meditation

Don’t have time to add meditation to your to-do list? I’ve got the solution: this FREE 20 Minute Active Meditation guided audio download!

I’ll be honest: even as a Meditation teacher, I often find myself feeling tempted to skip my meditation practice. I typically like to practice in the morning, after I do some light yoga, but some mornings I wake up feeling unmotivated, or too overwhelmed by my to-do list. So I created this Active Meditation to solve this problem!

You’ll get a 20 minute guided meditation audio download, led by me. Just put on your headphones and go: do the dishes, take a walk, whatever fits seamlessly into your day!

That’s right—you CAN meditate any time, anywhere. It’s a common myth about meditation that you need to be sitting perfectly still. I find that way too uncomfortable, anyhow.

We can bring our dedication to mindfulness to everything we do. You just have to be fully present.

You’ve probably felt this before—when you’re completely in the moment, not worrying about anything else except what’s happening right now. It’s often described as a sense of flow.

You may feel like you’re meditating when you’re on a run. Or when you’re playing with your dogs. Or cooking dinner.

An active meditation will help you become more purposeful in finding that flow more naturally. This guide will teach you how to become more rooted in your body and breath, and release anxious thinking about the past, future, and all that you can’t control so you can show up more powerfully in your life.

This 20 Minute Active Meditation is your secret weapon for whenever you’re feeling blah and need an alignment tune-up but can’t drop everything in your busy life to be still.

This audio file is perfect to use any time you want to become more mindful, without stopping. You’ll get the benefits of meditation without interrupting your busy schedule: a clear mind and focus, stronger sense of connection and purpose, and calmer nervous system.

It’s really common to feel too anxious to focus when meditating sitting still. That’s why a lot of people give up! So it’s definitely good news that you don’t have to cross your legs and Om your way to peace. This guided Meditation download coaches you in how to be present no matter what you’re doing, in the modern age.

And if you want to dive deeper into meditation, I have a full beginner breath-focused online course called Shortcut to Calm that will help you deepen your practice. (Get 10% off your purchase with the coupon code iesquad10)

I hope you enjoy! This FREE Active Meditation download is my gift to you as I get ready to celebrate my birthday this Friday. Be sure to drop me a note in the comments below to let me know what you think after you try it out!

» Song Vibes «

Listen to this Rhythmic Meditation album by Beautiful Chorus to keep the Active Meditation vibes going after you’re done (great for work!).

When do you feel like you’re in an active meditation state naturally in your life? I’d love to hear—drop me a note in the Disqus Comments section below!

xo,

Amy

Photos by Matthew Hanley, edits by me

Learning how to meditate will change your life.

Well, a lot sure has changed since I posted last, hasn’t it? I had already planned to write about the fundamentals of how to meditate (I’m a meditation and yoga instructor here in San Diego), and now it just seems like divine timing because we all need it now more than ever.

Right now in San Diego we’re been under lockdown for the coronavirus for about two weeks. And, incidentally, on Feb 5th I underwent major surgery—so I’ve been in my house for months already, not able to do much. I’ve basically been quarantining for a while! I have one more week to go before I get to start using my upper body more, but I am excited to report that everything went well and I’m healing perfectly so far.

Here’s the full report of my recovery. Needless to say, meditation has been my biggest ally through all of this! I meditate every day—lately, multiple times a day since I can’t do much else. I’ve had to really learn how to surrender to what IS and find peace. That’s an important lesson for all of us right now.

I had expected to be able to keep blogging through my recovery, but my body told me to slow way down and I haven’t been able to use my arms at all up to this point. And it feels good to rest, to be honest. I thought it might be challenging to not be able to workout or have my typical movement to turn to, but meditation has kept me really positive and calm while healing, even during this crisis of a global pandemic.

Be sure to download the FREE Basics of Meditation e-book I’ve created! It’s the perfect handy resource so you can start meditating today.

The benefits of meditation include:

• increasing calmness
• improving mind-body connection
• reducing anxiety and depression
• increasing physical relaxation
• improving sleep
• reducing high blood pressure
• improving psychological balance
• aid in coping with pain or illness
• relieving symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome
• enhancing overall health and well-being.

