Here's What You Should Buy If Meditating Is Your New Year's Resolution
New Year's resolutions can range from getting fit, taking up a new hobby, or making significant life changes. According to Head Space, these goals carry more meaning in our lives than a typical day-to-day to-do list, yet 19% of people that make resolutions abandon them by mid-January (via PubMed).
If this has happened to you, please don't feel bad. It's tough to envision maintaining new, life-changing behaviors for the rest of our lives. That's like trying to run a marathon with no training, and this is why meditation is such a beneficial New Year's resolution.
Meditation is a practice — the daily development of a tool that ripples out in all areas of your life. Meditation helps with stress and your ability to focus, according to Jonathan Fader, Ph.D. of Psychology Today. Though just two of the many benefits, reducing stress and increasing focus are handy tools in creating — and maintaining — a fulfilling and healthy life.
Meditation is the self-love training that elevates you from the dread of the everyday rat race and empowers you to thrive in the long run — that crazy-cool marathon we call life. If it feels a bit daunting, here are a few things to get you started.
Start your wellness journey with an easy tea meditation
You may have shied away from meditation in the past, thinking that there's no way you can sit perfectly still for any length of time. That form of practice is called passive meditation, according to Mind Body Green, and it's not your only option.
In fact, there are several other ways to incorporate meditation into your daily routine. This includes active or movement meditations such as gardening, tai chi, and other quiet, focused endeavors (via Healthline). These forms of meditation provide a central focal point for your thoughts and anchor you to the present moment.
The wellness experts at Chopra simplify it even further, offering five easy-breezy tea meditations. So, you may want to begin your meditation journey with a steaming mug of tea. Although it's tempting, don't multitask, and don't create your daily to-do list while having your tea. Practice this each day, and — yes — grabbing some relaxing herbal teas will help. The Republic of Tea teamed up with the folks at Calm to offer a Calm Health and Happiness Tea Set. Feeling more playful? Opt for Star Wars™ The Book of Boba Fett™ Teas!
A Tibetan singing bowl can help with focus during your meditation practice
Once you've been practicing mindfulness and active meditation for a while, you may want to work towards more passive meditation.
A great way to baby-step toward this style is to incorporate a singing bowl. A sound bowl or singing bowl is a broad-shaped bowl played with a small mallet. Often associated with Buddhist monks, singing bowls create deep sounds used for meditation and relaxation. Susy Schieffelin, a Los Angeles-based certified yoga instructor, reiki master, and sound healer, says that singing bowls "have the capacity to shift energy, clear blockages, and restore the mind, body, and spirit to a balanced state" (via Mind Body Green).
When the small wooden striker is rubbed along the outermost edge of the bowl, it creates a low, constant hum, as seen in this singing bowl tutorial from the Ohm Store. Passive meditation newbies can use this sound as an invisible anchor to help move from active, mindful tea meditations to a more passive method. While seated comfortably, play your singing bowl in a slow, repetitive rhythm to help keep your mind focused on nothing but the sound itself.
Support your new meditation goals with help from headphones
Meditation is not a linear path from beginner active meditation to achieving the goal of being a passive meditation expert. As you train your brain, passive meditation will become one of the many tools you may choose from, according to The Mayo Clinic.
As such, you should pick what works best for you, depending on the scenario. For example, if you have a very stressful situation at work — don't try to squat down in the office with your singing bowl for a meditative sesh. Instead, rebalance yourself by slowing things down a bit. Start by taking several deep breaths and silently repeating a mantra — a thought or phrase that makes you feel grounded. If you need a little help quieting your mind, pop on a pair of noise-canceling headphones, and check out Lizzo's Instagram for some chill transformational flute vibes.
Meditation is a practice. Start from where you are now, be gentle with yourself, and rock those New Year's goals!