Meditate For 5 Minutes A Day: It Can Change Your Life

Five minutes a day can change your life. I know so many people who don’t meditate simply because they have no clue as to what meditation even means. I know this because I used to be one of these people. The best part about meditating is that it is entirely up to you. You have the ability to create your own practice, and find a balance that works for you.  

Creating your own meditation practice can be as simple as setting aside five minutes a day to listen to your breath. Living and working in New York City, I am constantly moving at a pace that I can’t even keep up with. As human beings, we are naturally always thinking about what’s next to come. If you just observe a single conversation between you and your friends, I’m sure that you will notice how many things we say that we “need” to make us happy without even realizing it.  

I will never forget one yoga class that I had taken, where the instructor said something that I will never forget. She had said, “All we ever have is the present moment”. The only way to be truly happy is to make the most of the moment you’re in now. When you are constantly waiting for that next moment to come, or that thing that you think will make you content, all you are really setting yourself up for is to be disappointed.

Meditation can be as simple as listening to your breath. Finding a comfortable seat and turning off all electronic devices. This means taking another few minutes to turn off your phone, Ipad, TV and computer. All you have to do is sit down, get comfortable and just breathe. You will find a rhythm that works for you. 

I will never forget one night when I couldn’t sleep. My anxiety was consuming me about work the next day. I had texted my friend Frank who I actually had met at the yoga studio that I used to work at. He told me to take three deep breaths in, and three deep breaths out and to repeat this several times. I repeated this over, and over and as hopeless as I was at first, eventually it worked. I felt at ease and was able to fall asleep. I realized that if breathing like this one time could make such a difference, how much better I would feel if I did this every day.

Not only does taking time to breathe, and listening to your breath help you to relax and to relieve stress, but also it helps you to improve your focus and practice mindfulness.  If you want to live on the wild side and throw some affirmations in there, please do.  A way that I like to think about it is, think about how influential something someone might say to you can be. Now saying something to yourself, should have even more of an impact as what you believe you become. I am a firm believer that you what you believe you become. “I possess the qualities needed to be successful in life” or “I am strong and healthy” or “I am fucking awesome and nothing anyone says can break me”. Any of these should work, I’m sure you get the point.

Not only is meditation one of the most powerful things I have learned, it also one of the most simple. You don’t need anything but yourself. You can meditate anytime, anywhere and for however long you wish. 

Namaste.