Meditation at home is the best way to start out on your journey towards a peaceful life and may be much more. So let’s see how to get started with meditation at home. In this article we shall see how to create a space/room in home that will accelerate your practice of mediation at home. A space where, as soon as you enter, your mind calms down and is ready for meditation as a habit or instinct. At the end of the article you will find a small meditation script and few other resources.
Build your meditation space
The space/room can be customized to build a calm and peaceful environment. A lot can be done to beautify the space as per your personal inclinations, but let us keep the focus on enhancing your meditation at home.
It is best if you have a small room with good ventilation and a comfortable temperature. If you do not have a separate room, you can keep aside some space of a room for meditation. Now let us see how we can convert a simple room and give it the right ambiance and vibe that acts as a catalyst to daily meditation.
- Keep the meditation space neat and clean, this can have an immediate effect on the mind. If possible take a quick shower before mediation or simply get fresh.
- Hang some pictures on the wall of someone who has inspired you to start mediation or some books on mediation.
- Have an affirmation/Quote framed in the room. Read out that affirmation aloud before and after mediation.
- If you use a Mantra, repeat it daily in the meditation room. Each mantra has a powerful vibration
- Burn incense (optional), if you are comfortable burning one before meditation.
Ask why?
Clean & Inspiring
Now let us see what happens when you do all the above. By keeping the space clean and tidy, it has a direct impact on the mind. Mind likes to associate itself with symbols. So keeping pictures or books that inspire you to meditate will help you. Make sure no one enters your meditation space not even your family members.
Affirmations
“Affirmations help purify our thoughts and restructure the dynamic of our brains so that we truly begin to think nothing is impossible“. Affirmations are like seeds, the more you repeat the statement (water it) with all your faith(nutrition) the faster it will be fulfilled (fruits). Few points to keep in mind while making an affirmation:
- Know without a doubt that your will is powerful. Will is a powerful force, and when it operates all the mental powers of the mind come into play.
- Affirmation statements should be in present tense.
- Form a clear mental image of what you wish to have, to do or to become.
Mantra
When you repeat a mantra ( Sacred Syllable) daily before or during mediation the mind associates the state of your mind with that Mantra. Over time whenever you want to enter a meditative state of mind, just repeat the mantra and the mind will automatically reach a meditative state as an instinct.
Incense
You’d have seen pictures of monks mediating with lots of incense, many may think of it as a religious practice. However, there is also a very good scientific reason. Remember the last time you had a memory with a smell, may be of your favorite dish, flower or scent. It brings back memories and states of mind. Therefore having a certain kind of incense in your meditation space will certainly help. The mind will know for sure, that it is time for mediation.
If you do all of the above and make it a habit to meditate as often as possible. In about 3 to 6 months of time (based on how often you meditate) your meditation space will be your scared sanctuary, you would no longer need to visit a scared places. The moment you enter the room, that’s the moment thoughts exit your mind.
Meditation at home: Simple Script
| Steps | Description |
|---|---|
| Sit in Padmasana | Also known as the Lotus Pose, where the feet are placed on the opposing thighs. If you are not comfortable in that position, you may sit on a chair with your spine upright. Having the spine upright is absolutely important. |
| Close your eyes | Close your eyes and relax the body. Become aware of your whole body and imagine yourself as still as a rock. Once you're relaxed, the breath calms down and becomes slower automatically. |
| Concentrate on the eye brow center | Slowly bring your concentration between the two eye brows (third eye/ajna). Inhale and exhale slowly. Preferably exhalation should be longer (slower) compared to inhalation. Do this eleven times. Maintain awareness of the breath through both the nostrils. |
| Awareness of breath through one nostril | Inhale through both the nostrils, but be aware of the breath only through the left nostril. Now exhale while being aware of the breath in the right nostril. Rememeber that exhalation should be longer and slower compared to inhalation. Do this eleven times. |
| Step 5 with swapped awareness | This step is same as step 5, but here you start with awareness in the right nostril. Inhale and be awarene of the breath only through the right nostril. Now exhale while being aware of the breath in the left nostril. Rememeber that exhalation should be longer and slower compared to inhalation. Do this eleven times. |
You may take some normal breaths in between each rounds. The duration of practice can be anywhere from 15 mins to 45 mins for beginners. You can also use some mantras during the practice, you may do so by fusing the awareness of the mantra along with inhalation and exhalation.
