Growth Hacks

1) Exercise before your meditation session 

If you are thinking about starting to meditate, especially if you have been experiencing periods of negative emotions and stress then the chances are your body is still pumped up and primed for action as well as being full of adrenaline and the stress hormone cortisol.

If this is the case then it may pay you to exercise off all that high levels of energy first as this will make it easier for you when you enter your meditation session, otherwise the high energy levels will remain in your body. 

As stress and fear are also a physical state then this can be a big advantage to work off all that excess energy first, especially before your first week or so until you have fully returned to a more relaxed state.

2) Do some stretching exercises

Making sure that your muscles are nice and soft will also further enhance your meditation session because you will already be feeling relaxed before you start your meditation session. Doing some light stretching exercise or yoga routines is sure to help.

Having a massage before is probably the best way to relax your muscles and these days you can purchase excellent electrical massaging devices. 

Having a poised, aligned and balanced posture will prevent muscle tension and discomfort.

3) Make it a regular habit 

Meditation is like everything else, the more you practice it the better you will get at it and the easier it will become. 

You will need to incorporate meditation into your daily life to get the maximum benefits so try and make it a regular habit and do it once a day. You can even squeeze in a few short mini sessions if you feel like it.

4) Progressive improvements

When people first hear about the many wonderful benefits of meditation, they give it a go, but most tend to give up far too quickly so they miss out on its health and well-being benefits.

One of the reasons for this is because they feel so stressed and emotionally overwhelmed to the extent that they just cannot seem to switch off and relax, so they give in to too their feelings.

Another thing that causes people to quit too soon is because they think they have to spend hour's meditation to get the results they want, but because they struggle and get distracted very quickly, especially at the beginning stages they again end their session feeling frustrated. 

This misconception simply is not true or necessary, on average, fifteen to twenty minutes is usually enough. 

If you find it too hard to manage fifteen to twenty minutes, then start off doing just two or three minutes and then gradually increase your time each day by a minute or two until you find it easy to do the full twenty minutes or whatever suits you.

5) Don't try to stop your negative thoughts 

Another myth which puts a lot of people off is the misguided belief that they have to stop all their negative and anxious thoughts which again can leave people feeling frustrated when they should be feeling relaxed.

You have not got to empty your mind of all your unwanted thoughts and if you attempt to do that it will cause an inward resistance and what you want is to end all that negative resistance. 

Yes, meditation is very good at grounding you back in the here and now, but the idea is to allow your thoughts to drift into your mind and away whilst you put all your attention onto focusing on your breathing or an object in the room such as a candle flame. 

Just let your thoughts come and go, but do not get emotionally engaged in them, observe your mind but stay calm and relaxed.

6) Find some where quiet  

Before you commence your session find somewhere quiet and peaceful where you won't be bothered or disturbed for ten to twenty minutes or so. 

Switch off your phone, computer or TV and make yourself comfortable, having somewhere that is dimly lit is best. 

You can meditate whilst you're sitting on a chair or you can lay down on your bed, if your surrounding environment is a bit noisey, then you can buy some foam ear plugs to block out the noise.

7) Quickly access the relaxing brainwave states

When you're fully prepared and sitting comfortable, there are a couple of things that you can do to flip your brain into a more relaxed state. 

The first tip is, if you place your tongue on the bottom of your mouth with the tip pushing against the back of your gums it can help you to feel even more relaxed.

The second tip, which can quickly relax you is to roll the eyes upward. This is an automatic response the body follows, it works by activating the production of alpha waves in the brain. 

If you close your eyes and roll them upward so you're looking at your forehead, you will produce more of the relaxing alpha waves which are the brainwave state associated with daydreaming, the state between sleep and waking state.

Meditation experts and gurus have long known about how rolling up your eyes can quickly transform you to an altered state of consciousness which can help you reach that deeply relaxed theta state much quicker.

8) Keep a straight spine

The best posture to have when you're meditating is to keep a straight spine, if you flop too, relaxed and to comfortable the chances are you will fall asleep. 

Ideally you will want to feel relaxed, alert  and comfortable and if you allow your back to collapse it will restrict your breathing and make you feel uncomfortable.

When people talk about a straight spine, we're not talking about a stiff, forced, over extended posture as this will cause muscle stiffness.

Ideally, you just want your spine to be stacked upright, so you're sitting on your sit bones, so your spine supports you in a tension free, upright, relaxed but balanced and aligned posture. 

You do not have to cross your legs and you do not have to sit on the floor, You can meditate sitting on the floor on a cushion, kneeling, in your chair or lying down, the key is to be comfortable and do find a position that suits you.

9) Play some soothing and relaxing music 

Playing soothing or relaxing music can help you to relax more easily as your mind and body follow the rhythm and beats of the relaxing music. 

The second advantage of adding music to your meditation sessions is, the music can mask out any background noises and minor distractions. 

You can play your relaxing music or your chosen mediation audio before you start your session or during it, depending on what suits you better.

Binaural beat frequencies are a great way to relax your mind and body, these frequencies entrain your brain to slip into a relaxing state as well as helping to reduce an overactive mind.

10) Best times to meditate 

Although there is not a specific time to meditate the best times to do it are first thing in the morning or last thing at night just before you are about to go to sleep. 

When you meditate first thing in the morning you will be able to step in before all those same old negative thoughts have a chance to dominate your thinking patterns. 

Morning time is a great opportunity to relax yourself and put yourself in a good mod which will set you up to have a stress free and wonderful day leaving you more able to handle and challenging situations.

When you meditate last thing at night, first you will relax and unwind yourself so you will drop off to sleep easily, which will also help to quieten your mind so you get a full and invigorating and empowering nights sleep, plus when you go to sleep feeling relaxed you tend to wake up feeling relaxed and in a better feeling mood.

11) Focus on your breathing

Once you have fully prepared yourself and your feeling comfortable, close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Start to take some slow deep breaths. Breathe in through you nose and out through your mouth, making the out breath longer than the in breath.

When you inhale try to fill your lungs with as much air as you can, breathe all the way in and hold for a few seconds then slowly push all the way out.

You can breathe in for the count of seven, hold for three then breathe out for the count of eleven to get you started. 

On the in breath you can imagine breathing in calm and on the out breath you can imagine you're breathing out all of your tension or breathe in peace and breathe out fear. 

After you have done a few slow, deep, controlled breaths and when you're feeling more relaxed you can start to return to your natural breathing. 

Then start to focus on your breaths. 

Notice the sensations of your breathing, just be aware of the air flowing in and out of your body and notice the rise and fall of your chest.

Focusing on your breathing is the main part of the meditation session, then all you have to do is observe your thoughts but do not be bothered by them, do not judge them and do not resist them. Just watch your thoughts and allow them to sail right on through whilst you continue to focus on your breathing.

12) Visualization and guided imagery

Once you get good at meditating you can add visualization and guided imagery to your sessions. 

This will enable you to take full advantage of those deeply relaxed state which will allow you to tap into your true hidden talents and creativity where you can either  

• Make personal changes 
• Boost your creativity 
• Manifest your goals 
• Change bad habits 
• Relax, even deeper
  

You can do your own creative visualization, however, for some this can prove difficult. 

Or you can use a professional where you follow them and you just allow them to guide you through the aid of your imagination into a deeply relaxed state or life changing sessions.