Manifestation Meditation
BOX BREATHING
This meditation is one of my favorites. Maybe because it is so simple. Box breathing is simply the following.
Picture a square. As you breathe in and out and hold your breath to the count of four you follow the square around in your mind.
1. Breathe in to the count of four.
2. Hold your breath to the count of four. (Relax your mouth tip of the tongue touching the top of your mouth. Don’t clench your mouth during the hold
3. Breathe out to the count of four.
4. Hold to the count of four.
Remember follow the box/square around, each side getting one of the four counts. This will give your mind something to focus on so that you will not ruminate.
I like to try and do this breathing pattern 5 times. And then your breath will resume it’s normal natural pattern. At which time you can continue meditating or continue your day but now with a much more relaxed state of being.
Grounding Meditation
One of my favorite forms of mindful meditation is Grounding. Grounding is the process of balancing your physical body and your emotional state with the energy of the earth. Sometimes the energy within us gets all out of wack. We are running from one place to the next. We feel overwhelmed and stressed. We don’t stop to take time to feel what is going on in our bodies. Grounding helps remind us to stay connected to the earth and by doing so connected to our inner self. One of my favorite examples of Grounding is to simply take off your shoes and go walking in the grass. We used to love to play in the grass as kids. But as we grew up and got older we no longer thought it was mature to go and walk or run in the grass. Taking off your shoes and feeling the earth beneath your feet anytime is an amazing way to get grounded in wherever you are at. You can get grounded anywhere, the beach, your backyard, your house, even in your office underneath your desk. Just take a moment to stop take your shoes off and feel the earth beneath you. As you do this, visualize your strength coming from the earth and into your body. Feel the energy of the earth strengthen and balance and ground you to this moment. You can do this Grounding exercise anytime and anywhere it’s so simple. The following is an excellent Grounding guided meditation. Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/L5FybAebFdA
Meditation
First of all it’s very important to know especially when starting out that when you meditate your mind will seldom be quiet. I think so many people say they can’t mediate because they can’t sit that long or they tried and it didn’t work because their mind was racing. Well, your mind has been racing most of your life, so of course it’s not going to stop just because you tell it to. The biggest part of meditation is just teaching you’re mind to slow down. And learning how to bring yourself back to the present moment. Of course this isn’t easy. But, if you just allow yourself grace and time slowly it will become easier. I promise, believe me my mind races a lot and I have learned over time how to slow it down. Also remember this is not a race, you don't have to start out with an 8 hour meditation like the Buddhist monks do. That would be crazy for a beginner. Just start out slow with a time that feels comfortable to you. Then continue to challenge yourself with a little bit longer each time. Remember, this is not about punishing yourself. Its about teaching yourself a new way of being. A healthier and lighter way. Give yourself time.
The first meditation I am going to post is a Body and Breath Meditation I learned from the book Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World by Dr. Danny Penman, Danny Penman https://a.co/5jJ43DQ. It’s excellent for beginners because it keeps your mind busy focusing on different parts of your body so that it has less time to focus on fears and worries. Read through the following excerpt a couple times, then just relax in a comfortable position seated or lying down, whatever you feel more comfortable doing, and slowly focus on relaxing each part of your body. Remember, there is no wrong way to do this, you are just slowly teaching your mind to stay in the present moment. I often prefer relaxing music as opposed to silence for meditation, but you decide. I am also going to include an audible guided body mediation for you to listen to if you prefer that.
“This is a short body and breath meditation designed to settle and ground yourself in the present moment. Start by finding a comfortable position. Either lie on a mat or a thick rug, or sit on a firm, straight-backed chair, a cushion or a meditation stool. If you’re sitting on a chair, allow your feet to be flat on the floor with your legs uncrossed and your spine straight, so that your posture supports your intention to be awake and aware. In this way, the posture is dignified but comfortable—not stiff or tensed up. If you are lying down, allow your legs to be uncrossed, with your feet falling away from each other, and your arms lying alongside and slightly away from your body. Now allow your eyes to close, if that feels comfortable, or lower your gaze. Bring your awareness to the sensations where the body is in contact with whatever you are sitting or lying on. Spend a few moments exploring these sensations. At a certain point, gather your attention and move it to focus on your feet, so that the “spotlight of attention” takes in the toes, the soles of the feet, the heels, the top of the feet and the ankles. Attend to any and all of the physical sensations you can be aware of in your feet and ankles, moment by moment. Notice how sensations arise and dissolve in awareness. If there are no sensations, simply register a blank. This is perfectly fine—we are not trying to make sensations happen—we are simply registering what is already here when we attend. Now expand your attention to take in the lower legs, the knees, then the rest of your legs. Hold both legs “center-stage” in awareness—notice whatever physical sensations there may be here in the legs. Expand your attention up the body to the pelvis and hips, the lower back and the lower abdomen. Move up the torso to include the chest and the back—right up to the shoulders—noticing all the physical sensations in the torso. Expand your attention again to include the left arm; then the right arm; then the neck and the face and head, until you are holding the whole body in awareness. See if it is possible to allow the whole body and its sensations to be just as they are. There’s no need to try to control anything. As best you can, allow sensations to be just as you find them. At a certain point, bring your awareness to the center of the body—to the sensations in the abdomen as the breath moves in and out of the body. Become fully aware of the changing patterns of physical sensations in this region of the body. If you like, you can place your hand here for a few breaths and feel the abdomen rising and falling. There may be mild sensations of stretching as the abdomen gently rises with each in-breath, and there may be different sensations as the abdomen falls with each out-breath. For the full duration of each in-breath and the full duration of each out-breath, be fully alive to the sensations of breathing. There is no need to try to control the breath in any way at all—simply let the breath breathe itself. Focus on the physical sensations, breath by breath and moment by moment. Sooner or later, you’ll probably find that the mind wanders away from the breath to thinking, planning, remembering or daydreaming. When this happens, and you notice that your attention is no longer on the breath, there is no need to judge yourself or criticize yourself in any way, and no need to “rush back” to the breath. Instead, taking your time, allow yourself to register where the mind had wandered to. Then, when you’re ready, very gently but firmly bring your attention back to the breath. Such mind-wandering will happen over and over again. Each time, remember that the aim is simply to notice where the mind has been, then to gently escort your attention back to the breath, seeing the mind-wandering as a chance to cultivate patience and compassion as you bring the attention back. Remind yourself that noticing that the mind has gone and bringing it back again and again and again is the meditation—this is the practice. And now continue to practice this by yourself, coming back to the breath whenever the mind wanders; allowing the breath to be like an anchor, grounding you in the present moment. Remember that the breath is always available to you to help bring you back into the present moment, when you find your mind scattered and dispersed by the rush and busyness of your life. It’s always here as an anchor deep within you, a place of stillness and of peace. We suggest that you do this practice at least twice a day for the first week of the mindfulness program. You may discover that it’s very easy to become distracted. Our minds tend to flit from thought to thought, so it can be very difficult to maintain”
Body Scan Meditation (Tame Anxiety)