MH guide for your daily meditation. A single minute almost every day = Great results.
It is time, now yes, to start meeting your goals. I propose a very simple one: meditation for one minute, daily or almost daily only for a month. Creating healthy habits is difficult, which is why most of our New Year’s resolutions end in oblivion.
Maybe we are programmed to fail. Evolution has left us with a brain that optimizes survival, not long-term health planning. Natural selection prepared us to detect threats and find food and sexual partners, not to floss.
The fact that we face this evolutionary challenge is why I like this modest month-long proposal. There are two aspects that make it easy to adopt, read on to know them …
1st
Aiming to do it most days, rather than every day, is a good goal. Consistency counts: the more often you do it, the easier it will get and the deeper and more lasting the benefits will be, but if you lose a day, your inner critic won’t have a chance to call it a failure.
I call this approach “almost daily.” It has elasticity, or “psychological flexibility,” a key concept in behavioral change research that can help you adopt an enduring habit, whether it’s a meditation practice, a new gym routine, or a commitment to learning Esperanto.
2nd
One minute is an extremely low bar. The one-minute proposal is very accessible. Plus, it’s scalable. After more minutes of meditation, people often think, “I’m already here, I could go on a bit.” As the meditation teacher, Cory Muscara, explains, this is a key moment because you go from “extrinsic” motivation (meditate because you think you should do it) to an “intrinsic” (meditate because you want to).
When you decide to extend the meditation time, it is out of genuine interest, which increases the chances that you will get into the habit. My company, “10% happier”, has tried a challenge called “Mindful Minute” with Apple employees.
The goal is for participants to meditate for 60 seconds for at least 25 of the 30 days of the month, allowing them to learn how mindfulness can benefit their lives while giving them the freedom to lose one day a week. without feeling that it is a failure.
ANALYZE YOUR AGENDA STRATEGICALLY
Some people find that having a defined time to meditate every day, just before bed, first thing in the morning, or right after a workout, helps them establish a habit.
Scientists who study habit formation speak of “signal, routine, reward.” You can experiment by building a routine reward loop that allows you to meditate.
For example, “After parking my car (signal), I will meditate for five minutes (routine), and I will feel a little calmer and more attentive (reward).” Repeat this loop to incorporate the habit. You can put your daily meditation session on your calendar, which can be helpful. That said, if you have unpredictable hours like me, thinking strategically could mean trying to fit your meditation when and where you can.
BE RESPONSIBLE
Some people cannot establish a healthy habit on their own, but they do it when other people hold them accountable for their goal. One way to create that kind of responsibility is to join a community of some kind. It can be as simple as gathering some of your friends and getting started.
Another option is to join a regular group at a local meditation center. There are also Buddhist centers, which can be a little scary for some people, but in my experience they provide excellent meditation lessons.
Check it out for yourself. Or form your own group. I discovered that being around people who take meditative principles seriously and strive to apply these concepts in their own lives can create positive pressure among peers. Or as the meditation teacher, Jeff Warren says. “It is something that normalizes everything strange.”
CONCENTRATE ON THE BENEFITS OF MEDITATION
In many ways, we are like rats in a maze, constantly pressing the levers that deliver food pellets. The science of behavior change strongly suggests that the best way to ensure a consistent meditation habit is to identify where and how the practice is pelting you. Like rats, we are much more likely to keep doing something if it feels good and we get something in return. There are at least two levels for this.
The first level is paying attention to how the act of meditating on yourself can be enjoyable. The other level is noticing the benefits as they increase in the rest of your life, in terms of internal climate and external behavior.
I have found that meditation can make me feel and act better. I believe that meditation is the quintessential healthy purpose because a regular dose of mindfulness can give you the clarity and sanity to determine what other resolutions to pursue and how to do it in the best way. Give him an opportunity.
For the past few years, whenever I have spoken publicly about meditation, I have launched the following challenge: Try meditation for a month, and if it does nothing for you, follow me on Twitter and tell me I am an asshole. During this time, many people have called me a jerk on Twitter, but never for inviting them to meditate.
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS DURING A MINUTE OF MEDITATION
60 SECONDS can be used to reset you and stop thinking about everything that worries you. Here’s a minute of meditation you can do anywhere, anytime – after your morning coffee, after parking your car at work, after laying your head on the pillow. We call it 10 Breaths. As simple as it sounds. Wherever you are, in any situation or in any mental state, close your eyes and count to 10, breathe slowly.
To start, stop everything you do, no matter where you are. Pay attention to your breathing. Count “one” as you inhale. Imagine how your breath expels tension as easily as you exhale. Count “two” on the next breath. Try to see if you can do it 10 times without losing concentration.
Explore how deep each breath can go and set the world aside. If you get distracted and forget where you stayed, start again, always with a sense of humor about your attention. That’s. Do you want more? Try again. And again…