Sign me up, right?

(Source: National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health)

Meditation is a simple but powerful mental exercise that’s accessible everyone to do. Even better, it’s free and doesn’t require any equipment! It’s also been scientifically proven to have nearly endless positive effects on your mental AND physical wellbeing and health. And no, meditating doesn’t have anything to do with religion, though it is practiced by some, including Buddhism and Hinduism. Anyone can do it, and everyone should.

It’s kind of like allowing all the snowflakes to settle in the snow-globe of your mind, allowing you to find stillness and clarity.

Meditation does not mean you have to empty your mind.

The goal is to become aware of your thoughts.

Our minds are like computers. They get programmed (primarily in our adolescence) by the people who raise us and the society/culture we grow up in. But here’s the magical thing: our brains can get reprogrammed, by us, with meditation. Becoming aware of our thoughts eventually leads us to being able to control and choose our thoughts to the ones that serve us best.

I always thought that meditation = silencing the mind completely. I found it tedious and frustrating. So my world was rocked when we studied meditation as part of my yoga teacher training and the teacher explained that that’s actually a misconception.

Meditation is actually this full-circle practice:

• You try to find stillness
• Your mind starts wandering down a train of thought
• Eventually you catch yourself
• And the cycle repeats

That IS meditation. It’s a process, not a destination. You don’t need to silence your mind. You’re training yourself to become AWARE of your thoughts, so you control them—not the other way around.

Eventually, you’ll have spaces of time where you find your mind quiets down so much you don’t have any thoughts. And with time, those spaces will last longer and longer. And when you get there, those pockets of time are bliss.

But it’s also really okay if you find meditation challenging—most of us are not Zen Buddhist Monks devoted to the practice of meditating for life to achieve enlightenment. We’re real people who live in a crazy amped-up world, so it’s okay if you feel like you have a “monkey mind” that’s constantly ON. Meditating will help you get tame it.

Every time you catch yourself thinking about something else when you meditate, that’s a win—because you’re beginning to separate You from your mind. You’re stopping the old negative patterns of thinking so that you can form new ones.

Your goal when you meditate is simply to become present.

Our minds are always running a commentary track, or thinking about the past, or imagined futures. But when we make the intention to just be here, now, everything slows down.

You want to be aware of your thoughts, examining them as they come up and then choosing not to follow, so that you can stay here in the now. I often use this metaphor when I’m teaching: your mind is the sky, and your thoughts are just clouds floating through. So you can see them, and acknowledge them, but then choose not to engage with those thoughts. Just let them continue to float on by, and stay rooted in your power as the enveloping sky.

I highly, highly recommend The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, a master meditation teacher. It really helps explain in greater depth what it means to be present.

Focus on your breath when you meditate.

Breathe in and out of your nose, as deeply as you can. Try to breathe into the lowest part of your ribcage, then back to your spine and out to the right and left sides of your belly, like you’re inflating a balloon inside of you. Slow down your breaths.

Notice if it’s hard to breathe deeply (that’s very common, and will improve with practice). Try to relax your tongue and the back of your throat. Soften your forehead and your jaw. Become aware of how you’re holding your body. If there’s anywhere you can relax just by bringing your attention to that area, let the tension go.

Your breath is your best tool to get into a deeper meditative state, so it’s key. Meditation switches on your body’s parasympathetic nervous system, which helps bring you back to a calm state of healing and restoration. It’s the opposite of the flight-or-fight stress response that many of us live in. The more you breathe deeply, the more you activate your vagus nerve, which helps turn on that relaxed state.

You can also try tuning in to everything happening around you using your senses. Notice the floor underneath you; notice any smells, any sounds. Try to bring yourself into this present moment, and think about only this present moment.

There’s no “right” or “wrong” way to meditate.

Just like with yoga, there are many different types, or schools, of meditation. With yoga, there’s Vinyasa, Yin, Kundalini… and with meditation, different styles include Transcendental, Qigong, and Mindfulness. There’s no correct method—they’re just different paths to take to get you to the same destination. The techniques I described above are part of the Zen/Mindfulness meditation practices, which is what I mainly teach. Some people find it more helpful to pick a specific mantra, or to count numbers, rather than focusing on your breath, which is why I encourage you to try out many different styles.

