Meditation

You should sit in meditation for twenty minuts every day – unless you’re too busy; then you should sit for an hour.

Meditate

Most people begin their day executing a routine they are used to, like if they were on automatic pilot, turning the tv or the radio on to listen to the news, or reading the newspaper, or checking their email first thing in the morning. Then, after an incomplete breakfast consisting of coffee and bread or cereal, off they go to start their day, always late and in a hurry. If you start like that, how could you expect for the rest of the day to get any better?

Did you know that the way you start your day has an important effect on your mood and your productivity, and thus on your sense of happiness? If you start in a hurry, with stress and fear, you can’t seriously expect to be very productive. Try to realize if you really have control over how you start your days, or if you have a routine that controls you.

The first thing you have to do is to take control of your routine. You have to understand that you must be at the top of your priorities, not your family, not your work. How could your family expect you to take good care of them if you don’t take good care of yourself? How could your performance at work be improved if you don’t take care of you health? You cannot give what you don’t have inside, so make sure you cultivate yourself first. Improve your morning routine, and you will improve your life.

The best habit you can adopt is to start your days in peace, at ease, never in a hurry. If you are used to starting your day in a hurry because you are always late, you are losing the race already. Start by getting up a little earlier, 30 minutes will do.

Just like you have to feed your body with better food, feed your mind and spirit with better thoughts (the newspapers seldom are a good source). Try to start all your days with a little meditation. Meditation is not a complicated exercise intended only for illuminated minds. It is a simple practice intended for everybody, but many people discredited it without fully understanding its benefits. The good thing about meditation is that the only thing you require is yourself, a quiet place and some alone time.

Find a room in your house where you can be alone and undisturbed for a few minutes. Eliminate all distractions. Turn off all the lights and get rid of all the noise. Don’t be tempted to play music, even if it is meditation music, you have to concentrate only in you. Get into a comfortable position. Try to be awake and alert and concentrate only in your breathing. Don’t think about anything. If thoughts of work or responsibilities come to you, stop them and discard them, and go back to focusing in your breathing. To worry about stuff, you’ll have the rest of the day. Now, you are in control, you decide what you think of. Control your breathing. Breath deep and slow. Breathing brings oxygen to your body and your brain. Oxygen is life and energy. You are getting energized and you’ll start to be more awake and aware. A body that is oxygenated first thing in the morning will have better performance throughout the day. That’s why exercising in the morning has so many advantages. Close your eyes and concentrate in your body. Start from the bottom. Feel your feet, count each of your toes. Feel your ankles, your legs, your knees. Think of your hips, your waist. When you get to your abdomen feel your muscles, and try to feel your internal organs. Feel your chest, your back, your shoulders. Slowly think about each part of your arms, from top to bottom until you count your fingers and feel your nails. Relax your neck, feel it, move it a little. Become aware of your mouth, your nose, your eyes, your ears, your head. Now, let your body alone and think about you, your inner self, your mind, your spirit. Think of everything you have and give thanks. Start with your body, and your health. Give thanks for the years you have been allowed to live, not everybody has had the same luck. Thank for the roof over your head. Give thanks for all that awaits you today, your food, your work, your loved ones. Now, think about everything you don’t have, and give thanks. Again, start with your body, and your health. If you had to pay a monthly fee for your health, how much would you be willing to pay? You see, you already have everything, you are already rich. Think of all you haven’t done yet, and give thanks for the time you still have to do it, not everybody will be given the same chance. Control your breathing. Ask yourself: Who am I? Why am I here? What am I to accomplish today? What do I expect from me? Eliminate all small details, concentrate only in one big goal, your purpose, your mission. You don’t have to come up with answers, just think about the questions.

Empty your mind. No more questions. Concentrate in your breathing for one more minute. Keep feeding your body with oxygen. Put a smile in your face. Feel blessed. There is no other option for you but to be happy. Open your eyes and feel powerful, because you opened your toolbox and found all the tools you needed to be who you want to be. You are in control of your body and mind. You can do anything.

Any time of the day is a good time to practice a little meditation, but doing it first thing in the morning has a special effect, because it prepares you for the rest of the day. You don’t need much time, you can do it in 5 minutes, or could go at it for 30 minutes. A few minutes are better than no minutes, as long as you are able to take control. If you are going to do it in the morning, get used to waking up a little earlier, 20 minutes will do.

Meditation works, but only if you are constant. When you first start practicing meditation, the effect is not that profound, so don’t quit if you don’t feel any changes during the first month. Commit yourself to doing it at least 6 months, every day if possible. You will soon enter a certain rhythm, and you’ll start to feel the benefits. Cyclists call this rhythm: cadence. Imagine you are in a bicycle race. You are ready but still at the start. Then the race begins. Your first pedal strokes are hard and heavy as you try to break the inertia and gain speed. Then you reach your cruising speed and now it is all about long term endurance, you you feel you are flying. This is cadence, and it applies to everything you do, including meditation. Practice does make perfect.

Let the habit of meditation become your first routine of the day. If you are one of those people that despises being a slave to routines, be aware you already have a morning routine, it just is a bad routine. Don’t be afraid of having a good habit become a routine, you’ll just be exchanging a bad one for a good one. If you like, you can vary your meditation routine, doing it in different positions, varying the thought you feed your mind with. The important thing is that you start you day by giving some time to yourself.

When you finish your daily session, you will be ready to face whatever comes up during the day. Better yet, you’ll decide what you allow to come up during that day. Now go work on your destiny, feed your body with good food, your mind with good thoughts and your spirit with good energy.