There are so many schools of thought teaching different meditation techniques.
And then, there are all the myths around how you should sit, how long you should sit for, and how still your mind should be.
I know so many folks who’d like to meditate, but—for various reasons—can’t seem to get started.
Getting bogged down in the details can prevent us from ever getting off the starting block. So, let’s keep it simple.
Start wherever you are right now, with whatever time you can give right now. Start with your breath.
I’ll guide you through a simple starting practice—a practice that can even be your forever practice, if you wish.
But, let’s not worry about that for now.
Let’s just focus on the next 5, 10, 20 minutes—whatever suits you in this very moment.
Begin by sitting in an upright position, your back straight, your shoulders down, and your feet planted firmly on the floor.
Lower or close your eyes to eliminate visual distractions.
Now, place your attention on your breath.
Observe its flow without changing its rhythm.
Notice that you’re breathing in.
Notice that you’re breathing out.
(To help keep your attention on your breath, you could silently comment: “I am breathing in. I am breathing out.” Another option is to use this silent Sanskrit mantra: “So” on the inhalation, “Hum” on the exhalation.)
Each time you notice that your mind has wandered off, simply bring it back—without scolding yourself—to your breath.
Your mind will wander repeatedly—that’s okay. The practice is noticing that and returning your attention to the present moment, via your breath.
When the time you’ve allocated is up:
Release the mantra, if you were using it.
Allow your attention to focus on sounds in the room and beyond.
Bring your attention back to your body, and notice any sensations. Notice how different parts of your body connect with the chair and how your feet connect with the floor.
Slowly blink your eyes open, and gently move back into your daily activities.
As you become more experienced, you may wish to experiment with different techniques and meditations for different purposes. You may wish to meditate with eyes open or practice moving meditations.
For now though, continue to keep it simple. Simple is effective. Simple is do-able.
The real key to success with meditation is not so much which technique we use—it’s regular practice that really matters. Start where you are, and keep it simple until it is habitual.
We’re in that precious space between Christmas and the New Year, where many of us feel drawn to review, reflect and plan.
There’s generally a lot of focus on how we’re going to make our lives better in the the coming year by making ourselves better. I have done this so often myself, but over the last couple of years I’ve come to think that we have the focus all wrong.
There is a difference between self-care and self-improvement. One involves taking good care of who we are now and, in doing so, supporting ourselves to grow into even better versions of ourselves.
The other often comes from a place of believing that who we are now is not good enough. It’s a critical and judgmental place. And when we “fail” to improve upon it, our self-improvement plan becomes yet another stick to beat ourselves up with.
So I have a radical suggestion around resolution setting for this coming new year:
How about resolving to be kinder to ourselves instead of endeavoring to improve ourselves?
I’m not suggesting that we abandon healthy habits—self-care includes choosing exercise and rejecting self-sabotage. I’m simply suggesting that we choose true self-care—for our own well-being—rather than self-improvement for the sake of external appreciation or validation.
Choosing to take better care of ourselves often does need to include dietary and exercise changes to our lifestyles. But what will make us more likely to stick with healthier choices is the motivation factor behind them.
Are we doing it for ourselves, or for others?
Another common response to the concept of self-care is to introduce some pampering. And this is important and worthwhile too. But while time to ourselves for a bubble bath has a role to play, it isn’t really enough. Even if you’re allowing yourself a regular spa treatment, it isn’t enough.
Because true self-care goes much deeper.
And so setting weight goals and signing up for yoga classes, or booking a regular massage might be included in our “New-Year-New-You” resolutions. But if we want them to be part of a self-care practice then there are some fundamental steps we need to take.
First off, we need to take some time to reflect on how we can support ourselves better (rather than constantly wonder why we aren’t good enough):
What do we need to be operating at optimal wellness—physically, mentally, emotionally?
In order to improve our well-being, what do we need to say no to? Who do we need to say no to?
Where are we self-sabotaging? How can we change that? What new habits would be good for us to develop?
Only when we have reflected and received some clarity around how and why we have not cared for ourselves enough, are we ready to set some genuinely self-supporting goals.
At this point we can decide to make lifestyle changes:
to eat better (for health reasons, rather than acquiring a “bikini body”),
to exercise more,
to get up an hour earlier everyday (to make time for something that makes our hearts sing, rather than because the gurus say it’s the secret to “success”).
Maybe it’s time to book a course of counselling, to finally deal with our trust issues or poverty consciousness—or any other issues that are subconsciously programming us to live in a way that doesn’t serve us all that well. When we bring them into our conscious awareness, we can finally stop being ruled by them.
