Everyone wants general wellness and it’s no secret that a daily meditation routine will help.
But with everything going on, who has time to meditate?
Luckily, some of these meditations only take 1 minute to do.
You don’t have to be a pro to begin meditating and receiving its many benefits.
Still do the work though. 😁
Below are some of the ways you can start to meditate now.
Just choose at least one and go with it.
1. Guided Meditation
Time: 3 minutes to 3 hours
Meditation is all about relaxing and letting go of any perceived stress.
Sometimes you don’t want to think about how not to think.
This is where guided meditation comes into play.
Guided meditation is a meditation ranging from a few minutes to several hours where another instructs your mind where to go.
This individual also tells you how to sit and what to focus on so that you don’t have to think about anything at all.
It’s usually led by a yoga instructor, a religious guide, or a cool YouTuber.
Resources:
- 40-Minute Guided Meditation
- 10-Minute Guided Meditation
- 3-Minute Guided Meditation
- Guided Rap Meditation
2. Mantra
Time: 3-30 minutes
Mantra meditation is when you repeat a word, sound, or phrase to help release your mind.
That’s it. You just sit comfortably and repeat the mantra either out loud or to yourself.
Helpful Mantras:
- “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.“
- “I am not the body, I am not the mind.“
- “Om“
3. Breathing Meditation
Time: 1 minute to 30 minutes (3 to 100 deep breaths)
Breathing meditation is when you focus only on your breath.
A breath is a complete inhale and exhale. The slower and deeper you breathe, the more relaxed you will feel.
You can do these anywhere and at any time (ie in the car, standing in a long line, holding a crying baby, etc).
Whenever you are most relaxed, you breathe slowly. So by practicing breathing slowly, you will be most relaxed.
For extra credit, try to get to 100 complete breaths where you only focus on breathing. If your mind wanders at all during the count, you must restart your count.
Noted Benefits:
4. Clear your mind
Time: 1 minute to 30 minutes
Although all meditation is geared toward helping clear the mind, this meditation is focused only on that.
To achieve this, you sit comfortably with your eyes closed, and you clear your mind.
When a thought arises, let it go.
In the beginning, you may find yourself dwelling on these thoughts for a while before letting them go. It will get easier with practice.
Great places to clear your mind:
- In a warm or hot bath
- Sitting on the toilet
- In a dark closet
5. Solo Activity Outside
Time: 5 minutes to 3 hours
There’s something about being in nature alone that gets your mind working on a higher level.
Yes, thoughts will come. The difference is that these thoughts will be clear and helpful.
When you are both alone and not listening to anything through headphones, you let go and become one with your nature.
You notice what you hadn’t before and can even experience a state of bliss.
Activities that may spark higher level relaxed thought:
- Riding a bike
- Eating fruit
- Running
- Walking
- Fishing
- Sitting
6. Music
Time: 3 minutes to 2 hours
Music meditation can take many forms.
Alone, music can help lift your spirits and slow down your breathing.
When combined with meditation, it can multiply the benefits. This all depends on the type of music and the frequency at which you listen.
Many prefer to use slow, melodic music that you could fall asleep to.
This keeps you calm and acts as a prompt for you to relax.
Since access to music is not always available when you want to meditate, try not to rely heavily on it.
Unbeknownst to many, music with words can act as a guided meditation.
So if the music you listen to reinforces the thoughts of distrust, loneliness, and even depression that led you to seek relaxation through it, then you could be canceling out its effects.
Resources:
7. Silence
Time: 1 minute to 2 hours
Silence meditation is just what it sounds like. You sit in silence.
You can focus on your breath if you want, but it isn’t a requirement.
When you meditate in silence, you sit and let whatever happens, happen.
You may find yourself dwelling on a thought or asking yourself a question. It doesn’t matter.
What is important is that you allow yourself to sit quietly with your eyes closed in silence.
Resources:
- Shh 🤫
8. Body scan
Time: 2 minutes to 1 hour
Body scan meditation is where you make yourself fully aware of your body.
You do this by closing your eyes and bringing your awareness to either your feet or your head. Then you trace through every part of your body filling it with love and healing energies.
Many guided meditations will often start with a body scan. It can lead to you relaxing muscles you didn’t even know needed relaxing.
Resources:
9. Visualization
Time: 1-10 minutes
Visualization is all about focus. It’s an extreme focus on a feeling or goal that you want.
Visualizing your goal allows you to practice having it.
Success will no longer be a scary thing because you would have practiced it multiple times in your mind.
You can use visualization to practice being happy, to see yourself fully healed, or even living in a new place.
You’re only limited by your imagination.
Resources:
- Your imagination
10. Giving love
Time: 1-10 minutes
A giving love meditation is very similar to Visualization and even body scan.
This is where you sit quiet and visualize yourself or another, and send huge amounts of love toward him or her.
The best results come from sending love to someone you feel is toxic or an enemy. So much healing comes from this exercise.
You can also use this technique to send love to your job if you don’t love it yet.
Resources:
- Love ❤️
11. Reflection meditation
Time: 3-30 minutes
Reflection meditation is great for entrepreneurs. It’s also great for those seeking true answers.
The idea is that you sit quietly with your eyes closed. Then you ask yourself a question. Next, you simply wait for an answer.
However, don’t force or demand an answer. Let it come naturally.
Ommmm
This practice can take your mind to many places. You may even want to keep a notepad handy for all of the ideas that might come to mind.
Starting questions to ask:
- What’s the one thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?
- Am I my body, my mind, or something else?
- What am I grateful for?
12. Yoga
Time: 10 minutes to 2 hours
If done mindfully, yoga combines exercise with meditation. Yoga can sync your mind, body, and spirit together for a single purpose.
If you’ve never done yoga before, seek help from a professional.
There are many great yoga teachers in your town and on YouTube.
Resources:
THINGS TO REMEMBER
You don’t have to be perfect with any of these. Giving your mind a break for even a minute works wonders for your mental and general health.
Many of these meditations can be used together or in a sequence.
Experiment and see what you like.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
- IAMNOBODY, IAMSOMEONE – rap album
- ACIM Book – workbook