{"id":35576,"date":"2016-03-04T17:46:30","date_gmt":"2016-03-04T21:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.massagebook.com\/marketing\/?p=35576"},"modified":"2016-03-28T11:51:31","modified_gmt":"2016-03-28T16:51:31","slug":"meditation-for-beginners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/meditation-for-beginners\/","title":{"rendered":"Meditation for Beginners"},"content":{"rendered":"

How has your day been today? Busy? For most people, the answer to that question is a resounding \u201cyes!\u201d.<\/p>\n

Smartphones and the Internet have made it so that we rarely are unavailable for work, which makes it much harder for us to check out and recharge. When was the last time you took a minute to be alone with your thoughts?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s probably been a while. Every free moment is spent on Facebook, reading emails, or sitting in front of the TV. It\u2019s no wonder many of us are consistently stressed out!<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a solution.<\/h3>\n

Meditation\u2014the act of calming one\u2019s mind in order to achieve peace of mind and tranquility\u2014has been shown to clinically reduce stress in those who practice it on a regular basis. Meditation invites you to live in the moment, rather than dwell on actions of the past or potential and undetermined future situations. Learning to keep your mind quiet in the here and now is a powerful technique to combat the stresses of everyday living.<\/p>\n

The great thing about meditation is that literally anyone can do it! It only takes a few minutes each day.<\/p>\n

Follow these tips to get started:<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Start Small<\/strong>
    \nMany people who are busy all the time think that they don\u2019t have time to incorporate meditation into their lifestyle. Even if you only meditate for 2 minutes twice a week to start, you can start to reap the benefits of meditation. Every time you meditate, try to increase your meditation time or frequency, so that eventually you\u2019re meditating 10 minutes a day, every day. Baby steps will get you there!<\/li>\n
  2. Make it Your Own<\/strong>
    \nMeditation is not a one-size-fits-all type of things. Don\u2019t get caught up in the details of how to \u201cdo it right;\u201d just do it! Sit on a cushion, or on your bed, or on a chair even. If you\u2019re traveling, don\u2019t be afraid to try meditating at a park or on the go. The most important thing is to find a quiet, comfortable spot so that you\u2019re not distracted by anything going on around you.<\/li>\n
  3. Check in<\/strong>
    \nFor your first couple of sessions, check in with your mind and body. What\u2019s your mood like? How are you feeling? Be honest with yourself and be forgiving and friendly with your feelings. Your thoughts and feelings are part of you and deserve respect kindness. Part of meditating is learning to be friends with yourself, which can be a lot harder than it sounds.<\/li>\n
  4. Focus on Your Breathing<\/strong>
    \nAlthough clearing your mind can be a result of meditation, it is not the goal. We\u2019re only human, and our brains are wont to wander. Focus on your breath as you inhale and exhale and counting as you inhale and exhale. When you notice your mind starting to wander, just return to counting your breath.<\/li>\n
  5. Look for Guidance
    \n<\/strong>If you\u2019d prefer more of a guided meditation to start, phone apps like Buddhify<\/a> and Calm<\/a> are great places to start, and even track your meditation sessions, encouraging you to be more consistent.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We brush our teeth and wash our bodies each day, we go to the gym or perform activities to keep our bodies healthy. Yet how much time do we spend on keeping our minds healthy?<\/p>\n

    Get started now.<\/h3>\n

    Take 10 deep breaths.\u00a0 Close your eyes. Breath in. Breathe out. Repeat. Keeping your mind only on your breathing.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Congratulations. You just started your meditation practice. Find a time during each day where you can make a habit of it and commit to making meditation a part of your everyday life for mental and physical well-being.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    How has your day been today? Busy? For most people, the answer to that question is a resounding \u201cyes!\u201d. Smartphones and the Internet have made it so that we rarely are unavailable for work, which makes it much harder for us to check out and recharge. When was the last time you took a minute…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[72,74,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-fun","category-healthy-living","description-off"],"yoast_head":"\nMeditation for Beginners - Massage Therapy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Meditation has been shown to clinically reduce stress in those who practice it on a regular basis. And literally anyone can do it! Get started with our tips.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meditation for Beginners - Massage Therapy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Meditation has been shown to clinically reduce stress in those who practice it on a regular basis. And literally anyone can do it! Get started with our tips.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/massagebook.wpengine.com\/meditation-for-beginners\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Massage Therapy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MassageBook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-04T21:46:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-28T16:51:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/massagebook.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/meditation.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Volkmann\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@massagebook\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@massagebook\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Volkmann\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/massagebook.wpengine.com\/meditation-for-beginners\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/massagebook.wpengine.com\/meditation-for-beginners\/\",\"name\":\"Meditation for Beginners - Massage Therapy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-04T21:46:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-28T16:51:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/#\/schema\/person\/082b6915e756b2dccc0e47dd8fce263a\"},\"description\":\"Meditation has been shown to clinically reduce stress in those who practice it on a regular basis. And literally anyone can do it! Get started with our tips.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/massagebook.wpengine.com\/meditation-for-beginners\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/massagebook.wpengine.com\/meditation-for-beginners\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/massagebook.wpengine.com\/meditation-for-beginners\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/massagebook.wpengine.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Meditation for Beginners\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/\",\"name\":\"Massage Therapy\",\"description\":\"MassageBook Articles, Blogs, Techniques, Benefits, & Advice\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/#\/schema\/person\/082b6915e756b2dccc0e47dd8fce263a\",\"name\":\"Mark Volkmann\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dab980890e5b82dab36954329ffa1b9d4b29467ce933c5776dcfe01a6717273b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dab980890e5b82dab36954329ffa1b9d4b29467ce933c5776dcfe01a6717273b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Volkmann\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/author\/mark\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Meditation for Beginners - Massage Therapy","description":"Meditation has been shown to clinically reduce stress in those who practice it on a regular basis. And literally anyone can do it! Get started with our tips.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Meditation for Beginners - Massage Therapy","og_description":"Meditation has been shown to clinically reduce stress in those who practice it on a regular basis. And literally anyone can do it! Get started with our tips.","og_url":"https:\/\/massagebook.wpengine.com\/meditation-for-beginners\/","og_site_name":"Massage Therapy","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MassageBook","article_published_time":"2016-03-04T21:46:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-03-28T16:51:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/massagebook.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/meditation.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Mark Volkmann","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@massagebook","twitter_site":"@massagebook","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Volkmann","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/massagebook.wpengine.com\/meditation-for-beginners\/","url":"https:\/\/massagebook.wpengine.com\/meditation-for-beginners\/","name":"Meditation for Beginners - Massage Therapy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-03-04T21:46:30+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-28T16:51:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/#\/schema\/person\/082b6915e756b2dccc0e47dd8fce263a"},"description":"Meditation has been shown to clinically reduce stress in those who practice it on a regular basis. And literally anyone can do it! Get started with our tips.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/massagebook.wpengine.com\/meditation-for-beginners\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/massagebook.wpengine.com\/meditation-for-beginners\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/massagebook.wpengine.com\/meditation-for-beginners\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/massagebook.wpengine.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Meditation for Beginners"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/#website","url":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/","name":"Massage Therapy","description":"MassageBook Articles, Blogs, Techniques, Benefits, & Advice","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/#\/schema\/person\/082b6915e756b2dccc0e47dd8fce263a","name":"Mark Volkmann","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dab980890e5b82dab36954329ffa1b9d4b29467ce933c5776dcfe01a6717273b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dab980890e5b82dab36954329ffa1b9d4b29467ce933c5776dcfe01a6717273b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark Volkmann"},"url":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/author\/mark\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/massagebook.com\/massage-therapy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}