Struggling with Meditation?

In Today's Email:

• Struggling With Meditation?: Top 10 Tips To Help You Build a Daily Habit…

• Our Gift To You: Meditation Journal…

• Yogapedia: Balancing Bound Angle Pose…

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TODAY'S LEARNING
Are You Struggling With Meditation? Here are 10 Tips To Help You Stick To Your Daily Practice

“Buddhist meditation is helping so many people overcome internal conflicts and discover inner peace.” —Anam Thubten

Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years, spanning multiple cultures and continents for this reason: Its benefits impact and influence life in all areas—physical, mental, emotional, psychological, and spiritual. But in order to get the many advantages of meditation, constant practice is required—not sporadic practice. Here are 10 steps to help you develop the Buddhist habit of meditation.

1. Select a space. While you don't need a large space for meditation, try to select a spot in your home that seems right to you on an intuitive level. Some people prefer to be close to an open window where they can take in the sights, sounds, and scents of the outside. Some prefer to face a wall in order to feel more alone. Decorate your area with a meditation-enhancing item, like a candle, a holy book, or a statue or picture of a soul at a higher spiritual level.

2. Find your posture. A meditator is typically pictured sitting on the floor with their legs crossed or in the lotus position, with their feet resting on the thighs of the person opposite them. Although some people find these jobs useful, most people wouldn't recommend them. In actuality, there are four distinct positions in which the Buddha is depicted in different images: sitting, standing, walking, and reclining. If you can sit with your legs crossed on the floor or a cushion, by all means do so. If that position isn't comfortable for your body, try standing, walking, or lying down on your back, just like the Buddha did. Additionally, sitting in a chair with your back straight and your hands lightly resting on your thighs is a great way to meditate. The reason this pose is termed Egyptian is because it is thought that the pharaohs of old sat in this manner while meditation.

3. Choose a realistic amount of time. Sitting for hours at a time may work for monks but isn’t practical for those of us who live and work in the world. If you set a reasonable time limit for yourself, you'll be more likely to maintain your practice. Work your way up to 20 or 30 minutes, starting with a few minutes. The recommendation from author and meditation teacher Joseph Goldstein is to "try making a commitment to getting into the meditation posture at least once a day." Just settle onto the cushion; there is no requirement for a specific amount of time spent sitting. The most difficult thing is frequently getting there. You may as well sit for a few minutes while you're seated, and you almost always end up doing entire sessions.

4. Commit to a consistent meditation schedule. Finding a regular time to meditate and sticking with it are key to making meditation a habit. Consider the time you spend in meditation as a meeting with a close friend. You wouldn't let unrelated things get in the way of spending time with a friend. Use the same rationale while planning your meditation practice. As you consistently sit at the same time, it will inevitably become a regular part of your day.

5. Remind yourself of the benefits. Reviewing the advantages of meditation in your life can be helpful on days when you're lacking in motivation. Eric Harrison states that meditation is a worthwhile practice in his book Flip The Switch: 40 Anywhere, Anytime Meditations in 5 Minutes or Less. It is the most effective technique to alleviate stress, relax the body and quickly quiet the mind, enhance health and aid with many common illnesses, clear your thoughts, connect with your deepest emotions, and banish hopelessness and confusion. It can infuse your life with insight, beauty, and serenity."

6. Choose a practice. There are many ways to meditate besides sitting silently. Mantra meditation originates from the Vedic tradition. Here, the repetition of a word or phrase helps to focus the attention. The word with the greatest power, according to popular belief, is one that starts with the letter Om. Chant Om for a few minutes while you sit quietly to help calm your mind. After that, observe a little period of silence.

From the Japanese Nichiren Buddhist tradition, there is chanting of the phrase Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Tina Turner, the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll," was a longtime practitioner of chanting meditation and recommended this method of concentration. Numerous different meditation practices are available in the Buddhist and Vedic traditions. Do some research on them and choose the method that most suits your personality.

