Meditation offers martial artists many benefits as it helps train and strengthen the mind, control emotions, and reach inner peace.
If you’re looking for effective tips to help you meditate better, we’ve got some helpful advice for novice and experienced meditators below!
1. Be Consistent
As many martial artists know, consistency is important when training your body, and it’s the same for your mind.
Be consistent with your meditation routine: the location, the setting, the sounds, and the smells, as it can be extremely helpful—especially for those new to meditation.
It’s also wise to be consistent about when you meditate, whether it’s the first thing you do every morning, the last thing you do before going to sleep, or even during your commute on the bus or subway to work!
Consistency develops a rhythm and shorthand for your mind, allowing it to fall into a meditative state of harmony more quickly and deeply.
2. Use Scents
Using scents like incense is a good tool for being consistent with meditation. One of the powerful benefits of incense sticks is that they help many to calm their minds and enhance relaxation—useful qualities for those trying to meditate.
The routine of burning itself can be helpful for reaching inner harmony as the ceremony helps to relax their mind and feelings. Consider incorporating incense and scents into your meditative routine to see if it helps ease your mind.
3. Get Comfortable With Discomfort
While meditation is about reaching inner peace, you should also get used to being comfortable with discomfort. It’s common for people meditating to experience negative emotions like anxiety or irritability.
Give these emotions your full attention instead of resisting them and succumbing to frustration. Doing so teaches your mind that it’s okay to feel these emotions while meditating; they can come and go without tempting you to dwell on negative feelings.
4. Record Your Excuses
Another effective tip to help you meditate better and more consistently is to record your excuses. There will always be a reason why you can’t meditate today, so every time you don’t meditate, write it down in an excuse log.
This practice allows you to hold yourself accountable, and writing down the excuse helps to remove its power over you, so it doesn’t seem that impactful.
5. Don’t Judge Yourself
As athletes and martial artists, we can be competitive about everything, including meditation. But it’s important not to think of meditative practice as good or bad but to embrace it and move forward.
Instead of judging every meditation session, take a moment to consider how you feel at the end compared to at the beginning.
