The Two Tricks that Make Meditation a Breeze

One you’re probably already doing, the other is counter-intuitive

Photo by Raul Varzar on Unsplash

Meditation is one of those things that you can cite as a healthy practice that you somehow don’t do enough of. It’s like dieting and exercise. You should do it, you’ve done it and seen the benefits, but it’s kind of difficult at times.

For me, when I started meditation it was a necessity. I worked a job I didn’t love and had some inner and outer conflicts. Meditation centered me and helped me to respond and not react.

But when those challenges went away, my practice was under threat. Without the negative stimuli, I thought I didn’t need it as much.

As life would have it, things got difficult again and I realized that if I had just maintained the practice, I would’ve breezed past the oncoming storm.

So while bad life experiences are certainly a great catalyst for meditation, it isn’t one of the two tricks I’m about to mention. The first is deceptively simple and the other is the opposite of what we usually do in meditation.

1. Close your eyes

When I was first introduced to meditation, I was told to sit in a dark, quiet room and to focus on a candle. If my eyes close, I was to let them do so…