{"id":4956,"date":"2015-08-31T12:15:16","date_gmt":"2015-08-31T19:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deconstructingyourself.com\/?p=4956"},"modified":"2024-07-04T16:30:44","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T23:30:44","slug":"meditate-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deconstructingyourself.com\/meditate-now.html","title":{"rendered":"Meditate Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Jessica Graham<\/p>\n

You have heard that meditation is good for you. You’ve read a few articles about it or even tried a guided meditation on YouTube. You just know that meditation could help you. It might ease that anxious swirl in the pit of your stomach, sharpen your focus during crunch time at work, or maybe (fingers crossed) improve your less than fabulous sex life. But the idea of starting a daily practice seems daunting and totally out of reach. In fact when you even think about sitting down to meditate you feel more stressed than before. And then you feel guilty and a bit like a failure. Meditation becomes yet another thing you can beat yourself up about. More proof that you are simply not good enough. There goes the swirl in belly again. Couldn\u2019t meditation help with that? <\/span><\/p>\n

As a meditation teacher I see people go through this cycle a lot. It\u2019s painful and frustrating for the would-be meditators who just can\u2019t seem to get the ball rolling. It\u2019s like getting that cardio in or eating more greens and drinking more water. We know it\u2019s good for us, but for some reason we <\/span>think<\/span><\/i> we can\u2019t make the shift. Actually we <\/span>can<\/span><\/i>. You can meditate. Right now. I\u2019ll help you. <\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t teach meditation to get rich (obviously) or to convert anyone to my philosophy. I teach meditation because it works for me. I was a stressed out, addicted, depressed, and shut-down person before I started meditating. The simple practice of sitting down and meditating once a day transformed my life. Meditation has rewired the way I see myself, others, and the world. There is still work to do, and will be (I imagine) until the end, but my foundation of contemplation is strong and sure. If I can do it, you can do it. You can start right now.<\/p>\n

You Have Five Minutes to Meditate Now<\/h4>\n

Pull out your phone (or maybe you are reading this on your phone) and set a timer for 5 minutes. Now if you are thinking <\/span>I don\u2019t have five minutes. I\u2019m busy. I have things to do, <\/span><\/i>please consider this. If this article was 1500 words instead of 500 you\u2019d spend that time reading it, right? Well I hope you would. So, take the extra time I\u2019ve given you by writing a short article to meditate. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here is a simple meditation you can do right now (If you prefer a guided version try this<\/a>). Sit in a comfortable position on a chair or on the floor. If sitting isn\u2019t going to work for you lie down flat on your back. Posture should not be a reason not to meditate, so do what you need to do to be comfortable. Use cushions and blankets, lean against a wall, stand in place. Whatever works. Once you are settled start your timer. Your eyes can be opened or closed. Take a few deep breaths and let them out with a sigh. Starting at the top of your head relax your body all the way down to your toes. Don\u2019t forget to release your jaw, shoulders, and stomach. Now focus your attention on the place in your body that feels most relaxed. It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s a tiny spot. It doesn\u2019t matter if most of your body feels uncomfortable. Once you locate a relaxed spot keep your attention on it. You <\/span>will<\/span><\/i> be pulled into thought. You are a human being. When that happens <\/span>gently <\/span><\/i>bring your attention back to that relaxed place in your body. Don\u2019t try to quiet your mind. Instead just return to relaxation in the body when you notice you\u2019ve been caught in thought. Everyone thinks. Don\u2019t judge yourself. When the timer goes off you can do this for another 5 minutes (extra credit!) or get up and congratulate yourself on a job well done.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s it. Easy peasy. Now do it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jessica Graham<\/a>\u00a0is a meditation teacher, sex, relationship, and spiritual guide for couples and individuals, speaker, and author of\u00a0Good Sex: Getting Off Without Checking Out<\/em><\/a>. She is a contributing editor for Deconstructing Yourself and her work is featured on many apps including; Simple Habit, Wise@Work, Emjoy, Breethe, and Sanity & Self. Jessica is also an award-winning actor and filmmaker. Connect with Jessica on\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0and at\u00a0yourwildawakening.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Find all of Jessica\u2019s DY articles\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Want to learn about mindfulness? Start Here<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Jessica Graham You have heard that meditation is good for you. You’ve read a few articles about it or even tried a guided meditation on YouTube. You just know that meditation could help you. It might ease that anxious swirl in the pit of your stomach, sharpen your focus during crunch time at work,… Read More »Meditate Now<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":4958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","neve_meta_reading_time":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1140,83,292,1139],"class_list":["post-4956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-secular-meditation","tag-5-minute-meditation","tag-anxiety","tag-featured","tag-guided-meditation"],"acf":{"event_date":null},"yoast_head":"\nMeditate Now - Deconstructing Yourself<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The simple practice of sitting down and meditating once a day transformed my life. 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Taft","date":"April 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes the best meditation practice is simply to surrender. This post is about how to let go. For many years, I took my meditation practice very seriously. I dedicated a significant portion of my life to daily sitting and occasionally going on long retreats, which over time proved to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nonduality"","block_context":{"text":"Nonduality","link":"https:\/\/deconstructingyourself.com\/category\/nonduality"},"img":{"alt_text":"let go","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/deconstructingyourself.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/4565664949_1fe442ce36_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":79,"url":"https:\/\/deconstructingyourself.com\/meditate-to-live-longer.html","url_meta":{"origin":4956,"position":5},"title":"Meditate to Live Longer","author":"Michael W. Taft","date":"May 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\ufeff by Miriam Stoppard, Daily Mirror 19\/05\/2011 The benefits of meditation are many, as anyone who meditates knows, but claiming it can help you live longer seems a trifle OTT. However, a good study from a meditation centre in Colorado, US, suggests that the practice can actually add years to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Healthy Living"","block_context":{"text":"Healthy Living","link":"https:\/\/deconstructingyourself.com\/category\/healthly"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deconstructingyourself.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deconstructingyourself.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deconstructingyourself.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deconstructingyourself.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deconstructingyourself.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deconstructingyourself.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deconstructingyourself.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deconstructingyourself.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deconstructingyourself.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deconstructingyourself.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}