Meditation for beginners can be tough! However, there are lots of benefits! Mediation is one of the best natural remedies for anxiety Not only is watching the breath a task that may take time to adjust to, but also the body has to adjust to sitting up straight for extended periods of time. In order to ease the body into a sitting meditation practice, beginners might consider doing a little bit of yoga before beginning. In yin yoga, each posture is held for extended periods of time (1-5 mins) in order to enable connective tissue the ability to stretch and lengthen . Hip opening postures are very effective for creating a more comfortable meditation practice. Here are some great yoga postures for beginning meditation:
- Roll out a yoga matt, blanket or rug to create some cushioning.
- Begin with “Childs Pose”: Toes come to touch, knees com out wide until there is a stretch at hips/groin/lower back area. Slowly lower the torso between the knees with the arms out in front of you and let the palms rest on the mat or blanket. Allow the forehead to rest on the mat. Begin to lengthen and slow the breath. Send each deep inhale into sensation with the intention of watching sensation as it arises. Allow each exhale to release tension and relax the body more letting go of muscular engagement as much as possible. Stay for 2-5 mins.
- From Childs pose come to Floor frog: help yourself up with your pams and rest on the palms or forearms. Bring your ankles in line with your knees. If you need more support, place a pillow or some type of cushion beneath the torso and or head. Even though some muscles will need to stay engaged to hold this pose, let all muscles that are not involved to completely relax.
- If this is too much and causes pain back out of the pose some and feel free to use more supports like pillows and cushions.
- After you have complete these poses, lie on your back in savasana (corpse pose) for a couple of minutes to allow your body to integrate the opening.
- After holding these postures, lay donw onto the back for a short savasana. Allow the body to become heavy and integrate the benefits of the pose by simply relaxing.
- Now begin your mediation practice with more space in the hips, and more ease in your meditation practice.