Unique Ways To Meditate Every Day Part III

Meditation has been used for centuries. Different types of meditation can help with different issues in the body, but any type of meditation will help lower your stress. Meditation has also been used increase immunity, help with cancer treatments and even make us smarter humans. The beautiful thing about meditation is that you don’t need to join a new church, religion or even sit in a specific way in order to gain the benefits. Here are three more quick types of meditation to try when you are short on time, but need to take a break from life.

Method #7:

Daily Life Practice Meditation is a slower pace of meditating and in Buddhist Zen tradition it is also known as Samu work meditation. This type of meditation requires you to slow down your daily life activities to half speed. Think of doing everything in slow motion.

This may sound corny, but when you use the extra time you become more mindful and focused on what it really takes to do all your normal daily life activities. You can do this at home for example, while making a sandwich, doing the dishes, or cleaning a room. Slow down the pace and really pay attention to everything around you. There is no need to rush through these activities at this time so you can truly enjoy every thought you put into making that sandwich.

Method # 8

Hand Movement Meditation is another way to slow down your every day movements to gain clarity and calm the mind. Sometimes sitting for long periods of time (even five minutes) without scratching an itch or moving your body is very difficult for many people to do.

Hand Movement Meditation uses the movements of your hands as a meditation point. Somewhat similar to Method #7, Daily Life Practice, where the slow motion movement can help slow your mind and get you more grounded, just a few minutes of Hand Movement Meditation allows you to become aware of all the small details of the action. When you embrace the movement you are drawn to the stillness it creates.

First you sit comfortably and shake out your hands, like you are flicking sand off of your fingertips. Deepen your breath and focus your thoughts on your hands and when they feel energized place them on your thighs, palms up.

Take this time to really focus on your palms and any of the sensations you feel in them. Notice the lines, the imprints and if you can, feel the pulse in your fingertips. Bring your breath into your belly and diaphragm then into your ribs and upper chest and on your next inhale truly fill your upper chest then focus on relaxing all parts of your body on the exhale. Imagine that in the center of your chest is a light and as you take those deep inhales the light pulses a little brighter and when you exhale the light gets dimmer.

Imagine an amazing energy filling your chest and shoulders every time you take a deep breath and feel it flow down your arms, past your elbows and writs and into your palms. Notice how warm your chest feels when you fill it with this amazing energized breath. Now notice how warm your arms and palms feel.

When you have that warm, energized feeling in your palms settle your awareness on your hands. Notice how your hands feel when the air touches the palms, fingertips and even your thumbs. If you can, feel the space between your fingers and the outline of your hand. When you are ready, gently lift your hands from your legs and into the air letting them be very still while relaxing your shoulders and arms. Lift your hands very slowly through the air, feeling the air and energy around them, becoming aware of this space. Explore how you can slow down this movement and imagine all the molecules rolling between your fingers and palms. If you can, see if you can slow down the movement even more so that the hands seem to be flowing on their own, without any exertion from your arms and shoulders.

When you feel this energy, turn your palms toward each other and pulse them without actually touching them to each other. Envision an energy field in between the hands, almost like a ball of energy and feel this sensation in your hands. Just let your hands move naturally, like they have a mind of their own and just observe all the details of the sensation and smile. If your body needs healing in any area, just bring your hands to that area and focus your thoughts there. You will feel an enormous amount of warmth and healing energy coming from your hands. When you are ready, bring your hands back to your lap and sit for a few moments to calm and connect yourself.

You can do this practice at anytime and once you do it a few times it becomes easier and quicker. It is great to do mid-day to create more creativity and productivity to your day or before/after any stressful meeting or event.

Method #9:

Gazing Meditation is also known as Trataka and is perfect if you find yourself zoning out throughout the day. This style of meditation has participants focus inward while staring at a fixed object. This method has been used to help with headaches as well as to help lower stress levels and increase focus.

If you are outdoors, find a rock or tree to fixate on. If you are indoors you can look at a lit candle flame or a picture. This method can be intense and it is recommended to start slowly and just stare at the object for 15-20 seconds resting in between. Eventually, you can work up to gazing for 10-15 minutes at any given time.

This is also known as the “easiest meditation technique”. Pick an object and look at it without allowing your eyes to break contact. It is ok to blink, just don’t look away from the object. Keep breathing and focusing on the object. This form of meditation doesn’t require any postures or positions and no special breathing requirements. What it can do is help develop a one point of concentration that can calm any busy thoughts that are racing in your head. Your breathing will slow down and deepen on its own and when this happens your suppressed emotional energies release quickly. During some sessions the participants have started crying and thus released a lot of stuck emotions.

Have you tried slowing down and enjoying the slow motion movements?

Have you tried the Hand Movement Meditation before? If so, what did you feel, if not, I challenge you to give it a try this week and see what you think.

Have you tried Gazing Meditation before? Tell me what you think of it and how it makes you feel.