Meditation is an easy practice to roll your eyes at, especially as it’s grown in popularity in the mainstream media. There’s a general perception of meditation as a frivolous activity for people with nothing to do. Or, as something inaccessible to “normal people” who don’t have time to sit around for endless hours doing nothing.
This couldn’t be further than the truth. There’s a way to make meditation work for everyone, because everyone can benefit from some form of meditation. And the most popular way to incorporate meditation into a daily routine is with a ten minute meditation, an easily accessible meditation that anyone and everyone can make time for.
Everyone’s heard about the benefits of meditation, but the practice itself goes against everything about the way we live our lives in modern society. For most people, we very rarely give ourselves the time to sit with our thoughts and just exist. This makes meditation feel counterintuitive and almost impossible. But, as meditation has grown in popularity, this also means that there are tons of resources to make it easier to lean into the ten minute meditation.
Guided meditations online through Spotify, Youtube, or even separate meditation apps are a great place to start for people who don’t know where to begin with meditation, or maybe feel nervous or uncomfortable sitting in silence for too long. In a guided meditation, someone will talk you through your ten minute meditation, often giving you visualization exercises to help you get used to spending this time inside your head.
Guided meditations can feel comforting for people who struggle to sit still without something to focus on. There are tons of free or inexpensive guided meditations available online at any length imaginable, meaning a ten minute meditation will be easy to find and make a part of your routine.
Meditation music can serve a similar role as guided meditations, just without the speaking or visualization. If you’re just starting out in your meditation journey, meditation music can be a great first step, or it can come after you’ve become more comfortable using guided meditations, and would like to transition to going more inwards during your practice. Meditation music is easily accessible and easy to find online. And the best part is you can choose to meditate for as long as you want! Just set your timer and stop the music when you’re finished.
The best thing about meditation is that really, you don’tneedanything to start doing it. Silent meditation is always available to you! You can always set a timer for ten minutes and justbe. This can feel scary at first, but if you don’t feel ready to take the plunge, you can always start with a guided meditation or some meditation music and work your way up to meditating in silence.
No matter how you choose to meditate, bringing a ten minute meditation practice into your routine is an amazing, easy, and accessible way to fit some extra mindfulness into your life.
