I cannot tell you how many people tell me they can’t meditate and how difficult it is to quiet the mind.
Science is proving how meditation lowers stress levels, decreases depression, and even boosts our immune system.
So you really should be doing it.
Here’s a little secret. I can’t meditate either, not in the traditional “om”-ing sense. In yoga class, when we go into savasana, my mind starts wandering instantaneously into all the things I should be doing besides yoga. Cleaning, grocery shopping, writing blogs, etc… That was until I learned the secret of meditation through writing my book series, The All of Everything, A Spiritual Guide to Inner World Domination.
The Benefits
You don’t have to be still to reap the benefits of stillness.
Stillness, or as I would call it quieting the mind, does not have to involve laying down or sitting and not thinking. Wherever you are at peace and able to toss away the garbage thoughts about yourself and the world you see around you is quieting the mind. Thoughts like, “I am not good enough,” “No one will follow me,” or “My boss is a jerk.” “I’ll never be respected in my career, find love, or make enough money.”
These are our everyday untruths which keep us stuck creating the same old life day after day. So get meditating, but in a way that works for you. Anything that shuts your mind down enough to not think about all the things you have to do and instead experience joy, happiness, or laughter.
20 Ways to Quiet the Mind
Below are 20 ideas for you to try that may help bring you peace.
Whatever you do, make sure you give it a solid twenty minutes of your time. It will be the most important twenty minutes you spend of your 24 hours. If you can go into your “zone” at places like the gym or the beach, it’s fine to be around other people, but if you get distracted by others, make sure you are alone and no talking out loud (unless it’s to that quiet voice in your head which knows the truth of who you are – aka the soul).
- Singing in the shower.
- Writing in a journal.
- Dancing alone in your house when no one is watching or listening.
- Running without music.
- Turning the radio off in the car and focusing on the road ahead.
- Visualizing in your mind the life you want to create.
- Taking a walk in nature.
- Bird watching.
- Photographing things you love.
- Looking at old photos and lovingly laughing at your old hairstyles.
- Listening to guided meditations. (I love Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra’s meditation app.)
- Creating art.
- Working with clay (or even your kids’ Playdoh).
- Lifting weights.
- Sitting and looking at the ocean, a lake, or a pond.
- Walking on a beach.
- Writing a letter to yourself about the great life you have.
- Hitting golf balls at the driving range.
- Swimming laps.
- Going for a hike.
Quieting the mind is so simple, right? I could come up with hundreds more. Parasailing, zip-lining, or kitesurfing, if that entices you. The point is that meditation is simply about feeling good and clearing your mind of untruths by doing something YOU enjoy which raises your energetic vibration and puts you – body, mind, and soul – at peace. What works for you may not work for someone else. Do what makes you happy, calm, and contemplative, and please don’t get hung up on societal norms of what “meditation” is.
Laura Saltman is an author, speaker, intuitive guidance coach, meditation teacher and TV/Digital Host who began her career in television. She is an Emmy-nominated producer and correspondent who has worked for TV shows like Access Hollywood, E! News, Today and On Air with Ryan Seacrest. She can currently be seen in segments on Lifetime TV for Designing Spaces and The Balancing Act. Her own channel on the Well World TV network recently launched.
After her life was turned upside down when she lost her older brother to cancer, her father to suicide, suffered multiple miscarriages and a disrupted adoption followed by a shocking divorce, Laura turned to a spiritual life coach who helped turn her life around and manage her grief, anxiety and depression. Since then she has trained with spiritual life coaches, reiki masters, clairvoyants, mediums and meditation gurus all over the country.
