you can try.

Breath monitoring

Cover your eyes. Take a few deep breaths and exhales and start breathing in a rhythm that is comfortable for you, focus on the breathing process and your sensations. Count breathing cycles from one to 10 and repeat in reverse order.

Analysis of sensations in the body

Close your eyes and smoothly move your attention to different parts of the body, from the crown of the head to the toes. Focus on the sensations: maybe you feel warmth or throbbing, maybe pain, itching, or stiffness. Try not to miss a single part of the body, direct your attention to the nose, eyebrows and ears, to the shoulder blades and lower back, to each finger and toe. Usually this whole process does not take more than 5 minutes.

Breathing in fours

Inhale, count to four, hold your breath and count to four again. Exhale - also in four counts. Repeat this cycle at least 10 times.

5. Meditation on paper

You will need a sketchbook and a pen (or felt-tip pen). You can take a few different colors if you like. All that is needed is to open the album and begin to move on the paper with a pen.

In any direction and absolutely free. Focus on the movements of your hand, on the line that appears on the paper, on the sounds that a felt-tip pen or pencil makes. Don't think about the result and don't try to paint something pretty.

Most likely, you will end up with just scribbles: a chaotic collection of circles, triangles and other geometric shapes. But it doesn't matter, you are not drawing, you are meditating.