Lisa Gornall in meditation practice demonstrating how to meditate

You Know You Want to Meditate…..Now You Want to Know How to Meditate

One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions is to learn HOW to meditate and to do it every day. You’ve heard it’s good for you and you want to feel more calm, connected, and balanced.

Why Meditate?

The common reasons I’ve personally heard for this resolution including the following.

  • Meditation has been recommended by your doctor.
  • You’ve been told to meditate to reduce your stress from work or family.
  • You haven’t been able to meditate so it’s now a goal.
  • Other people who meditate swear by how helpful it is.
  • You want to slow down and you’ve heard meditating will help you do that.

I spent years working at five star spas leading meditation classes (some immediately coming after a meditation retreat). These classes were always the most full throughout the month of January. Every single person struggled meditating on their own. They all had apps they listened to but even those weren’t helpful every day.

But they did find the meditation I’m going to share with you here to be very powerful.

There are billions of meditations out there. What I have found to be the most helpful and easy to do is what I call a Guided, Energy Healing Meditation. Why is this so helpful? It addresses the two areas everyone struggles with: the body relaxing and the mind wanting to think and not be quiet during your meditation. This meditation also is customized to you in that moment, so it’ll also be exactly what you need.

You know meditation is good for you. But why is it so hard for you to meditate?

This is a really important question to ask yourself. The follow up question is: Do you have a hard time relaxing? If you do, this is where you want to focus. There is no way you’ll be able to sit down and meditate for two minutes if you already struggle with relaxing.

How to Meditate

Step one in how to meditate is  being comfortable sitting down and relaxing. You may have to let go of any resistance you have in giving yourself permission to sit down and take care of you. You don’t have to always be busy, hustling, going from one thing to the next. This mentality actually hurts you when you do sit down to meditate because your thoughts are, “I need to do ____.” Or, “I can’t sit here in the middle of the day and do nothing.”

Release whatever thoughts you have about sitting, relaxing and taking care of you that keep you from being in the moment without action. Decondition what you were taught as a child. Your body needs you to relax. It isn’t a machine, stop treating it like one.

Meditation is your body’s daily tune up.

1. You have to acknowledge your body’s messages in meditation.

You are busy and on the go. This means your body is used to doing something. The moment you sit down at the end of the day to watch TV or read a book, you may notice a pain, a cramp, or tension in your body. You didn’t notice it when you were busy, honestly you were ignoring it. But the moment you sit down to relax, you’re feeling it. You will also experience this when you go to meditate.

It’s hard to go within and focus when you feel a physical ailment. This doesn’t mean you can’t meditate because you’re focused on this message from your body. It does mean you have to recognize it otherwise it becomes a distraction when you do try to meditate. Or more accurately, you’ll spend the whole time focusing on a part of your body that is bothering you, which isn’t meditating. I like to address your body first when you start your meditation.

Try this technique to acknowledge your body in meditation.

  • Sit somewhere that is COMFORTABLE for you.
  • Choose a place where you don’t have any distractions.
  • Set your timer for five minutes. (You’re going to start out slow and add time slowly, that way you’ll stick with this practice.)
  • Do not cross your legs or arms so you don’t feel any cramps, another common distraction.
  • Sit relaxed and comfortable for you! You may event want to have your feet touch the floor.
  • Begin your meditation by bringing a soft, White Light in. (Just like you see when the light breaks through the clouds on a cloudy day or when you see a beam of light coming through the trees).
  • Imagine this White Light coming in from the top of your head, and let it gently and easily go through your whole body, down to your feet and into the Earth.
  • Say, “I am peace. I am calm. I am free.”
  • Notice where you feel tension in your body or any pain. You are going to start here.
  • Your body will not relax in meditation until you clear this stress, tension or negative energy out.
  • Let go of the stress or tension. Let go of any negativity that you stored in your body to deal with later.
  • Imagine pulling it out of your body like smoke, leaves or wind and let it disappear into the sky.
  • Let it go until it feels lighter or gone.
  • Then imagine a soft, pastel color like pink, blue, green or orange.
  • It’s going to come from behind that space and fill every cell in your body with a positive feeling all the way to the front and out of your body.
  • Then say, “I am free. I am supported.”

Continue this until you feel no tension or stress in your body anywhere. If you have a hard time bringing the White Light in anywhere, let go in that area as well and repeat the paragraph above. Once your body feels balanced and has stopped giving you pain messages, you are ready to quiet your mind before it starts taking over.

2. Calm your mind

Your mind is used to running on autopilot. It thinks what it wants whenever it wants. Once you sit in a quiet space and the body is comfortable, your mind will just start throwing thoughts out there – but not anymore! Give your mind something to focus on that includes: I am statements and pastel colors.

You can imagine bringing the rainbow in one color at a time in pastels: pink, orange, yellow, green, blue purple. Bring each color in individually and slowly start at the top of your head and make your way gently and easily, through your body, down to your feet and into the Earth.

After each pastel color, repeat an “I am” statement such as one of the following.

  • I am peace.
  • I am free.
  • I am whole.
  • I am supported.
  • I am calm.
  • All is well.

Keep bringing in soft, pastel colors and “I am” statements until your timer goes off, letting you know you’ve done five minutes. Once your timer goes off, turn it off and then bring in the White Light again from the top of your head, through your body, down into your feet and into the Earth. Say, “All is well.” Then open your eyes when you’re ready. Check in. How do you feel?

Balance your energy through regular meditation

One of the keys to meditation is to actually clear and balance your energy every time. Then you will feel amazing and you’ll want to keep doing it. If you want to keep doing something that feels good, it can more easily become a routine. BUT if you keep doing the exact same meditation every day, without the energy work pieces, you’ll find you don’t feel any different and it could feel like a waste of time.

Meditation is one of the most powerful ways you can align and balance your energy. Once you find you can easily do five minutes and want more, keep increasing your timer by a minute or two until you hit fifteen minutes. Once you hit fifteen minutes, I would recommend splitting up your meditation into two times, once in the morning before you begin your day and once at the end of the day before you go to bed. Just don’t lay down – you’ll fall asleep every time!

Cheers to you creating a daily, energy healing meditation that supports you in 2022!

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