 Powerful Relaxation Techniques for Meditation - Many Tips
Practicing meditation leads to a lot of benefits, such as inner peace, increased awareness, self control, and of course, relaxation. However, in order to get true results, the mind has to be relaxed before meditation can start. This results in a paradox, where the mind needs to relax so that it can meditate, but it also needs to meditate in order to relax.
The way to break out of this paradox is through relaxation techniques that can be practiced before meditation. These relaxation techniques aren't really considered meditation, but they help you relax to the point that you'll be much less stressed when you start your actual meditation session.
Before we study these relaxation techniques, let's understand what these relaxation techniques aren't:
They aren't:
- Lying around doing nothing.
- Sleeping.
- Being lazy.
While these activities might make you feel better, relaxation techniques actually require some concentration and mental effort, and they'll leave you ready for your meditation session.
Relaxation techniques are more effective when you follow some basic rules. First of all, you must practice them daily, for at least 10 minutes right before your meditation sessions. And just like it's the case with these, it works better if you set a schedule. That way, your body will adjust its internal clock to it. Finally, you shouldn't be sleepy or overly tired for your relaxation techniques, as you'll be tempted to fall asleep.
There are several relaxation techniques that are used to get you ready for your meditation session, but on this article we'll cover only two of them; one of them involves breathing and the other one involves muscle relaxation.
For the first one, you'll have to adjust your breathing in order to get more oxygen than you normally do into your system. You do this by using your abdomen muscles to breath, rather than your upper body.
You can sit or lie down, just remember to keep your spine straight. It's also a good idea to remove your shoes and wear comfortable clothes. Put one hand on your stomach and one hand on your chest. Then start breathing slowly and deeply, using your abdomen muscles. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. The hand on your stomach should go up and down, while the hand on your chest should move very little, if at all. The extra oxygen your body gets will make it feel better. In addition, it'll help you get rid of mental "noise" and sharpen your mind a bit, which will result in a more effective subsequent meditation session.
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