How to Meditate Anytime, Anywhere

Dying to get back to your meditation cushion and shed offthose work stress? Pick up these handy ninja meditation methods to nirvana

So you’velearned how to meditate through some books or articles found on the Internet(like the How to Meditate guide on this website)and have been enjoying your new found state of peace and serenity. This is allgood and well except that when your stress level escalates, you find yourselfknocked out of balanced again and again, and fall back into old modes of fearand panic. That’s when you wish you could retreat to your meditation cushionand reclaim your peace.

Don’t feeldiscouraged, my dear friend. If you have been meditating conscientiouslyeveryday, you’d find your ‘appetite’ for stress becoming larger and larger overtime. That means, things which will usually send you into an anxious orhigh-stress mode will gradually lose their grip on you. You’d stress or panicless, and even when you do lost your balance, you will be able to retain a pairof watchful eyes that witness yourself going through the emotional turbulencewithout fueling it and making it worse.

But inevitably, therewill be times when we wish we could bring our meditation cushion wherever we goso that we can meditate whenever we are and let our thoughts and worries settledown. This is especially so if you’re working in a highly stressfulenvironment. There are in fact some practical ways in which you can meditate inyour workplace without looking like you’re meditating at all! Here are some ninjameditation techniques to use anytime, anywhere:

NinjaMeditation Techniques

1. TheUnwavering Gaze

·                                Choose a point of focus — anicon on your minimalistcomputer desktop, a paper clip on the table, a crack on the wall, or anythingstatic — and gently rest your gaze on it. Soften your gaze byrelaxing your eye muscles while still mindfully looking at your selectedobject. Now take a slow, deep breath. Feel your lungs expanding gradually. Holdthe air inside you for a second or two, then exhale it slowly and completely.As you breathe out, imagine your tension, both physical and mental, leavingyour body with the air you’ve just exhaled. All the while, keep your focus onyour selected object. If you find that your attention has wandered off, justbring it back to the chosen object. Repeat the breathing as many times as youlike.

2. NiftyGuided Meditation

·                                Audio guided meditations canbe brilliant tool to use in the office especially when you don’t want people toknow you’re meditating.Using a combination ofbeautiful background music and specially written narration, guided meditationscan help you to relax quickly by engaging your senses and painting vivid mentalpictures that calm you down in no time. And they’re convenient and discreettoo. Simply plugged into your favorite guided meditation with a MP3 player anda pair of earphones, and you’re on your way to a safe haven right where youare. If you’re new to guided meditation, listen to a short segment from The Healing Waterfall II to get a taste of howone works:

3. Watchingthe Mind Movie

·                                Turn your focus inward andpay attention to the content of your mind as if you’re watching a movie. What do you see? Buthere’s one more rule: you are required to observe your thoughts withoutmuddling or getting involved in them. In other words, just watch and be mindfulof them. If you find yourself entangled in some past memories, gently hit yourleft hand with your right to remind yourself to stay in the present. But ifyou’re worrying about something in the future instead, hit your right hand withyour left. The aim here is to train yourself to be able to keep a conscious,watchful eye on the content of your mind.

4. Clear BlueSky Visualization

·                                Nothing liberates the mindlike an endless stretch of blue sky with fluffy white clouds. Close your eyes andretrieve the image of a clear blue sky from your memories. Can you see it? Ifyou can’t, just visualize the perfect blue sky in your mind — the joyful bluesky that is associated with lots of vibrant life energies. ‘See’ cotton-likeclouds floating slowly towards you in the horizon. And the occasional birdsthat chirp and fly across the sky. Rest and relax completely in this vast bluesky. Stay in it as long as you like. When you’re ready to emerge from it,visualize yourself being more relaxed and more confident to accept and face anychallenge that might come your way. Open your eyes and apply your increasedlevel of awareness to your work.