Meditation for Busy Minds - How to Find the Calm

Meditation can provide you with numerous benefits such as reducing stress, improving concentration, and boosting cardiovascular and immune health. But there are some people, perhaps you are one of them, who struggle with creating enough calm in their minds to meditate effectively. Your thoughts bounce back and forth and every tiny thing is a distraction. Here are a few tips for having a successful meditation session when your mind is racing.

Create the Space
You need to remove as many distractions as possible to quiet your mind. Think of spaces where you can get away and feel free to be creative. If you don’t have a peaceful room, it’s acceptable to consider a closet, your parked car, underneath your bed covers, or the corner of a library. Wear a sleep mask if you need to block out light. Use a soft blanket if you think you’ll get a chill. Go somewhere where you can be your most comfortable and relaxed.

Allow the Noise
This is the most difficult aspect of meditation for people with busy minds. The common misperception is that meditation must be completely free of thoughts and noises when, in fact, this is a normal part of getting to a deeper level of consciousness. Accept that you are going to have distractions.

Clear the Noise
Don’t punish yourself when you have thoughts and you’re trying to meditate. Just let them pass through your mind. This may sound strange, but picture them flying past on a plane with a banner. Watch the plane and your thought fly far away until you can’t read it anymore. If you don’t like the plane idea, create your own thought-removing tool based on something you like to think about. Do you like to swim? Imagine yourself swimming and your thoughts running down a drain in the middle of the pool. Are you a reader? Pretend each thought is on a page. Read it and then turn to a blank page.

Keep doing this tip for each thought and in a few weeks, you will see noticeable improvement in being able to clear your mind.