The Art of Meditation: Eight Practices

A Busy Person's Guide to Stress Reduction

Nov 16, 2024

person doing yoga on seashore during daytime — Photo by processingly on Unsplash

A Quick Intro

Hi, I’m Kimberly Anne. I’ve been publishing travel articles here on Substack as Expat on a Budget since 2023. Previously I wrote and published quite a few lifestyle articles on other platforms and this is another passion of mine. Thus, I added a lifestyle publication here on Substack called an Unscripted Life for whatever doesn’t fit into the travel arena. I hope you enjoy it!

I first learned how to meditate when I was 12 years old! And while I haven’t always been consistent throughout my life, it’s something I always come back to.

If you live in America, it’s a high probability that you’re stressed. It happens in other countries too: Japan, the UK and China to name a few.

My Burn Out (in brief)

I live in Europe now but when I lived in America I was so stressed, I couldn’t sleep. Keeping up an exhaustive work schedule, having ninety minute commutes, worry over inflation and the affordability of where I lived plus the poor health of my dog landed me in bed on the weekends.

I ended up so fatigued that I could barely function—for two years.

Being an acupuncturist and herbalist at the time, I knew it was imperitive to shift my focus to self care.

You have to put your health and peace of mind first in order to heal, recover, and move forward. I was seeking a peaceful life, I just didn’t know how to find one.

What About You?

Working twelve to sixteen hours a day or even working nine with a two hour commute plus raising kids, or <insert your life challenges here>, does not make for an ideal existence. We are not putting ourselves or our health first.

Add in fear-mongering, division, derision, hate and anger that flood the news in the US. It’s like a drug and it gets ratings. I used to work in the news, and it sucked out a little bit of my soul.

But you’re here for the solutions, not the problems and not rants so here you go.

I have a future self-care article coming which lists ways to take help yourself out of this rut and even adrenal fatigue, but the caveat is that you have to start slowly.

If you try and implement everything at once, you have a lower chance of success.

So let’s begin with meditation!

Meditation

Meditation is both easy and challenging but let’s not worry about that. Your first goal is to pick one of the eight techniques I cover in this post, or try them all. But only for a few minutes. Don’t start by trying to meditate for an hour, or even twenty minutes. Start small and build up. Even three minutes is fine. Or, if that’s too daunting, start with one.

After you’ve formed the habit, or after a week or two, you can add time but again, please start small. Maybe go from five minutes to seven or ten. Then to fifteen and finally to twenty. Meditating twenty minutes a day is great but your goal is just to start. If you never get past five minutes a day, that’s okay too. It’s more than you’re doing now (unless you’re already meditating).

Here are eight techniques for beginners:

First - sit in a comfortable position either crossing your legs on a cushion on the floor or sitting comfortably upright on a chair, the bed or the couch. While you can lie down, I don’t recommend it unless it’s at night and you’re using meditation to fall asleep.

If you choose to set a timer, please make sure the ring is not jarring or loud when your time is over.

1. Zen Meditation – Counting your breath

Close your eyes. At the Zen Center they teach downcast eyes. If you can do this and hold a soft gaze and not become distracted, go for it. I close mine.

Breathe a normal breath in and then out - count it. One. Another breath in and out. Two. Do this until you reach 10 and then start again at one. Do this for your allotted time.

2. Vipassanā Meditation

There are several types of vipassanā but my favorite is to focus on what’s around you. Close your eyes and use your senses to become aware of everything that’s happening around you. If you hear a car, voices, a dog barking, your partner breathing, the sounds of a television or a door slam, focus on those sounds.

If you feel pain in your body, focus on the pain. If you smell something, focus on the smell. As soon as the sound, feeling or smell is gone search for the next one. You are attempting to become vastly aware of what is going on around you.

The refrigerator hum, footsteps, a distant car alarm, etc. At some point the outer will fall away and you’ll become aware of the silence. Focus on that too.

The advantage of this is two-fold, in this moment you can become aware of your mind and the ability to create your own expansiveness within the space itself.

You may not be able to achieve this silence right away and everyone experiences it or interprets it differently. You can also use vipassanā meditation to become aware of the thoughts of your mind and then lovingly let them go, watching them like a movie without judgment. I used to use this form of meditation on an airplane. It keeps me quiet for quite a long time.

3. Red Dot Meditation

This is the first meditation I ever learned as a 12-year old child, thanks to my mom who still meditates today. She gave me a cool tween meditation book, that I devoured. I still remember the cover.

Close your eyes and imagine a red dot about an inch above the center of your eyebrows. Some people know this as the third eye. In acupuncture it is the point known as yin tang. In India this is where they put the bindi. Focus on that dot. When I was a kid I used to imagine it changing to to different colors, which is fine as long as you remain focused on that area.

A side note: If you have aphantasia, as I do, you can still do this meditation successfully. If you don’t know what aphantasia is, you may still have it: it’s the inability to visualize. Learn more about it here.

4. Mantra Meditation

There are many forms of this. You can go see Amma, The Hugging Guru (for free) and she will give you a mantra. You can choose an Indian mantra from the internet based on your favorite deity. Or, you can make up your own. It can be a word or a phrase. It can be as simple as the word “love” or something like “peace and gratitude”. You can use your Yoga Nidra’s sankalpa or a positive affirmation.

