Even Canada Health is giving meditation tips for stress reduction. There are many indications that tell us meditation is more than just an ancient practice. As more and more organizations promote meditation for stress reduction, we have begun to make it a part of our daily routine.

The article is pretty interesting because it really is appealing to the newbie who is just learning to meditate. Here are some of the things I got out of the article.

Meditation Tips for Stress Reduction

1 Start with Books and Recordings

You can find videos on YouTube that help with anxiety. There are guided meditations or just binaural sounds that promote certain areas of the mind that affect your mood. You can begin to figure out what resonates best with you as you take the journey.

2 Do Meditate Daily

The reason daily meditation is so essential is because it prepares you to relax in times of stress. You train your mind to react more calmly to adversity. It also calms the nervous system after a busy day but the real magic happens when you’re in the midst of an anxious moment. The mental calmness and clarity you gain from a daily practice of meditation is what will reveal the most benefits. The Harvard Studies reveal the efficacy of daily mindfulness for a period of 8 weeks.

3 The Power of the Pause

In the Canada Health article, one of the tips for meditation to reduce stress was to practice ‘pausing’. Actually, this is not an idea they conjured up. I had first heard it when I began following Tara Brach, a Buddhist and psychologist. She calls it the sacred pause, which she says is a deeply spiritual gift we can give ourselves.

You can practice doing the sacred pause in the quiet of your own home. Then, when something happens that touches your edges and makes you feel uncomfortable, you’ve familiarized yourself with the ability to pause. The pause is an internal attention you take mindfully in the most intense moments. If something has happened that has caused anxiety to stir up, this may manifest as an increase in your heart rate and cold sweats.

Practice Exercise

If your mind is wandering while you’re at work, stop for a moment and pause. Inhale with intention, hold the breath, then slowly exhale. Think the word that best describes why you paused. In this case, it’s wandering. Don’t fight the feelings, just see them as there. Be aware of yourself in the moment. That is the pause. By being aware, you stop the cycle.

This wasn’t mentioned in the article in Canada Health but my personal advice is to have some props that remind you of taking the pause or meditating daily. Whatever helps you to stay the course for this important practice. When it comes to meditation tips for stress reduction, the most important thing is to keep moving forward. You might experience discomfort in your mind and heart.

This means it’s working. You are finding the place in yourself that needs to be healed. You have the power through meditation to reduce stress, heal past pain, and find this inner sanctuary. Anxiety doesn’t need to control you any longer. Let meditation ease anxiety by maintaining a daily practice. You deserve it.