Maybe we could try just five minutes of meditation a day—every day for one month—and just see if it makes a difference to how we feel.
Maybe we could go for a gentle stroll everyday instead of a hard-core exercise class three times a week.
Maybe, we could make a list of things we’re curious about and agree to experiment with what we feel most drawn to, instead of forcing ourselves to commit to any of them.
I think we definitely need to include the choice to form new habits simply because they make us feel good.(This is where self-pampering—little and often—comes into play.)
We also need to prepare for resistance.
Those around us who are used to us not putting ourselves first won’t like it when we start to do so. They will make it difficult. They will project accusations of selfishness.
Do not be deterred.
Take it as a sign of moving in the right direction.
To practice self-care, we need to establish boundaries and abide by them.
That means we need to be brave enough to say “no” to others—and not waiver in our commitment to that “no.”
Self-care can have the appearance of selfishness, but only the short-sighted (or truly selfish) see it as so. Self-care is necessary if we are to continue to be able to contribute to the well-being of others. It’s the oxygen-mask-in-an-airplane-emergency scenario—if we don’t put on our own first, we’re likely to pass out before we can assist others.
So flex those courage muscles and be brave. When planning your New-Year-New-You, for the sake of everyone you take care of, make taking care of yourself a top priority.
The best way to ensure we include meditation in our daily routines is to do it in the morning—first thing.
I realize many people already have crazy, hectic mornings where it seems impossible to fit in one more thing, but I promise, this is do-able.
And that’s because as little as five minutes is enough.
Longer is better, but five minutes counts. Of course, we don’t have to meditate first thing either. We can do it at whatever point in the day best works for our own schedule. But the easiest way to make meditation a daily habit is to do it before we do anything else.
Most people have some kind of morning routine—a general order in which we do things when we get up and start moving about, especially on work and school days. If we integrate our morning meditation into this daily routine, before long, it becomes habitual.
And while the ideal is to meditate twice a day, life has a tendency to sabotage our plans. Afternoon and evening schedules can often become disrupted by all kinds of unforeseen events and there’s a greater chance that our evening meditation slot will fall by the wayside. But, when it’s part of our morning routines, even if we don’t get a chance for a longer meditation later in the day, at least we’ve started out with a self-care practice.
I was trained as a meditation teacher by the Chopra Center, which recommends a simple, tried and tested formula: RPM (Rise, Pee, Meditate). And it has worked for me.
I am not a morning person. And when I first learned to meditate, I didn’t have this freelance lifestyle which offered me so much flexibility. In order to develop a daily meditation practice, I had to set my alarm half an hour earlier in the mornings.
The idea of it was massively uncomfortable. I didn’t want to get up earlier, but my desire to finally crack the meditation thing overcame my internal objections. Bleary-eyed, I forced myself to get out of bed, pee, brush my teeth (it helps—that icky feeling in your mouth in the morning can be a bit of a distraction in the beginning), get back into bed where—sitting up, not lying down—I would meditate for 30 minutes.
It only took a couple of weeks for it to become one of the things I did every morning, like showering and dressing, without ever feeling like a chore.
Nine years later, it’s still how I start my day.
One of the many documented benefits of meditation is that we feel rested and energized afterward. Meditation gives us such a deep level of rest (even if it doesn’t feel like that because our minds continue to be busy throughout) that it more than makes up for the extra few minutes of sleep we’ve sacrificed.
*Sometimes, when we’re first starting out—and depending on the level of healing our bodies demand—we can feel extra sleepy afterward. With continued practice, this passes. (It’s also less likely to be an effect of a short, five minute sit so don’t be afraid to start with that.)
If getting up five minutes earlier seems to be too much of a stretch, then the next best thing is to identify a slot of five minutes or more in your day that will work every day or most days. And then put a recurring reminder in your phone, your diary or whatever device you use for daily reminders.
The benefits of meditation accrue gradually. It’s a fitness regime for our minds, hearts and souls. And just like physical fitness activities, we will feel minimal benefits right off and maximum benefits when it becomes a continual and regular activity.
Now is always as good a time as any to start something new. Decide today and set your alarm for tomorrow morning.
If you have any questions, please post them in the comments below.
Household plants do more than adorn our homes—as living, breathing beings themselves, they also inject more life force into our space.
And while faux plants can give the illusion of life, there is no substitute for the real thing (and green thumbs can be learned over time).
As we all learned in school, living plants inhale the carbon dioxide we exhale, and they convert it back into breathable oxygen (mostly during daytime, doing the opposite at night). In so doing, they cleanse the air in our homes making it purer for us to breathe.
