Ways to Enhance Your Meditation Practice

Posted on March 21, 2021 - 12:48 pm by Beat Pure OCD 1

Ways to Enhance Your Meditation Practice

Meditation can be an effective way to reduce stress, achieve clarity, and attain a mentally calm state. It allows you to view the world from a perspective that isn’t tainted by your personal beliefs and past experiences.

Meditation is simple but challenging to do well. It wouldn’t hurt to have a few tricks up your sleeve. There are several things you can do to enhance your meditation practice and receive greater benefits.

Try these ideas for ways to enhance your meditation practice:

Be consistent. Have a time and place that you meditate each day. If you want to maximize your skill at meditation, make it a permanent part of your schedule, like brushing your teeth. You always brush your teeth at the same time each day. Do the same with your meditation practice.

If possible, have a meditation-specific location where you meditate. This can be a spare room or a corner of the house that you can set aside for your practice. Make it comfortable and inspiring.

Have at least one longer session each week. While you can receive great benefits from meditating for as little as five minutes, there’s something magical that happens when you sit for an hour or more each day.

Have a session or two each week where you add five minutes each time until you’re up to an hour of sitting time. Feel free to go even further if you have the time.

Avoid expectations. You’ll have good days and bad days when meditating. There are days you feel that you could sit there for hours. There are other days when your mind is running wild, and it feels like you have no control. Both are fine. Just be aware and sit with whatever is happening.

Avoid meditating when you are fatigued. With enough practice, you can indeed fall asleep in the sitting position! If you’re extremely tired, you’d be better off taking a short nap and meditating at another time.

Meditate throughout the day. Sitting on your cushion under ideal conditions isn’t the only place to meditate. It’s just the easiest.

The real trick is to be able to meditate while sitting elsewhere, like in a hot, noisy, smelly bus. Can you focus on your breath and fully experience your surroundings under those circumstances?

Meditate on an empty stomach. It’s harder to meditate when you have a big meal digesting in your tummy. You feel tired and sluggish. Your best meditation sessions will occur when you’re alert and able to concentrate.

Try not to meditate when you’re excessively hungry either.

Minimize interruptions. Shut the door and let everyone know that you want an hour of peace and quiet. Turn off your phone. This is your time. Take control of it.

Try meditating with a group. If you only meditate with a group, try meditating alone. Most people have a definite preference but give the other option a try from time to time. It’s a different experience, and you’ll gain a different perspective. You might even make a new friend or two.

Whether you’re just learning to meditate or a seasoned pro, you can enhance your meditation practice further. Meditation is one of the best ways to relieve stress and increase your enjoyment of life. Consider how you can strengthen your ability to meditate and reap the greatest benefits from your meditation practice.

7 Ways to Reduce Stress in Your Home Today

Posted on November 4, 2020 - 11:37 am by Beat Pure OCD

The baby’s crying while you hurriedly put the fast food on the table, the dog is throwing up on the floor, the hubby’s got the TV on full-blast, and your teenager just angrily slammed the door on his way out.

Unfortunately, it’s a typical scene for many of us. However, the good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. There are, in fact, things you can do to ease this stress and create a more harmonious environment so that you and your family can look forward to coming home!

Although some degree of stress is inherent as you deal with the varying phases of your family members, if you strive to uphold a core set of values and go with the flow, you can maintain a happy and healthy home.

Here are some specific ways you can reduce the stress at home:

Get organized. Life can quickly become chaotic when you don’t maintain organization. An organized home runs smoothly, while an unorganized home leads to stress and lost time.

A good tip is to start small with your organization efforts. Start with one room or even a portion of a room. The idea is to think of it as a series of small projects instead of one overwhelmingly huge one.

Your family will certainly benefit from actively working on communication skills. When you fail to communicate effectively, you may not get what you want and can even cause upsetting misunderstandings. Working on communication will allow all family members to feel loved and appreciated and help the household run efficiently.
Eat dinner together. Everyone in your family likely has a busy life of their own. It’s easy to suddenly realize that you have no idea what’s going on with your spouse or child. When you make it a point to eat dinner together every night, you make time to connect with your family. You’ll learn how to work as one even with busy lifestyles.
Have fun together. It’s important to schedule time to have fun together as a family, even if these times can’t be as often as you’d like. Schedule family nights in advance and allow each family member a chance to pick that evening’s activity.
Show unconditional love. Be sure to practice the art of unconditional love with your family. This leads to secure attachments and will ultimately keep everyone in your family happy and stress-free.

Children and parents alike need to know that, when they make mistakes, they have a loving family that will back them up and forgive them.

Give support. Go out of your way for your family members. It might not be an ideal Friday night to go to your daughter’s art show, but just think of how they’ll feel when they see that they have your love and support. Actively express your support by really being there for your family – no matter what. Just thinking about how much you love them is not enough!
Family rules. Having a set of family rules will help with organization and allow everyone to know what’s expected of them.

Schedule a family meeting to establish the house rules. Make sure everyone has a chance to participate and share his or her concerns. You’ll likely find a compromise that allows everyone to be happy.

A happy and stress free home is one built on love. Don’t be too hard on yourself and others, and you’ll have the basis for creating an excellent home life.

Category Archives: Stress