And remember, you can’t be bad at meditation. It’s an exercise, a practice. We’re essentially training our minds the same way we would our muscles, or our dogs.

I’ll be honest; when I first tried meditation about ten years ago, I hated it. I thought it wasn’t for me, that I was terrible at it—but let me remind you that that’s just not possible. You will probably find it challenging at first to find any spaces of silence in between thoughts, but don’t let that discourage you.

It takes patience and repetition to build any habitual pattern. So be patient with yourself and the process. As long as you’re trying, you’re doing it right.

You can meditate for as long or as little as you want.

Any little bit you can fit into your schedule is great, but the longer you can do it, the better! But you can meditate for one minute, or one hour. It all counts. Commit to what you know you can realistically do every day.

You can meditate in any position.

This is a slightly controversial professional opinion, but as a meditation teacher I encourage my students to meditate in any position that feels comfortable for you. Also—you can close your eyes, or leave them open! You don’t have to sit in the stereotypical perfectly straight, cross-legged position. The reason this is so important is that you will find it very difficult to relax and meditate if you’re in any pain or discomfort. You’ll keep getting distracted, or want to shift around.

That’s why I’m personally a big fan of meditating lying down. I lived with chronic neck pain for years, and lying down was the only position where I’d feel enough relief to focus. Some teachers are very vocally against this, mainly because you’re more likely to fall asleep. But I don’t think this is a bad thing, unless you tend to oversleep, need help staying alert, or want to feel energized by your meditation rather than further relaxed. Then you may find it more useful to be sitting, or reclining in a chair. Experiment a bit and find what works for you.

I highly, highly recommend you try laying on an acupressure mat to help you meditate. I wrote all about this tool in this post, and why I use it every day. It really helps your body shift into a relaxed, deep meditative state more quickly.

You can meditate while DOING, as well—you don’t have to be still.

I believe strongly in active meditation—in fact, I created a FREE 20 minute guided Active Meditation for you to download here!

When I was a teen I had severe depression and anxiety, and I found that the only thing that kept me sane was movement—in my case, running. It’s what fueled my passion for fitness.

And many of you feel the same! I know because as a yoga instructor I’ve had many clients say that they get into a meditative, focused state when doing their flow—and that’s the goal! It’s a time where you can tune out the world around you and really focus your mind on its more primal state, where you are simply breathing and rooted in your body. It’s meditation.

Again, some teachers disagree with me on this, but I strongly believe meditation applies to all aspects of our lives. It’s being mindful—becoming aware of our thoughts so that we can choose them, to become more in alignment with the higher version of ourselves. You mind find it meditative to wash the dishes, or paint, or garden. I love to go on long, meditative walks out in nature.

If you find yourself getting more anxious trying to force yourself to be still, find a soothing movement that works for you instead.

Beginners often find it most useful to listen to guided meditations.

I know I sure did when I first started my meditation practice about four years ago: I wrote all about my favorite apps to use here on the blog a few years back, and those are still my top recommendations.

It may take a few tries to find a teacher whose voice and technique works for you. Lately I’ve been focusing my teaching primarily on meditation, and I’ve created a series of FREE YouTube guided meditations for you to try out, as well! I hope you enjoy.

One element that’s important is to have minimal distractions. You can’t really meditate when someone’s trying to talk to you (although meditation will teach you to become more mindful in conversations), when you’re working, or when your phone is dinging with notifications. Set yourself up for success by carving out time in your schedule specifically to meditate, putting your phone in Do Not Disturb mode (if you have an iPhone), and going somewhere you won’t be with someone who wants to chat.

Try practicing both guided meditations and meditating on your own, and see what works best for you! You may find that you prefer one or the other, and again—there’s no right or wrong.

Stay consistent with your practice.

Meditation works best when you do it every day, so make a resolution to stick with it. Remember that it gets even easier and more enjoyable over time! And what better time to practice than quarantine season?

