Discover three very simple meditation techniques to refocus yourself
Well, we all know, vacations are good, recovery is less good. But, recovery is also an opportunity to get off to a good start! For example, why not take up meditation or diversify your practice?
I know, many of you are probably thinking:
“oh, meditation is not for me”
“staying with your eyes closed for hours is not my thing”
“I tried but I didn’t like it”
“I can’t do it”…
You should know that there are thousands (or more) of ways to meditate, and I am sure that if you persevere a little, you will find one that suits you. And also, on average, we need to repeat an action 21 days in a row to create a routine/habit, so yes you have to persevere at the beginning!
I'll give you 3 very simple and different techniques to help you refocus. Test them all, keep the ones you prefer, or alternate and change according to your desires!
1/ Visual meditation
We also talk about visualization , and we can refer to internal and external visualization.
Internal visualization
Close your eyes, and imagine/visualize. The goal of meditation is to clear your mind, to achieve inner peace, but this can be very difficult! To do this, visualizing colors, landscapes, symbols, an object, a place can help you focus your mind and clear your mind. There are a lot of possible options, here are my favorites:
- the chakras, or “energy wheels”, are our energy centers in the body and each is linked to a shape and color. Many meditations focus on these symbolic centers;
- “yoga nidra”, or “lucid sleep” is a practice of concentration/meditation/contemplation, practiced lying down, and which allows conscious access to the unconscious and. I advise you to test 2-3 videos on the different meditation platforms (see last section);
- in the morning, I also love visualizing my day to come, all the positive things I would like to see happen, all the things I would like to accomplish and the joy of seeing certain people;
- in the evening, I like to look back on my day and all the positive things that happened to me, and be grateful.
External visualization
Fix your gaze on a fixed object, it can be a flame, a tree, the horizon, a flower, a painting etc. When I have the chance to be by the water/ocean, I like to fix my gaze on the waves or the reflections of the water. Fixing your gaze will help you clear the air around you and refocus your mind on the present moment.
2/ Olfactory meditation
The idea here is to focus on one smell . You have two options:
- a smell present in your environment: flower, perfume, food, nature, ocean etc etc
- use essential oils, which have a particular power over our nervous system and our limbic brain (seat of our emotions).
For each option, try to describe the smell, ask yourself how this smell comes to you, what does it evoke in you? For example: does it remind you of a person? A memory ? A color ? A feeling ? A feeling in the body? Let yourself be carried away, and don't judge yourself! Any thought or association is part of the process.
3/ Auditory meditation
It's time for hearing!
Close your eyes, and listen. Listen to everything, become aware without analyzing, and let the thought escape. Imagine you are sitting outside in a park. You need to be receptive to every noise that comes to you, but not get attached/dwell on it. Think for example of the sounds of a leaf, the wind, a child, gravel, a ball, a word, a cry, water, a car...
Once this unattached rhythm allows you to refocus, little by little try to completely detach yourself from these noises and find your own bubble of internal calm and silence.
You can also focus on one noise first and try to focus only on that one and “forget” the others. This meditation is very pleasant in nature and “interesting” in very very noisy places such as the metro.
You can also listen to mantras, Sanskrit chants or music during your meditation. The most of these last options and that often this generates visions/colors/images at the level of the “ajna” chakra, the chakra between the eyes at the forehead, also called “3rd eye”.
Additional advice
As you see, all these options are adaptable to any time of the day and to all types of places! A moment of stress during the day and the need to refocus or calm down? You can stare at an object for a few minutes, or close your eyes and visualize a calming landscape, or even focus on a smell or sound!
When you have a little more time, and ideally in the morning, take 10 to 15 minutes (that's enough) to practice. In the evening before going to sleep, remember to visualize your day and all the positive things that happened to you. This will allow you to rest on a much more positive note!
Finally for mobile applications and meditation sites, I recommend:
- Insight Timer
- Little Bamboo
- Youtube, quite simply
- And for English speakers: 21 Days of Abundance by Deepak Chopra
- And more connected to me: my yoga nidra teacher in India has a YouTube channel in English.
Happy back to school to all, and good mediation(s)!
If you have any questions do not hesitate: @mc_followsthesun on instagram.