How to get back into meditation? Do you find it difficult to meditate lately? If this is the case, you are not alone. Meditation can not remove life’s uncertainty, but it can influence how you behave in uncertain situations.
If you used to meditate regularly but then stopped, you are not alone. Many people have stopped practicing for various reasons and are seeking a way to restart. A beginner’s mentality mixed with some past meditation practice is an excellent starting point.
Let’s look at some tips to assist you to restart your meditation practice. But first, let’s talk about meditation.
What Is Meditation?
For thousands of years, people have meditated. Meditation is a sort of supplementary treatment for the mind and body. A calm mind and a profound level of relaxation can be achieved through meditation.
Meditation helps you focus your concentration and clear your mind of confused ideas that may be overwhelming you. In addition to improving physical health, this procedure may also improve mental health.
Tips For Resuming Meditation
You wonder how to get back into meditation. Here are some tips to help you get back into full-fledged meditation.
Set Your Thoughts Aside
From a pause from meditating, you may find it difficult to focus as well as you used to. This is normal and nothing to be ashamed about. Your mind is just out of practice, just as your muscles would be if you stopped exercising for an extended time. However, this does not invalidate your past practice. It’s still “encoded” someplace in the background of your memory. To draw on that experience, you must return to a meditation state. One major challenge at this moment is controlling your thoughts.
When you started practicing again, the thoughts seemed to have a complete reign over you. You disliked the knowledge that you used to be able to focus so effectively — and now it appears that you’re beginning from scratch. You can control your thoughts. Simply jot down all of your thoughts on paper and set them away. In this way, you’re letting yourself know that you’re not ignoring your problems and concerns. You’ll just take care of them afterward. They’ll be less likely to annoy you during your meditation if you do it this way. Even when they do, knowing that they’re already on the list makes it easier to let them go.
Integrate Mindfulness Into Your Day
Begin where you are. If 10 minutes seems too long, start with five. After a week, gradually increase your practice time by one minute every week until you reach 30 minutes at a time. Meanwhile, you found that you can expand your mindfulness practice beyond formal meditation.
Our minds are hooked on studying the past or projecting into the future, while our breath exists only in the present moment. Concentrate on your breathing to bring your thoughts back to the present moment.
Keep Your Intention in Mind
Most people overlook the importance of intention in meditation. Intention does this in two ways. It starts by creating a container for your meditation. Second, it invokes the emotional state you desire to achieve via your exercise. Let’s start with the container’s significance. By “container,” you created a time and space with a defined beginning and end point just for your meditation.
This is how you distinguish “meditation time” from any other activity during the day. This helps your practice seem unique and valuable. You’re telling yourself that you’re doing it knowingly. Remembering or establishing an objective at the start of your meditation is an excellent method to establish that container. The necessity of emotional nourishment for meditation follows. It’s difficult to be inspired to accomplish anything if you don’t understand why you’re doing it.
An intention differs from a goal in that you are not tying your happiness to a certain outcome. Rather, you’re softly driving in the desired direction while simultaneously accepting everything that comes your way.
Keep track of your excuses
Meditation is a practice of introspection. Examine your excuses, such as “I’m too tired” or “I don’t have time.” Take note of how your mind might reason when you breach your promise. Simply watch and comprehend without passing judgment. Then, without making excuses, recommit to your practice.
Be patient
Meditation contrary to popular belief is not about relaxing or emptying your thoughts. It is about paying attention to your thoughts and body. Relaxation is sometimes a byproduct of this procedure. You may feel at ease because you know you are in command. Or you are aware of your ideas and feelings and choose not to engage. You are meditating as long as you do this.
And, certainly, your thoughts will be restless at times (particularly after a long break), which may be uncomfortable. If you’re wondering when things will improve, remember that you still showed here, and you’re observing in your mind, so you’re already meditating. Meditation is a mental exercise. No matter how unpleasant it may feel at the time, every minute spent meditating makes you a stronger mental athlete.
Start a meditation journal
Every day, at the end of your practice, notice how you feel. What is going on in your body? How are you feeling emotionally? Make a mental note of any changes so that they are registered in your body and conscious mind. When you’re feeling resistant to meditation, go back over your diary notes to remind yourself of its benefits. This will assist you in remaining motivated and devoted.
The Ending Note
It will be more difficult to meditate if you are bloated from overeating, sleep deprivation, or both. So the question is, how to get back into meditation? The first thing you should do after a long holiday is to restore your usual diet and sleep as much as possible. You consider it a warm-up for mental training. One caveat: it can lead to procrastination. Simply do that for a few days and then meditate. Even if you don’t feel ready, showing up is better than not meditating at all.