Turn meditation into a routine that you can practice every day!

Do you want to turn your meditation into a routine? Guest writer Ava Johanna guides us through the steps to make it easy!

Let me tell you about the first time I sat down to meditate on my plush turquoise carpet. I set a timer on my phone, closed my eyes, and began to breathe in and out of the nose. Between thoughts, my mind would race and my body would fidget. Was my nose really itchy or was I just trying to distract myself? After what felt like an eternity, I gave up, opened my eyes, and realized I had been sitting in a sloppy stillness for a little under two minutes.

At that time, I labeled myself a “bad meditator” and didn’t return to the practice until I completed my meditation teacher training years later. I found that the more people I spoke to, the more I heard how common this experience was. With the hype of meditation, countless research studies proving its efficiency for stress reduction, and growing push for wellness, thousands of individuals have tried the practice once or twice, but few actually make it into a consistent habit.

Now knowing the power of meditation, I’ve been on a mission to modernize and make meditation exciting to the masses with my six week online training: The Academy of Breath. In this article, I’ll be sharing with you one foundational practice from The Academy of Breath, a recorded meditation, and how you can turn meditation into a routine you crave every day.

Why Meditation Is A Powerful Habit

With the world as we’ve known it on pause, now is the perfect time to carve out space in your day for meditation. Outside of the known benefits of relieving stress, meditation also offers an opportunity to process challenging emotions that have likely risen from the state of our planet.

In meditation, we sit in observation of feelings and thoughts and are given an opportunity to practice non-attachment. This tool alone can massively impact how you deal with difficult emotions passively and in the moment. For example, instead of identifying as angry, I can witness the feeling of anger, where it came from and breathe through the physical reaction that arises in my body.

You don’t need a fancy pillow, a guru, or a blank mind to reap the benefits of meditation either. For just ten minutes a day, you can experience massive breakthroughs without having to even leave the house, all while you turn meditation into a routine.

How To Start Meditating

When I first began meditating, I always assumed that unless my mind was completely quiet, I was doing it wrong. If you share that sentiment, write a permission slip right now that it is okay to think thoughts! When you are in meditation, the point is not to be completely thought-free, it is the mind’s job to think and the meditation’s responsibility to bring the mind back to an anchor. This could be a mantra, the breath, a feeling, or a voice if you are listening to a guided meditation like the one at the end of this blog.

Anytime you notice your mind wander, you gently guide it back to that point of focus without force, shame or judgment. This practice supports you in building awareness and a state of presence. This presence allows for a richer experience of life, a greater capacity for joy, and deeper connection to yourself, nature and those around you.

As my meditation teacher, Jonni Pollard, always shares, “We don’t meditate for the eyes closed experience; we meditate for the eyes open experience.”

If you’ve struggled in the past with creating enough time in your day to turn meditation into a routine, start first by establishing your why. Why do you want to meditate? Is it to get better sleep? Is it to manage stress? Do you want to visualize and tap into more creativity? Maybe your why is all of these things, I know they are all big motivators for me!

If it feels less intimidating, start with a shorter practice in the morning before jumping into your to-do list. In fact, if you are quick to start tackling all the items on your agenda, schedule it in and make it a priority. If resistance comes up, notice it and remind yourself of your why. Just like motivating yourself to eat healthy or move your body, give your mind encouragement by focusing on all the good that will come from sitting down for ten minutes.

A Meditation For Relieving Stress

I’ve created this guided ten-minute meditation for you to listen to and use as a tool for relaxing and releasing stress from the body and mind. If you are interested in deepening your practice further and tapping into the magic of meditation while paired with breathwork techniques, The Academy of Breath is open for enrollment now. You can learn about the entire program by visiting my website here.

Follow Ava on her Instagram account @avajohanna, and listen to her podcast at @thealchemizedlife