But some plants can provide the air in our homes with an even deeper cleanse, removing harmful toxins from our environment. This is important for all of us to be mindful of, but particularly so if we share our homes with children, elderly folks, or anyone with a compromised immune system.
According to the World Health Organisation, there are three areas of indoor air pollution that we should be most concerned about:
Biological indoor air pollutants (dampness and mold)
Chemical pollutants (Three of the most common indoor pollutants are formaldehyde, benzene, and trichloroethylene.)
Pollutants from indoor combustion of fuels
Formaldehyde is a common indoor pollutant found in plywood, particle board, paint, adhesives, varnishes, wallpaper, and the smoke from fires. It can aggravate asthma symptoms and is classified by the EPA as a probable human carcinogen.
Benzine is also a human carcinogen present in many of the same products listed above for formaldehyde. It’s also found in flooring such as vinyl and nylon carpets.
Trichlorethylene is carcinogenic to animals, and there is evidence that it may also be linked to kidney cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and cardiac diseases in humans. It is found in dyes, soaps, disinfectants, and aerosols.
Unless our homes are newly built or newly renovated with sound ecological products, most of us are probably living with these pollutants in the air we’re breathing. So, in addition to climate change and other ecological concerns, our personal health is another powerful reason why we need to be increasingly mindful of the eco-credentials of everything we bring in to our homes—from our furniture, flooring, and paint to our clothing, personal care products, and food.
With conscious consumerism, we can reduce our exposure to air pollutants.
And the great news is that beautiful, giving plants can also help detoxify our air of these chemical pollutants, as well as counter-acting the increased carbon dioxide from the burning of fuels, and in some cases, even contain the presence of mold.
Of course, the ultimate solution is to avoid exposure to pollutants altogether—but until that is 100 percent possible, it’s good to know we can take remedial steps. The following is a selection of plants that can help us to get started with that:
Aloe Vera is known for its medicinal qualities, particularly for the skin. However, it also filters benzene, formaldehyde, and other toxins from the air. On top of all this, the aloe is also suitable for the bedroom, producing oxygen at night time. Keep in a sunny spot and water regularly during spring and summer, allowing the soil to dry out completely between watering. In winter, water more sparingly, or the roots may rot. (This plant is toxic to cats and dogs, so do keep it out of their reach.)
Areca Palm filters formaldehyde with the added bonus of being a natural humidifier, making it a good option for people with respiratory problems, or for those living in dry climates. It can grow quite tall, so if space is an issue, curb its growth by not potting up to a larger container. Keep in a bright spot, and water regularly during summer and sparingly during winter.
Bamboo Palm is a great choice for filtering formaldehyde, benzene, trichlorethylene, ammonia, and carbon monoxide. Keep in a reasonably bright spot, avoiding both direct sunlight and too much shade. It likes moist (but not soaked) soil—water when the top third of the soil has become dry.
Boston Fern is one of the best plants for absorption of formaldehyde; this plant is also a natural humidifier. The soil needs to be kept moist (but not soaked) at all times, and it likes indirect light and to be kept away from heat.
Peace Lily absorbs formaldehyde, benzene, trichlorethylene, ammonia, carbon monoxide, and other toxins. It also absorbs microscopic mold spores making it a great choice for kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry rooms. It’s known for its ability to survive in darker spaces, but does better in a relatively bright spot, without direct sunlight. Water weekly to keep the soil moist and keep out of reach of curious cats—it has the kind of leaves they like to chew on, but it’s toxic to cats and dogs.
Snake Plant, also known as Mother-in-Law’s Tongue, is another great plant to keep in the bedroom, as it converts carbon dioxide to oxygen at night, improving the air quality in our room as we sleep. On top of that, it also filters benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, and ammonia. Place in direct sunlight, and water sparingly (especially during winter), allowing the soil to dry out completely between waterings. And keep out of pets’ reach.
Spider Plant is a quick-growing plant that generously spawns lots of baby plants you can gift to friends or pot up for additional air purifying benefits. It filters mold spores, benzene, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and other toxins. It’s also low maintenance, requiring watering about once a fortnight, allowing the soil to dry out completely in between waterings.
These are just a few of our plant options. Check the NASA Clean Air Study for a more comprehensive list of plants that add air detoxification, as well as beauty, to our homes.
An important caveat to make here is not to expect magic results overnight. Our homes don’t exactly replicate scientific laboratories, and a single plant is unlikely to thoroughly purify our home’s air, given all the sources of pollution we have to deal with.
Start with one or two of your favorites, and add to your collection as you develop a greener thumb, aiming to end up with at least one in each room and several plants in your larger spaces.