You can take a class in TM (Transcendental Meditation) where they give you your own mantra (it’s pricey it but can be worth it and significant student discounts are available).

Whatever mantra you choose (and you can change it up), the idea is to repeat it silently over and over. That’s it. In TM, they suggest downcast eyes but I still close mine.

5. Walking Meditation

I love walking meditation! You walk slowly, eyes cast downward so you don’t trip on anything and focus on your steps. You can count them or not. Or if you’re good at multi-tasking you can walk and count your breath or recite a mantra. Regardless, the idea is to walk very, very, very, slowly. I also love labarythns for this. If there’s one near you, try going there. For example there was a small one made with stones near my last apartment in Marin, California. And now there’s a huge one, with tall hedges, in a park, seven minutes from where I live in Portugal.

6. Exercise as Meditation

People who do extreme sports will find that their exercise is their meditation because if you don’t focus completely on what you are doing at every second you could seriously injure yourself. I have a friend who uses running as her meditation. I used to use trapeze/aerial arts. Anything where you have to completely focus can be used. Currently I’m weight lifting again and I don’t do anything when I exercise, no music, podcasts or audiobooks. I fully focus on slowing down my reps.

However: your mind is still not “blank” as you’re focused on what you’re doing so this isn’t “true” meditation but it can still provide some benefits. You may find you enter a similar zone when you do crafting like knitting or needlepoint or art work like creating ceramics or painting.

If you’re riding your stationary bike at home or the gym and watching TV, that is not the same as your mind is being occupied by something external.

7. Guided Meditation

This has become more popular in the past few years, especially with apps like the Insight Timer app. I have led guided meditations in the past, but when I meditate myself, it’s not the first thing I reach for. However, they can be very helpful. I prefer the free ones on youtube. I know a lot of people love the Insight app and I know there are others, but the high price tags keep me away.

8. Yoga Nidra

Currently, this is my favorite form of meditation and it is technically a guided meditation.

I use it a lot for sleep but you can use it during the day and will usually feel refreshed afterwards.

This is one you do have to listen to, as it is guided but it’s very specific. You will be doing the same things each time. They can vary slightly but are basically the same. You’re not going on a journey or saying affirmations in your head… I’m hesitant to spell out exactly how it works because I encourage you to try it. While they do offer it on some paid apps (such as insight timer), my number one favorite person is Ayla Nova. She is both on Spotify and Youtube. But do search youtube for yoga nidra and find which one you prefer best.

ASMR

This isn’t technically meditation but I recommend it. It’s very relaxing. If you don’t know what it is, read about it here. For many people (including myself) it creates a wonderful tingling sensation in your body.

There are many amazing youtubers providing hours of ASMR (it’s on Spotify as well) and I encourage you to check some out and find your favorites.

I prefer the ones with no talking.

The Nitty Gritty

During meditation if your mind wanders that’s okay, and completely normal. If it wanders during the entire session, that’s normal too, they coin it “monkey mind”.

Just gently bring it back to your meditation (breath, sounds, dot, whatever). If you suddenly feel an inspiration or your mind is telling you that there are other things you need to be doing as soon as you’re done meditating, let it go. Those thoughts will still be there when you’re finished. Don’t admonish yourself for having them. Be gentle with yourself. Acknowledge the thought and then go back to the meditation.

If you’re the kind of person who gets sudden insights or ideas and you must write them down, that’s okay too. There isn’t any wrong way to meditate.

Conclusion

There are many forms of meditation to choose from. At first, try to practice one to five minutes a day and see if notice a difference. I bet you will. I suspect your stress will lessen, you’ll be less reactive to your children, friends, spouse, other drivers… You’ll develop better planning skills, better organizing skills and a calmer demeanor. You’ll be able to relate more to the world and people around you. And who wouldn’t want even one of those benefits?

There are many types of meditation, including more advanced forms but the point of this article is to give you some simple tools to begin and find one that will work for you. This too can change over time. Like everything in life meditation is fluid, not static.

Set a timer if you have time constraints. After the meditation is over, don’t jump up and go, go, go. Allow yourself a minute or two to “get back into your body”. It can be a mind-altering experience and you want to honor that.

Start small and build your meditation muscle slowly, I know you can do this!

Resources:

Yoga Nidra: Ayla Nova YouTube or Spotify
ASMR YouTube Search
ASMR No Talking
Guided meditations
Insight Timer App offers a smattering of free options, and then a high yearly price tag.
The Negativity Loop —learn why we’re all so “addicted” and how to overcome it!
Mantras and Affirmations
Transcendental Meditation
Amma the hugging guru
Dhamma.org
This is an amazing place that offers free silent meditation retreats around the world, and I highly recommend them. I went and loved it so much. Their meditation is a different form of vipassana and it’s truly mind altering. But it’s a commitment to keep up, as it requires an hour or two a day after the retreat. Even if you don’t keep doing it, it’s still worth going.

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Part 1—Want to move abroad? Start here!
Part 2—Conquer your fears about moving abroad!
Part 3—12 Minimizing Mistakes Part 1
Part 4—12 Minimizing Mistakes Part 2
Part 5—A Personal Case study (re: Minimizing)
Part 6—Your Move Abroad: The Ultimate Checklist
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