Trust me—the benefits of meditation are worth the commitment. I have become genuinely happier and more peaceful, and I feel stronger and more powerful every time I meditate. It really is magical!

Whenever you’re feeling fearful, anxious, or sad—meditate. It’s the best antidote.

When we meditate, we discover that we are not our thoughts—that we have control over what we think, and thus who we are. We have the power to change our lives by changing our thoughts. And meditation reminds us to slow down enough to realize that in this moment, everything is okay.

If you want to learn more, be sure to sign up for my Shortcut To Calm Mediation online course—you’ll get a bundle of 7 different guided meditation downloads from me, plus so much more! Learn more here.

» Song Vibes «

What have your experiences with meditation been like? Did this post change how you meditate? Share with me in the Comments below!

xo,

Amy

This post is not sponsored, but there are affiliate links throughout this post. I genuinely love these products and know you will, too. Thanks for supporting the blog!

Photos by Matthew Hanley, edits by me—at The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch

If you want to learn how to meditate, using meditation apps is a great, easy way to do it.

For the longest time, I thought meditation was this hard, complicated secret skill. If only I’d known about these meditation apps.

I didn’t want to even try meditating because it just seemed like so much work. Does that resonate? The stereotype about meditation is this cross-legged devout yogi type sitting up perfectly straight on a cushion thinking of nothing at all, totally at peace because of their achieved enlightenment. (SEE ABOVE PHOTO haha)

Meanwhile I was restless and anxious, so meditation was something I assumed I’d frankly never do.

A few years ago, when I suffered near-nightly panic attacks, my doctor kindly suggested I look into meditation. I needed some major stress relief and I wasn’t managing it beyond a cabinet full of Ativan and Klonopin.

At that point in time, I was completely disconnected from my body. I didn’t know what “mindfulness” was. So I bought a book on meditating that had this whole long chapter about breathing and I got so bored I stopped reading.

It wasn’t until I became serious about a yoga practice a couple years later and became reintroduced to meditation that I finally had a realization:

Meditating is actually super simple.

Like, it’s so simple it’s kind of a joke. I didn’t really need an entire book explaining the process of meditating to get it. I just needed to do it.

Seriously – the best way to understand meditating is to try it.

What exactly is meditating, then?

Meditation is essentially a mental exercise. You need to work out the mind just like you do your body. So when you meditate, you’re training your brain to be present, which is what’s also called “mindfulness.”

The goal of meditating is to ignore any outside distractions so that you can focus in on/begin to control your thoughts and just exist in this present moment. This is why it’s helpful to close your eyes—and why I, personally, find it easiest to meditate when lying down. It doesn’t matter what position you’re in, by the way—just choose one that’s comfortable.

Once you’re settled, you begin by just letting your brain do its thing. The point is NOT, I repeat NOT!, about trying to “clear your mind.” That would be essentially impossible to just jump in and do.

The point is simply to notice what types of thoughts you have. The magic happens when you become aware of your own thoughts. That separation is KEY.

Because then you’re able to realize a few things:

• You are not your thoughts.
• Your thoughts are not necessarily true.
• Your thoughts can be controlled.
• You can choose to think and believe whatever you’d like.
• You find peace when you separate yourself from your thoughts so much that you stop paying attention to them – and they might even fall silent for a bit.

That last step, when you find yourself existing in the moment without thinking about anything else, is the sweet zone. You might only be there for a half a second at a time at first, but it will get longer with practice. Meditating will help you really feel calm, clear, and totally connected. It’s like taking a turbo nap.

Meditating regularly can literally change the shape of your brain, helping you to have less anxiety and stress. In fact, a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that 90% of people with clinical levels of anxiety experience significant reductions in anxiety when they meditate. It’s kind of magical, actually.

Meditating, by the way, has nothing to do with religion. Certain religions might incorporate meditation into their practices, but it can absolutely be done by anyone. It’s just listening to your own mind, after all. Think of it as simply tuning into (and improving) the radio station of YOU.

If you want to learn more of the Basics of Meditation so you can start meditating today, be sure to Download my FREE E-Book all about it!

After trying tons of meditation apps, these 3 are my favorites:

None of this post is sponsored, btw – these are just the meditation apps I personally have used and loved!

