Meditation for the Easily Distracted

Does the thought of meditation bore you? Do you find it difficult to sit quietly and calm your thoughts from the hustle and bustle of daily life? Perhaps you just haven't found 'your' method of meditation!

Firstly, lets address the 'why' of meditation. Meditation has numerous scientifically backed benefits such as reducing stress levels in the body and combating depression and anxiety. Interestingly enough, a short attention span may prevent someone from meditating but meditation actually helps to increase your attention span. Setting aside some time for yourself each day to experience complete peace and relaxation will significantly improve your responses to stressful situations and increase your creative problem solving. -https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/12-benefits-of-meditation

So, don't fret the loss of these benefits if average meditation isn't for you... There are countless ways to enter meditation mode, so today we will go over a few.

Candle Gazing

This is one of my personal favorites! The practice of candle gazing is literally just finding a dark, quiet place with a candle and then gazing into the flame. While you do this, shift your focus from the thoughts in your mind to the dancing of the flame. Allow yourself to appreciate the beauty and the power of the element that you have harnessed in front of you. Keep your eyes on the flame and observe the color changes and the flickers, lose yourself here for as long as you like. It is believed by Yogis that candle gazing brings energy into the third eye and helps improve memory loss.

Breathing Exercises

Did you know that by taking ten simultaneous deep breaths that you begin to activate your Vagus nerve? Your vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in your body which controls your parasympathetic nervous system, this controls your body's relaxation response. This is a quick and simple way to 'reset' your body after a long day or while in stressful situations. This practice is also known to fight off panic or anxiety attacks. Many adults don't realize but their breathing is often shallow or they completely hold their breath unintentionally. Typically, when your body isn't receiving proper amounts of oxygen, it sends out distress signals which your brain then interprets as general anxiety or stress. Even if you don't have the extra time to dedicate to meditation, try to remind yourself throughout the day to breathe in deep for at least ten big breaths... your body will thank you.

Crystal Gazing

I would suggest doing this outside on a sunny day. Choose your favorite crystals, or the crystals whose energy you wish to work with and locate a peaceful, bright place to sit. Observe the way the sunlight bounces off of your crystals and search for hidden rainbows inside. Don't think about what happened earlier at work, or what responsibilities are awaiting your presence afterwards. Allow yourself to enter a state of gratitude and appreciation for the beauty you see in front of you. Be thankful to witness every flash of color, every dancing rainbow, and ever wild bouncing light ray. In this moment, it is just you, your crystals, and the beautiful dancing of light. It's okay to get lost here for a while. Time spent in curious, thoughtless adoration is time well spent.

Binaural Beats/ Healing Frequencies

Binaural beats happen when you hear two slightly different tones in each ear and your brain produces an extra tone that is equal to the difference of the two tones you originally heard. For example, if you hear a tone at the frequency of 150 hz in your right ear, and another tone at the frequency of 140 hz in your left ear-- your brain would produce a third tone at the frequency difference, 10 hz. This brainwave trickery is designed to coax your brain into producing the same brainwaves that are produced during deep meditation. Countless studies can be found on the use and benefits of binaural beats but most concur by suggesting that the daily use of binaural beats can significantly reduce anxiety, stress, improves sleep, enhances creativity, and helps to foster more frequent positive moods. Be sure to research which hertz frequency binaural beats you should listen to based on your desired effect. Healing frequencies are the frequencies than align with the ancient solfeggio scale. Studies have been done on the effects of these frequencies on the body/ psyche and this is what they've found:

396 Hz — Relieves anxiety/ fear

417 Hz — Assists one going through changes

528 Hz — Love frequency, Stress relief and DNA repair

639 Hz — Eases tension with others

741 Hz — Enhances creative problem solving

852 Hz — Crown Chakra; Spiritual Receptivity

"In 1988, a biochemist named Glen Rein, converted and recorded Solfeggio scale Gregorian chants to scalar audio waves. The results were played to test tubes containing DNA. By measuring UV light absorption, Rein could document the effect of the music on DNA. He also compared the chants with other forms of music, including rock. While rock music had little or no influence, the chants caused a marked increase of light absorption, up to nine percent, leading Rein to conclude that Solfeggio scale sound frequencies cause resonance in DNA, and may have healing properties." -https://www.gaia.com/article/healing-frequencies-of-the-ancient-solfeggio-scale

Free Writing

Get out your journal and just start writing. Don't intend to write a master piece or a perfectly verses poem, just start with what's on your mind and let the pen flow. It doesn't even have to make sense, just write whatever comes to you-- whatever weighs on your mind, let it out and let it go. Many use this as a form divination to connect with the divine. The idea is to get to the point where you are completely encased in this free flow that you start to translate information directly from source. This doesn't have to be the intention though. The intention can simply be to take all that you've internalized and make it physical, get it out and finally release it. If you love writing, this can be a daily meditation just to relieve yourself of all that has occurred that day or is weighing on your heart. If it makes you feel even better, you can rip that paper up or set it on fire to really consummate the release.

These are just a few examples but if you use your imagination you can construct the perfect meditation method for you. There are no rules and you don't have to adhere to anyone else's blueprint. Think about what relaxes you but also demands your attention. You want to be able to quiet your mind and raise your vibration (your frequency/ your mood) while you meditate. The ideal frequency to tune into is gratitude. If by the end of your meditation you can transform your mood to gratitude, you will be more receptive to your desired manifestations.

With all of the amazing reasons to meditate, why not?