The thought of sitting in one position for more than 5 minutes is scary to most. There are noises around you, sensations on your skin and face that must be itched and tended to. There are children, chores and so many things on your to-do list that could be getting done in those 5 minutes you might feel guilty for dedicating this time to yourself but you know what? You deserve it.
Here are two of my favorite tricks for meditating.
Usually when meditating I start off with a to do list. I think of everything I should be doing during this time and it's so hard to suppress the urge to multitask. When I start to notice this happening, I have to use my imagination - big time! When I notice a stray thought or action item pops into my head, I imagine that it came from a gentle storm cloud and that the thought is one single rain drop in this storm cloud made up of thousands of rain drops. As my thought enters my mind and I start to task myself, I imagine it, the rain drop, falling from the sky into a wide body of water, a very calm lake. When one single rain drop falls into a calm body of water the ripples dissipate after several moments. That rain drop has joined thousands of other ran drops and then, I can quiet my mind again. The metaphor here is that these thought originate from thousands of other thoughts and are greeted by other action items. They all have a purpose, but now is not the time to act upon them. You simply wait and observe them for what they are. Until the next rain fall of course!
The second involves a theory about wind. I am especially fond of this being from the windy city. I like to use this practice when negative self talk occurs. So often we beat ourselves up for thinking we are inadequate or unworthy. Instead, we should forget about those comparisons and build ourselves up! When negative thoughts enter my mind, I imagine that they are reddish/orange leaf that is falling from a tree in a gusty wind storm. The negative thoughts essentially are dead leaves, they carry no weight because they have no real meaning to me. As the leaf falls from the tree in this gusty wind, it floats and is carried away. This can go along with the dialogue that would normally accompany a thought like this. The leaf never touches the ground, it is merely wisped away in such a wind storm, I can observe it leaving the forefront of my thoughts and exiting my mind because thoughts like this are always short lived and fleeting.
So, there you have it! Two tricks to help you meditate a little bit better. When these stray thoughts enter your mind, dismiss them and watch them leave! You will be so thrilled that they are gone and you can dedicate that time to yourself!
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