How to Reset with One Minute of Mindfulness - 4 Simple Meditations to Try Today
I’m sure by now you are familiar with the amazing impact meditation can have on your health, but maybe you’re still wondering…seriously what do I do? I’m on board with giving myself a minute or two to slow down, but what does that look like? Do I close my eyes? How do I sit, or do I lay down? How do I slow down my thoughts? Will I look ridiculous if people walk in and see me meditating, and do I stop if they do? Is my breath supposed to be a certain way, I’ve been doing it all my life, how can I change it?
I can be honest and tell you, every single question above I’ve asked myself, and this is just the short list. If you need a reminder of how I knocked down these thoughts, and moved to a place where I could create a mindfulness practice in real life, my Ultimate Guide to Meditation.
Now let’s move on to the good stuff! Below I will share with you 4 simple & effective meditation techniques you can do in one minute’s time. Meditation practices that can literally be done anywhere, by anyone, no fancy props or special music needed. All you need to do is show-up and be open to the experience! Let’s dive in:
Gratitude
Acknowledging the areas of your life that you’re grateful for is incredibly impactful. Did you know that a gratitude practice can improve both your physical and psychological health? It also improves sleep & self esteem, along with increasing empathy. How’s that for an impactful list of changes in only 1-2 minutes of time? As you can see, a sense of gratitude will have a tremendous impact on your overall health. The practice is simple:
Grab a pen & paper, and write down 3-5 things that you are grateful for in that moment. It can be absolutely anything that brings you joy.
I encourage writing your list down. The act of writing is more impactful than thoughts alone (though this is better than nothing), so grab an old journal you have sitting around, or even a piece of scratch paper. Don’t worry what it looks like, the important piece is taking a moment to be grateful for the incredible moments that fill your day.
Box Breathing
Box breathing is a powerful technique to reset your breath to its normal rhythm. This reset allows your body to relax, clears your mind and increases focus. Fun fact, it’s commonly used with fire fighters, soldiers and Navy Seals, as a way to ground their bodies after being in fight-or-flight response on the job. Box breathing is a super fast, and powerful way to reset your body to its normal rhythm. Here are the steps:
Close your eyes and picture a square in your mind.
Take a deep breath in to a count of four, imagining you’re tracing a line up one side of the box. Feel the air entering your lungs.
Hold your breath in your lungs for a count of four at the top of your imaginary box
Release your breath to a count of four as you picture tracing down the side of the box.
Hold your exhale to a count of four as you complete the square.
Repeat these four steps until you feel a sense of calm. As you are more comfortable with the technique feel free to lengthen the amount of time you hold each step.
Guided Meditation
Guided meditations are my personal favorite. By hearing someone else’s voice, and listening to their guidance, my own thoughts can more easily step aside. Technology is all around us, why not embrace it? There are incredible free resources to help you ease into your meditation practice. Insight Timer is a free app I love. You can choose your length & type of meditation, and it will track your progress (it’s basically like a gold start in elementary school, which obviously I love). Be sure to put your device in airplane mode to avoid distractions, and you could even set it on the other side of the room & turn the volume up. I prefer to be as disconnected as possible, while still enjoying my guided meditation.
Mantra
A mantra is a word or phrase that you silently repeat during your meditation. The purpose of a mantra is to give your mind a focus point, somewhere to put your attention, aside from your racing thoughts. There’s no right or wrong choice, and likely your mantra will change every time you practice. To start choose any word or phrase that comes to mind. I love to choose two words, using one for my inhale and one for my exhale. Here’s how it could look:
Close your eyes and choose your two mantras.
Today mine will be bravery and kindness.
Breathe in thru the nose silently saying “I am brave”
Breathe out thru the mouth silently saying “I am surrounded by kindness”
Keep repeating these silent phrases as you slowly breathe in and out for a minute or two. As you go, don’t feel stuck in your word choices. If another word pops to mind and resonates more, go with it.
I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. Let go of expectations, and be open to experiencing how each meditation type feels for you. Does something click right away and resonate with you? Amazing, explore that more! Does something make you want to jump out of your skin and walk away 10 seconds in, ditch it, you can always try it again later but there’s no sense in forcing yourself into liking any particular practice.
If this blog has inspired you, I invite you to join my community of high-achieving mamas who support, encourage & empower one another as we make healthy living doable in our real lives. Learn more about the Mindbody Collective, my holistic health coaching membership. You can click here to join the waitlist and receive amazing freebies while you wait for doors to reopen!