If you’re new to meditation, you may be discovering that you’re more relaxed when you meditate frequently. But a meditation routine can provide more tangible results than just an improved sense of well-being. Meditation can actually do much more than relieve stress.

If you’re looking for an effective way to get more done in your workday in a more efficient manner, meditation can be a practical solution. Meditation can reduce anxiety about your job and help you identify priorities that you can act on one at a time instead of worrying about everything and accomplishing nothing.

Wake up Earlier

A morning meditation routine doesn’t require a huge commitment in terms of time. It does require a commitment to getting up about forty minutes earlier than you normally do. Trying to meditate when you’re rushed for time is pointless. When you’re rushing, there is no time to settle yourself or your thoughts.

The best way to form a habit of morning meditation is to find what works for you. You don’t have to incorporate any particular ritual into your meditation. If you’re accustomed to having a cup of coffee in the morning, there’s no reason you can’t blend elements of your normal morning routine into a new morning meditation time. Also, make sure to find a comfortable position. Don’t worry about whether you’re doing it right or strain yourself trying to get into a lotus position if that is difficult for you.

 

Just Breathe

Once you’ve found a comfortable position, begin by focusing on your breathing. Counting your inhalations and exhalations is a good way to begin clearing the clutter from your mind and focusing on your posture. Keeping your back straight and paying attention to your abdominal muscles contracting as you breathe in and out also helps take your mind away from the normal daily preoccupations that you may be so accustomed to that it’s become a sort of mental white noise.

You may even find after a while that you’re no longer thinking about your breathing and have entered a peaceful reverie. If you can, keep your mind in this clear uncluttered state for at least fifteen minutes. That may be difficult at first, but like any other discipline, meditation gets easier with practice.

 

Begin Thinking About Your Workday

Now that your mind is clear and empty, slowly begin thinking about the approaching tasks in your workday. Start identifying priorities. What is your most important priority of the day? Once you’ve identified it, move on to the other goals you need to accomplish. You’ll likely find this process much more anxiety-free as identifying priorities may be simpler than normal. Once you’ve made a mental check list, begin to think about the best way to go about each task to maximize efficiency and cut down on wasted, ineffective work habits. Sometimes we find ourselves feeling very busy at work while actually accomplishing nothing.

But feeling busy isn’t the same as working effectively. Once you’ve gone through the thought process of how you’ll execute each task you’ve identified, get up, get a pen a paper and make a list. You’ll likely find that this simple morning meditation routine will help you get far more accomplished in a typical workday than you’re used to. And even better, you may be more relaxed and worry-free while getting more done.

 

Author Bio

Jesse Langley lives near Chicago. He divides his time among work, writing and family life. He writes on behalf of Colorado Technical University and has a keen interest in blogging and social media. He also writes for www.professionalintern.com.

Meditation doesn’t have to be sitting in the same pose doing variations of the same thing time after time. This can become boring to some and make them lose their interest in meditation. There are different more fun kinds of meditation though such as this eating meditation that will develop mindfulness.

For this technique you will need something to eat and a comfortable chair. I recommend food such as a salad containing as many different types of flavors and textures as possible – lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, spinach leaves, beetroot, onion and pumpkin seeds all make for good ingredients.

Once you have prepared your salad sit down with it and take a moment just to look at it and all the colors that it holds – the greens of the lettuce and spinach leaves, the reds of the tomatoes and peppers and so on. Hold the salad to your nose and try to smell the scent of each ingredient you have placed in your salad individually.

Take your fork and feels how it passes through each item of food. You’ll find it passes through lettuce much differently than it does a tomato.

When you are ready take your first mouthful. Chew slowly and allow the salad time to dance on your tongue so you can fully appreciate the flavours. Experience the different textures that different vegetables hold. After you have swallowed the first mouthful take a short moment to think about everything you have experience just from eating a small amount of salad. You might notice that there is now more saliva in your mouth as your body readies itself to ingest more.

Experiment eating different ingredients in different combinations – you may take a mouthful of lettuce, tomato and peppers in one bite and then spinach, tomato and pumpkin seed the next.

Continue to eat in this slow, deliberate manner until you are full. You don’t have to finish the salad if there is some left. Just eat until you feel your hunger is satiated.

Besides developing mindfulness this eating meditation is also an excellent method of losing weight. As you eat more slowly and appreciate the rich flavors of the food you are also allowing your brain to register when you are full. This will help guide you to stop eating at an appropriate time for your nutritional needs.

Music can almost instantaneously change ones mood, from listening to slow, melodic tunes and creating a calm and relaxed feel to listening to fast beat music and generating energy and motivation. Meditation itself can also alter ones mood and thus music coupled with meditation can have a dramatic effect. The very essence of specifically designed music for meditation changes ones brainwaves and so changes the state of mind.

There are five main different types of brainwaves each functioning at a different frequency:-

1. Delta waves

Occurring during very deep sleep, delta waves frequency is between 1 and 3 waves per second and also associated with very deep states of meditation.

2. Theta waves

Linked with deep meditation, theta waves develop in the transition between consciousness and sleep. The frequency is between 4 and 8 waves per second.

3. Alpha waves

Alpha waves occur at the beginning of a meditation session as the practitioner begins to relax. The frequency of alpha waves is between 9 and 14 waves per second.

4. Beta waves

The most dominant of the brainwaves and functioning when we are alert, beta waves are responsible for increased energy, motivation and concentration. The frequency of beta waves is between 15 and 30 waves per second.

5. Gamma waves
Gamma waves have the highest frequency at between 30 and 70 waves per second. Functioning at this level stimulates the five senses, namely sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.

To learn more about meditation, please visit 2learnmeditation.com

Bio
I trained for many years in martial arts, studying Karate and Aikido and later Tai Chi, where I began to study, develop and practice various breathing techniques and working with different energies. I have also practiced Kundalini Maha Yoga, a very powerful form of meditation and now practice different approaches namely ‘concentrative’ and ‘mindfulness’ meditation and different techniques within the two.