4 easy meditations that are perfect for people bad at meditating
*disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. Please do not consider this post medical advice and always talk to your provider before making significant lifestyle changes.
I like to think I’m good at many things. Meditation isn’t one of them.
There are endless podcasts, videos and articles about meditation that tell us we should all be doing it. Yet, because I deal with anxiety, turning my mind off? It does not come naturally. Stopping my ever-flowing stream of consciousness is a struggle that keeps me from reaping the benefits of meditation and the effects of meditation on the brain, which include increasing self-awareness, reducing negative emotions and cultivating an overall sense of calm. Want to know how to start meditation practice? I’ll give you some insight on how I’ve started.
Something I didn’t realize I was holding in my mindset was that I had to be a certain type of person to have a routine meditation practice. I can get angry. I get distracted. These are qualities I didn’t see as befitting a person like the yogis and mindfulness gurus who seem to have an almost ever-present aura of calm and restraint about them. That certainly wasn’t me (spoiler: it still isn’t me). I think to an extent the ideas of meditation and finding calm are over-used in ridiculous marketing ploys and are kept from being attainable to certain people. I know I certainly haven’t imagined a person of low-income or a larger body when I think of “people who meditate”., almost like meditation or yoga or other mental health coping strategies are a luxury reserved for rich wine moms who belong to country clubs and book clubs. How lame is that? Logically, I know that anyone should have the access and the agency to do what benefits their mind and soul. People who meditate aren’t restricted to the eccentric over-spiritualized personalities we see in the media. What I’m realizing now is that it doesn’t matter. That logic applies to you and me too: we can be impatient, distracted, rushed people and still cultivate a meditation routine. We can still reap the major benefits!
So below are 4 of my favorite beginner meditations that are perfect for anyone who isn’t naturally good at pressing pause to meditate. These are all guided meditations but you can always pick a focus and put on some calming tracks—there are all kinds on Youtube, from spa music to lo-fi.
Jessamyn Stanley 10 MINUTE GUIDED MEDITATION
I’ve decided Jessamyn is my new favorite yogi because she is so relatable! She brings up a fantastic point in this meditation and that is that there is no way to totally silence our minds and achieve the definition of “zen”, no matter how much we may want or need to get there. I happen to think that this mentality is great for beginners because it eliminates a sense of perfection that can be an undercurrent of self-improvement circles. This video is literally made for beginners!
Madeleine Shaw de-stress meditation
I adore Madeleine for her calm energy and her accent! It somehow makes all of her videos so much more relaxing. She always starts her videos with some sort of sweet greeting and she gives me the feeling as though she truly wishes me the best, even though she’s an ocean away in the U.K. I love this de-stress meditation, it’s a great basic video to keep tucked away for stressful times. I’ve used it on my lunch break and right before bed.
Yoga with Adriene meditation for self-love
Okay, I’m definitely not expecting y’all to have never heard of Yoga With Adriene and I won’t pretend I discovered her—Adriene is one of the top yoga Youtubers out there. She is renowned for creating yoga workouts that are accessible to all levels and are made to be built into a hectic normal life. Her videos feel made for the average person and there is something so relatable about that. Her videos often have alternative moves and options based on ability, plus she has some really solid 30-day challenges that are meant to ease you in to yoga. She has a few meditations on her channel but this is one of my favorites as it focuses on self-love.
goodful 5-minute meditation
It there is one meditation I can recommend in this post, it’s this one. I came across Goodful’s Youtube channel by chance and I’m so glad I did. This uber-short meditation is chock-ful of self love ideas from body acceptance to affirmations. I love that it begins with stating that you are a priority. Because you are. You deserve the time you decide to give yourself to unwind and to let go of whatever you might need to let go of. This particular meditation takes a tiny portion of your day, so you can fit in some you-time whenever you need.
Meditation can be done outside of an Instagram-worthy incense-filled room sitting on the perfect mat or pillow! You can meditate on the bus or while taking a walk or face-down on your bed after you’ve had the worst most frustrating day. These videos are a great starting point. I can say that I meditate more often these days and I’m starting to see how meditation changes the brain and the body. And this is just a beginning—you might want to delve into your own internal meditation done to instrumental music without talking or practice active meditation like yoga or drawing and painting. The possibilities are wide open! You just have to be open to being bad at it at first, just like me.