7. Use a meditation timer. Narayan Liebenson Grady, a meditation instructor at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center, suggests using a timer rather than a clock when you are sitting in meditation. "Your restlessness may worsen if you have to constantly open your eyes to check the time. By using a timer, one frees oneself from the concept of time and discovers a deepening of relaxation and a sense of the timeless.”

One can add a number of fantastic meditation timers to their cell phone. Close your eyes and begin meditating after setting the timer for the desired amount of time—three, five, ten, or more. The timer frees your mind from wandering away, and the timer will issue a gentle sound when the time is up.

8. Sit with others. Writer Jessica Angima, an artist and meditation teacher, highly recommends this. Make time to meditate with a spiritual companion, she advises. "You will generate mindful energy that will cut through your stagnation and carry you to your next sit, whether in-person or via video call." In addition to being more convenient than solo meditation, group meditation has the following advantages:

• You meditate for a longer period of time (usually 60-90 minutes) than when alone

• You experience the uplifting energy of a group

• Your practice deepens and your commitment grows

• You make spiritual friends.

9. Be kind and compassionate with yourself. while you find your mind wandering and thinking while you should be meditating, it's easy to get annoyed, upset, and even furious with yourself. It makes sense that punishing yourself with negativity and judgment would make your meditation practice more difficult. Have patience, kindness, and compassion for yourself. Use this advice from meditation Made Easy author Lorin Roche, PhD: "Thoughts arrive when they come. Act as though birds have just landed on your lawn, and adopt a welcome demeanor. Permit them to flit about. You have a choice when you realize you are thinking: you may either complete the idea or go back to your breathing or your original point of focus. Do not rush back to the breath or feel that you should be thinking less when you become aware that you are thinking.

10. Do it twice a day. For people who lack the time or temperament to sit for an extended period of time once a day, this is incredibly helpful. Having two shorter meditation sessions a day, say for ten minutes in the morning and ten minutes in the afternoon, would be a good method to deal with this rather than feeling like a failure at meditation. Transcendental Meditation (TM), which Maharishi Mahesh Yogi teaches, is based on this twice-daily meditation practice. TM practitioners spend twenty minutes each day practicing it: once in the morning and once in the evening before dinner.

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TODAY'S POSITIVE NEWS

He Crowdsurfed in a Wheelchair to the Stage and Coldplay Pulled Him Up to Play Harmonica (Watch)

ZEN STORY
The Other Side

One day a young Buddhist on his journey home came to the banks of a wide river. Staring hopelessly at the great obstacle in front of him, he pondered for hours on just how to cross such a wide barrier. Just as he was about to give up his pursuit to continue his journey he saw a great teacher on the other side of the river. The young Buddhist yells over to the teacher, “Oh wise one, can you tell me how to get to the other side of this river”? The teacher ponders for a moment looks up and down the river and yells back, “My son, you are on the other side”.

OUR GIFT TO YOU

Every now and then we will be giving away free digital goods to our community. In order for you to see our digital gifts, make sure that you place our emails into your primary folder. Our goal is to give away something awesome at least once a week!

Today you get our Meditation Journal. This guided journal uses learnings from meditation books - and walks you through meditation/mindfulness + tracks your meditation journey.

To download please click on the button below called “Download”.

CRYSTAL OF THE DAY

YOGAPEDIA
Balancing Bound Angle Pose (Dandayamna baddha konasana)

What is Balancing Bound Angle Pose?

Balancing bound angle pose, or dandayamna baddha konasana in Sanskrit, is a seated balancing posture that develops core strength and hip flexibility. From bound angle pose (also called butterfly pose) the practitioner grasps and lifts the feet to balance on the sitz bones.

Instructions

• Begin in bound angle pose.

• Interlace the fingers around the feet and draw them toward the groin.

• Inhale and lift the feet high, balancing on the sitz bones. Keep the knees bent.

• Lengthen the spine and gaze toward the toes.

• Breathe while holding the pose.

• Exhale and release.

Cautions

• Avoid if there is a knee injury.

Benefits of Balancing Bound Angle Pose

• Improves balance

• Opens the hips and groin

• Strengthens the core muscles

• Strengthens the back of the body

• Improves balance and mental focus

• Increases self-confidence

DAILY MEME