Often, the biggest hurdle to learning a new skill is finding the time for it in your routine. But without consistency, few habits can really make a difference, so scheduling these activities is essential if we want to see the benefits. Meditation is a practice that can offer incredible benefits to your mental health and overall wellbeing, helping to calm negative thoughts, focus the mind and learn how to be present in the moment.
If meditation currently feels like yet another task on your to-do list, these tips will help you integrate it into your busy schedule with ease to make a commitment to your mental health.
Create a physical space to relax
Making room for meditation in your life can start with the physical space. Having a dedicated space in your home that’s designed for relaxation and quiet can work wonders for helping you keep to your routine. If you have somewhere that you associate with calm and meditation, it can help you get in the right mindset when you finally sit down to meditate, helping to create a ritual you can take part in comfortably every day.
Maybe it’s a spare room in your home, a little nook or corner of a room, or even just a comfortable chair that you can set up with blankets and cushions. This dedicated space is an area you can turn to for mental quiet and clarity every day, which can help to get you excited about the prospect of meditating.
Meditate on the move
Whether it’s your walk to work in the morning, a lunchtime stroll, or a way to wind down at the end of the day, meditation doesn’t need to be practiced sitting down. You can meditate while you’re on the move too, and that includes when you’re walking. “Mindfulness means different things for different people. And it can be applied in various ways to achieve certain goals”, says Olivia Marcellino, who oversees the research team at LuxuryRehabs.com, “There are countless ways to meditate. You might use an app, listen to guided meditations, watch videos, or simply learn to sit in silence. With some experimentation, you may find that some of these strategies are a better fit for you than others”.
In fact, if you’re new to meditation, practicing mindfulness when you’re walking can be a great way to not only get into the habit but also ease you in gently to meditation. Simply by turning your walk into an exercise of noticing your breathing and what you can see and hear, you can bring awareness to your movement and bring your focus to the present moment.
Use the natural pauses in your routine
Making time for meditation doesn’t need to mean carving out time specifically – it can be as simple as using the natural pauses in your day between the activities you already have scheduled. The body’s nervous system has a natural rhythm to it. When you’re working on an intense deadline, the sympathetic nervous system becomes activated and then deactivates when you stop. But if you’re constantly rushing from one activity to the next, you never give your nervous system a chance to return to its normal state.
Using these pauses between activities can be a good opportunity to get back in sync with your natural rhythm. As often as possible, use the transition times to close your eyes, focus on your breath and enjoy just a minute of stillness and focus. From arriving home from work to just before you start eating a meal, while you’re in line at the grocery store, or while you’re getting ready for bed, take just a minute or two to relax your breath and clear your mind. These short periods of time soon add up over the course of the day.
Kick the day off right
If finding time during the day is proving to be too difficult for you, why not use those first moments when you wake up instead? It’s a great way to get your day off on the right foot and can put you in a relaxed frame of mind as you work through your schedule. Meditating first thing when you wake up is one of the easiest ways to fit it into your routine, whether you meditate while you’re still in bed or you move to another relaxing spot in your home – over time, you’ll find where works best for you and fine-tune this ritual. Set your alarm five minutes earlier and make a commitment to meditating before you get on with your day.
Take a few deep, slow breaths and visualize the day unfolding in front of you. Set your intentions for the day and visualize yourself handling everything with confidence and minimal stress. Morning meditation is an effective way to approach each day with clarity and strength and helps you refocus your attention from stress and worry to fearlessness. If you’re someone who often gets anxious about their daily routine or the to-do list piling up, starting your day reframing your mindset can be a very effective and positive activity for your mental health.
Final thoughts
Meditation offers so many benefits, but when it feels like a chore, those benefits can often be outweighed. The trick to fitting meditation in is to not see it as yet another task you have to tick off your list but rather as a way to unwind and refocus. From those first few moments, before you start your day to the transitions between activities or even while you’re doing other activities such as watching TV or walking to the office, there are various ways to meditate that don’t involve hour-long sessions sitting cross-legged on the floor.
There’s a way to meditate for everyone – it’s simply about finding the way that works best for your routine and remembering that even just a few minutes a day can make all the difference.
Written by Sophie Bishop