How to Get into a Daily Meditation Routine

Nowadays, it seems you either do yoga asana, which is all about physical wellness, or you focus on the mind and get into meditation.

I hear it all the time, people who keep making the difference whether they are more into ‘yoga’ (referring to physical postures) or more into meditation. Which is interesting to say the least.

In my world, yoga is about the integration of all aspects of our Being, which in this perspective is Body And Mind.

Meditation and physical exercise are the purest form of self-care and so easy to do once you know why you want to do it.

Having a strong vision on your life and on the person you want to become will help you tremendously into getting into action.

A lot happens during our busy days so a morning routine works best for most people.

Below I will give you 4 ways on how to jumpstart your day with meditation.

1. Stay away from the Phone

Let the phone be your alarm clock but nothing else in the morning.

You can check, double check and scroll around in 15 minutes from now, there is absolutely nothing that can not wait for another 15 minutes.

If you don’t feel like investing 15 minutes per day in yourself (out of 24 hours!), you can stop reading as you don’t have a life.

This not harsh and I write it with kindness and compassion, just to wake you up. Too many people are getting completely addicted to their phones, which is a wonderful device and brilliant technology, but it should not be the most important thing in the world.

2. Hydrate

The very first thing to do is to have at least one glass of water when you come out of bed. Whether you spice it up with lemons and whatnot is not that important, just have the water before anything else.

Lay out your mat the night before!
In the morning, just sit on your mat and be proud of yourself when you do.
You said you would do it and hooray, you have indeed started your meditation practice!

 

3. Stretch

At night, you body is lying down for hours on end. Therefor, in the morning it might be asking too much to immediately sit like a statue for meditation.

Performing some easy physical postures can help you out here.

Just stretching a bit to get your systems going.

If you’re not used to this, start with just a couple of minutes.
You could start with arching and rounding the spine (cat cow), very (!) gently rotating the neck and shoulders, maybe even throw in a sun salutation of some kind.
Whatever feels good. It’s not about doing it correctly, it’s about the stretching itself and being safe.

4. Breathe

If you’re familiar with Pranayama or yogic breathing techniques, go for those. If you’re not quite sure what this is, take some very conscious long deep breaths in and out.

I can only encourage you to familiarize yourself with breathing techniques by following some training with an experienced teacher. Reading about pranayama and self-experimenting might not be the best of ideas.

“We all breathe, even when we sleep so how difficult can it be?”

It’s not about it being difficult or not, it’s about an incredible potential for you to discover. Pranayama can improve blood circulation and concentration and reduce stress and anxiety.

5. Meditate

Time to meditate now.
Set your timer for a couple of minutes and crack on 🙂

You can start by just observing your body: Is there a lot of tension or not so much?
Afterwards, moving on to the breath, maybe counting the breath for a while. And finally, you could ‘just sit’ for a while and concentrate.

More information on how to master meditation in 4 steps can be found here.

A regular practice of meditation calms the mind, enhances productivity and boosts confidence. So, indulge yourself in a daily dose of spending some quiet time with yourself and Enjoy!

The most amazing way to get into a daily meditation routine is to treat yourself to a yoga retreat. On a retreat, you will learn all about meditation, yoga and how to get into a home practice.

The second best way, as travel is slightly limited these days…, is to treat yourself to a 30 Day Meditation Exploration.

30 Days of guided, live, meditations. Apps are great but it is proven by now that the majority of people do not get into a regular and deep enough practice with the apps. Having a teacher there, guiding you step by step is simply different.
Visit the website, www.rachelbonkink.com for more information and to see when the next 30 Day Exploration starts!

Namaste,
Rachel

Rachel Bonkink
Life Coaching for Passionate People

Rachel Bonkink
As a meditation and yoga teacher, Rachel encourages people to show themselves, just the way they are. She is the owner of Revealing Vajra, a successful yoga retreat business, and hosts about 12-15 retreats per year anywhere in the world, from Morocco to Costa Rica and Scotland. Rachel lives by the beach in Portugal and is writing her second book on mental wellness.

Flex Your Mind, her first book explores 10 Yoga principles for less stress, written for busy professionals and yoga teachers who want to help spread the Yoga philosophy. Flex Your Mind is available wherever they sell books.

Read more about Meditation in the following articles:

The real reason why you don’t meditate and how to overcome it

Why yoga, meditation and green smoothies can completely drain you