How I Meditate
There is a reason meditation is often presented in video or podcast form. I’m not sure how well the ideas and instructions on how I meditate will relay through text in a blog post. However, I’ve been asked before “how do you meditate” by a few people, which encouraged me to write this post.
I want to preface this with the fact that I haven’t been meditating very long. I started meditating in 2017 (I think). I’ll be honest, I had no idea what I was doing or if I was achieving anything. Since then, I’ve certainly grown and mastered a few simple meditation techniques. Though, I don’t meditate regularly enough to be considered a “pro.”
Anyway, this post is going to be about what I consider “grounding meditation.” The majority of the time when I meditate, I focus on relaxing my body and relying on my senses to help me feel more “present.” So, without further ado, let’s jump in.
For this mediation, you’ll need a quiet space and about 15-30 mins.
This meditation is all about grounding yourself to your environment. It’s about being present and calm in your current state of life. Grounding meditation aids in anxiety and depression relief, and helps to calm and clear the mind.
- Get into a comfortable position
The first and most important step is to get into a comfortable position. If you are not comfortable, then the meditation will not be either. For me personally, I like to lay down with my hands on my stomach or on by sides. Many people like to sit cross legged with their hands on their knees. However, that isn’t a super comfortable position for me. Do whatever you need to so long as you're comfortable.
- Close your eyes and take some deep breaths
Close your eyes. In order to relax, take a few deep breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth. I like to do this about five times or more. To be honest, I take as many breaths as needed in order to steady my breathing and to relax.
- Focus on relaxing each part of your body
A lot of people worry that they’ll fall asleep while trying to meditate. This is almost impossible if you are doing a “grounding meditation.” This meditation isn’t about having an empty mind, it’s about relaxing and being aware of your environment.
This step can take a little while but it is crucial in grounding yourself. I recommend starting either from your head and working down, or your feet working up. You can really do this however you like. In order to do this step properly, focus on a body part (like your right leg) and let yourself feel it relax/getting heavy. Do this with each part of your body until you are fully relaxed.
- Go back to focusing on your breathing
I typically do this in between relaxing my body parts but if you’re new to meditation, I’d recommend just going back to focusing on this after relaxing your body. Do the same breath in through the nose and out the mouth a few times until you feel relaxed and calm.
- Focus on your senses
This is the step where the real grounding begins. For this step, I will walk through two senses but the goal is to go through all five. Let’s start with your sense of hearing. Sit for a few minutes and listen to the small sounds of your environment. In what ways do they calm you? Do they aid in your connection with your current environment? Take a minute to appreciate any silence or noises just beyond the door or window where you are.
Take your time moving between senses and really try to appreciate each one. The next sense I will walk through is sight. With my eyes closed, I like to paint an image in my head of my current environment. How well do I know it? What small details can I pick out? Envision your surroundings in your mind. Take a few minutes on this before moving on.
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- Ground yourself to your current environment
This step is more of a recap. After focusing on each of your senses individually, go back and think about how grounded you feel to your environment. Do you feel connected with the space you are in? For me personally, I like to feel connected to living where I do (as I often meditate in my home). Outdoors, I focus on how I feel connected to nature. I focus on my own humanity. For me, this is calming.
- Clear your mind/ask yourself one question
Lastly, you can choose one of two routes. For new meditators, it can be hard to clear your mind so if you don’t feel comfortable with this, choose route two.
Route one: clear your mind. I like to start by thinking of something light and airy, like clouds or feathers. Then I move on to clearing my mind (not necessarily thinking of nothing but of focusing on being calm and “clean”).
Route two: instead of clearing your mind, you can also ask yourself one pivotal question that has been on your mind as of late and attempt to answer it in your calm and collected state.
- Relax your muscles one more time
Before ending the meditation, opening your eyes, and getting up from that comfortable spot, I like to focus on each body part one last time, relaxing them or even stretching them. If you started say, from the feet up, then “undo” it all by going from the head down. I like doing it this way to sort of regroup after meditation.
And of course feel free to end the meditation whenever and however you like. Do what makes you feel good. I like to stand up, stretch some more, and grab a glass of water.
This meditation is all about grounding yourself to your environment. It’s about being present and calm in your current state of life. Grounding meditation aids in anxiety and depression relief, and helps to calm and clear the mind.
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