How to use Meditation for Stress

Practicing meditation can be a powerful way to manage stress. People feel stress when they put mental energy into worrying about the future or stewing about the past. Your mind can get "stuck" in a seemingly never-ending spiral as the same worries race around inside of your head. Meditation can stop your racing thoughts and calm your mind, resulting in reduced stress. Here is how to use meditation for stress.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Commitment to reducing stress
• <br>Consistency in practicing meditation

1. Recognize the cause of stress. Most people say they experience stress because of things that are going on around them. In actuality, stress is your internal reaction to what is going on, which puts your level of stress under your own control. You feel stress when you allow your thoughts to race with anxieties about the past or future.

2. Build meditation into your daily routine. Set aside a regular time each day for meditation. You can choose first thing in the morning, right before you go to bed or any other time that is most convenient. Even if you have to skip a day on occasion, commit do practicing meditation on a regular basis.

3. Select a consistent peaceful symbol for meditation. Most people visualize some type of peaceful symbol, such as the beach or a flower, as they practice meditation. Try to use the same symbol, or only a few symbols, whenever you meditate. Doing so will help your mind and body to connect the feeling of relaxation with the selected peaceful symbol.

4. Explore how it feels to silence your mind. If your normal state of being has been one of stress, then what feels "normal" to you is having thoughts tumbling over one another in a frenzy. Contrast that feeling with how your mind feels as you focus on your peaceful symbol during meditation. Recognize that frenzied mental chatter is not "normal."

5. Visualize your peaceful symbol whenever you feel stress. Throughout the day, when you catch yourself allowing your thoughts to become frenzied, stop. Close your eyes and visualize your peaceful symbol. For one minute, focus on your peaceful symbol and silence your inner chatter. With practice, this will become an effective way to reduce your stress throughout the day.

Tips & Warnings

• Many people use yoga as a way to silencing their inner mental chatter as a lead-in to meditation. If you have trouble silencing your mental chatter, consider incorporating yoga into your routine as part of your meditation practice.
• <br>Yoga breathing before meditation is an effective way to help silence your inner chatter. You can combine yoga breathing with mini-meditations throughout your day to reduce your stress even further.

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