And if my explanation above still has you confused about meditation, don’t worry. The benefit to using meditation apps is that you have a teacher there to guide you through what it is and how to do it. They’ll all break it down further and will coach you through your meditation by reminding you to focus in on things happening in the present moment (like your breathing) and how to notice when your mind wanders.

The best part? All these meditation apps offer sessions at any length of time you want, for as little as 1 minute. You don’t need a ton of time, money, or even a meditation cushion to get started. You just need to open your phone’s App Store.

I prefer to meditate mid-day when I need to get a boost of focused energy, but you might also find it a really nice way to help you fall asleep! Just remember to meditate whenever, wherever, and however you can, as often as you can (but ideally daily). And keep at it. You really will get more out of it the more consistently you practice!

1 » Headspace

Headspace is one of the most popular meditation apps available, and I really think it’s due to how approachable they make meditation. There’s no sign of anything potentially “woo-woo” here. Using clean, modern, and spunky branding, Headspace by far does the best job of bringing meditation to the people. It’s probably the most popular of these three meditation apps, and my husband’s favorite.

Headspace offers an enormous library of meditations available through their Subscription option – prices range from $94.99 for a one year subscription to $399.99 for lifetime access (it’s free to download from the Apple App store – or click here for Android users).

But they also offer their Basics course for FREE and it’s amazing, especially if you’re brand-new to meditating. It includes 10 sessions, each 10 min long, and they use short videos with quirky animations to help explain how to meditate in a super easy-to-understand fashion.

Many of the meditations are voiced by Headspace creator Andy Puddicombe, who has the most ear-pleasing British accent. I know so many people who credit Headspace with helping them develop a meditation practice – it’s a must.

2 » Buddhify

I found this little gem after I’d exhausted all the free options from all the meditation apps I could find (a girl’s been broke, okay?). I wanted access to a large library of no-frills guided meditations that were varying lengths. And Buddhify provided everything I wanted for only £4.99 in the Apple Apps store, which is $6.73! Even better – Android users can get it for only $2.99. I mean what!

Buddhify contains over 80 unique guided meditations that cover all sorts of subject matter from how to bring kindness into your work life (“Network”) when you just want to strangle your coworker to finding peace while on a plane (“Flight”) to just standard meditations. They’re each led by one of the six voices of the Buddhify team, and each one has a unique but equally pleasant tone.

I love that I can do specifically tailored meditations on days when something in particular is weighing on my mind. You can even do a meditation while taking a walk – proving that meditation can be part of your life effortlessly.

3 » Breethe (formerly called OMG! I Can Meditate)

Breethe used to be called OMG! I Can Meditate, and is one of the first meditation apps I ever tried. Breethe has a really comforting, nurturing vibe to it, which I love. So it’s slightly more touchy-feely than the other apps, but getting in touch with your emotions, and how your thoughts affect those emotions, is a huge part of meditation. This is definitely my go-to when I’ve had a bad day.

Breethe offers hundreds of meditations through their Subscription option – prices range from $12.99/month to a lifetime membership for $399 (which I’ve frequently seen on sale for around $120!). It’s free to download in the Apple App store (or here for Android users).

This meditation app by far offers the largest variety of content, with meditations ranging from the super basic to themed ones focusing on attracting abundance, finding love, and losing weight. Breethe also has a FREE beginner series like Headspace called “Learn To Meditate”. It includes 7 meditations, from 12-14 min long. Plus there are always a few free meditations from the subscription option available to try!

Breethe is voiced by Lynne Goldberg, the creator. I find her voice to be super soothing, especially when I use meditation to help me unwind after a hard day or to help me fall asleep. My husband found her voice to be distracting, though. It really does affect your experience if you find a certain voice pleasant to listen to or not, so I recommend trying out a few different options at first and going with whatever works best for you!

If you want to learn more, be sure to sign up for my Shortcut To Calm Mediation online course—you’ll get a bundle of 7 different guided meditation downloads from me, plus so much more! Learn more here.

Do you use any meditation apps? Which ones are your favorites? Let me know in the Comments below!

xo,

Amy