Keep in mind that natural ventilation is also important, so open the windows regularly!
Here’s to cleaner, greener, and more vital living spaces for all of us.
If you’re a fan of interior design, you may have noticed a lot of green gracing the pages of your favorite magazines—it’s the on-trend color for interiors right now.
It’s a nice synchronicity for the urgent need we have to “green” as many aspects of our day-to-day life as we can, in our race to slow down the earth’s rising temperature. As with everything else, it’s important to have eco-friendly décor in mind as we plan the interior design of our homes.
If you’re feeling inspired to introduce the color green into the furniture, walls, or fabrics in your home, how about also making an effort to adopt as eco-friendly an approach to your décor as you possibly can?
Following are some tips to help you green your décor:
The other scary VOC fact, which most of us don’t consider once the paint is dry and the fumes have subsided, is that they can be emitted into the air for up to five years—so it’s not only the painter’s health that’s at risk.
Natural paints are initially more expensive, but this is one of those cases where it’s genuinely worth it. Not only is it better for the planet’s health, but it’s also better for the health of those who will live and work in the rooms whose walls have been treated with natural paints.
A Green Furniture Guide:
Choose quality furniture that is sustainably produced. It doesn’t have to be new—clever and patient searching can unearth hidden gems at flea markets, second hand stores, and online. Even if you have to fork out more money for it, choose investment pieces that you will love for years to come.
Cheaply produced furniture will wear out quickly, needing replacement sooner, and is likely to fall out of favor with us much more quickly too. Of course it is more readily replaceable with the latest trendy and affordable items, but that just adds more to the landfill. (Cheaper furniture often also uses toxic materials in its production and can trigger allergic reactions.)
Upcycle what you already have. When we’re redecorating, we’re often looking to change the look and feel of a room. And sometimes the furniture we already have doesn’t fit that new look.
But before deciding to replace it, take a good look at how what you already have might be updated or re-purposed. (Pinterest is awash with inspiration.) Consider moving pieces from one room to another—the same piece of furniture, given a new function (and perhaps a facelift with paint or wallpaper) can look surprisingly “right” in its new location.
Donate what you really don’t want to keep. If we can’t love it anymore, that doesn’t mean somebody else won’t. Ask family and friends if anyone needs what you’re passing on. And if no one in your circle wants it, then donate it to charity or offer it on freecycle.org.
Choose less furniture. Less is more—so why not explore the minimalist movement? We don’t have to be as extreme as those featured in the film, but we can take a look around and reflect on how much of the “stuff” in our homes adds to our lives. Indeed, how much of it detracts valuable time needing to be dusted, polished, and tidied away?
Instead of mindlessly accumulating stuff, let’s adopt an approach of carefully editing and curating our possessions so that our homes are only filled with items that reflect what is of true interest and importance to us.
The more things we have in our homes, the more lost our treasured possessions become in the sea of all our stuff. The fewer we have, the less furniture we need to store them in.
By being more selective, we give our gems the space to shine and the opportunity to grab our attention more frequently (and give our hearts a boost of joy each time). And that will also help us to tap into a feeling of gratitude for what we do have and love.
Soft Furnishings:
Curtains, cushions, bed linen, rugs, and throws can be expensive, especially if we’re looking to create an instant effect in a newly decorated room rather than slowly curate over time. I’m as much a bargain-hunter as the next person, but we do need to be mindful when shopping on a budget for these items.
As with furniture, consider second-hand. Fabric can be washed—and it can be re-purposed if you’re handy with a sewing machine.
And when buying new, look for sustainably-produced, fair trade products. GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) is a great label to look out for on all textiles. It is the highest standard for organic fibre production in the world, and requires a minimal use of chemicals along the entire production chain, as well as demanding good social conditions for the workers involved in its production.
BetterCotton.org is another good reference source. An initiative of WWF, it was established as an independent organisation in 2009 to encourage producers and suppliers to sign up to a global standard of cotton production that supports better production practices and better livelihoods and working conditions for farmers. A list of current membersis supplied on their website.
A general rule of thumb, when redecorating, is to think long-term.
Think of the long-term implications for the environment and those working in the industries.
Think of the long-term implications for our own health.
And think about the longevity of our new décor scheme!
Avoid being too influenced by current trends (especially with kitchens and bathrooms) and aim for a look that won’t date too quickly. That way, we feel better about investing in quality, sustainably-produced products. It also helps to foster the patience to seek out the perfect pre-loved piece rather than rushing out to buy cheap furniture.
A decorating spree is usually driven by a vision for what we want to create in a space. Let’s incorporate a bigger, greener picture into that vision.
