It doesn’t matter what walk of life you’re from; whether you’re in school or education, starting your own business, travelling the world or working your way up the career ladder, we can always challenge ourselves to be bigger and better.
For many people in our modern-day societies, we typically focus on the negative aspects of life, be it anxieties in our minds, worries about the future or thoughts of the past. However, what if I told you-you could live your life without these worries and negative feelings? What if you could live your life feeling calm, energised and ready to rock at a moment’s notice?
This isn’t impossible. The benefits of meditation have been proven time and time again, helping you to reduce your stress levels, calm your cortisol (stress hormone) production levels, and even combat symptoms and effects of depression.
Here to help you achieve more in your life while training your mind to have a more positive outlook, here are five essential meditation prompts and cues that you need to know that can help you reach for the stars and live the life that you want to live.
Focusing on Your Breathing
This is one of the most renowned meditation prompts that there is and if you meditate already, this is probably going to be your go-to prompt.
Start each of your meditation sessions by taking several big, deep breaths. Change the focus of your mind to your breathing and really see if you can feel how that breath is changing and affecting your body. Let your breath guide your mind.
Consider Your Energy Levels
Everybody meditates at different times of the day which means that your energy levels will be different throughout the day. It also depends on what activities you’ve been taking part in. Of course, if you’re meditating in the morning after you wake up, the chances are that you’ll have a lot of energy compared with if you meditated at the end of the day.
Take a moment to really feel how much energy your body and mind is processing. How do you feel right at this very second? Do you feel energised and ready to go or is something, maybe a thought or feeling, sapping this energy? What can you do to make it better?
Scanning Your Body
Body scans during meditation sessions are nothing new. In fact, entire sessions can be dedicated to this meditation technique in itself. However, how often do you use them to benefit and evaluate yourself?
Take a moment during your meditation session to focus on each individual part of your body, either starting from your head or feet and working in the opposite direction. Be sure to keep a mental eye open for tight areas of stress that you can breathe deeply into to soothe.
Using Affirmations
I love using affirmations since they can help us become who we want to be and can help us focus on what is important to us. They also get when it comes to changing our mindset and training our brains.
Last year when I started meditation, I had been trying to quit smoking for several months, and I found that I kept going back to it after social events or negative situations.
However, using mantras and affirmations, such as ‘I am Strong’ and ‘I have Willpower’, I was able to train my mind and brain into being the person that I wanted to be. Apply this concept to every area of your life, and you’ll be unstoppable.
Being Grateful
This is one of my personal favourites that I tend to overlook but am focusing on more and more during my meditation sessions. Being grateful for the things we have and the life we’re living is so important to our happiness, even if we’re going through a rough time (in which case this aspect is more important than ever).
Take a moment to consider the beauty of the world that surrounds us. If you practice this at both the beginning and the end of your practice, you’re starting and ending your session on a positive note, allowing you to bring this positive energy into your day.