What To Think About When Meditating

Meditation has long been viewed as beneficial to one’s mental health and quest for self-improvement. However, few people know how best to start when embarking on their meditation journey. Without a clear plan, meditation can be an overwhelming, intimidating task, entirely negating the desired calming effect of the practice. Meditation should help bring a person a feeling of peace, a renewed sense of energy, and an increased confidence in his/her ability to navigate daily challenges. When meditation itself becomes a stressor it, like life’s difficulties, can cause additional worry, the very problem meditation should help resolve.

Here, we offer some ideas on what to think about when meditating. We also highlight the benefits of starting a meditation practice, emphasizing the importance of taking time to clear one’s mind entirely before beginning in order to reap the best benefits.

Ideas To Think About When Meditating

Your Body

A body scan is a well used, and respected part of meditating. By paying attention to different parts of your body and noting how those different parts are feeling, you bring an awareness to your body. That awareness comes only by concentrating on your body - and blocking out other thoughts. Body scanning often involves a sequential process and allows you to hone in on the parts of your body that are experiencing tension or discomfort. You may want to meditate lying down or in an alternate position you find relaxing.

The Present

Focusing on only the present moment is a form of meditation that you can accomplish anywhere. Meditation does not always have to be in a quiet room with your eyes closed. Instead, it can occur when out and about - performing daily tasks. By focusing solely on the present moment, the goal is that you realize you cannot worry about the future and what you cannot control. Staying in the here-and-now allows you to enjoy the present moment and live in it - in a way that distracted lives do not always allow.

Your Feelings

Taking time out of your day to identify your feelings and emotions can have extensive positive effects on your mental health. Remembering how you felt when certain situations arose in your day or week, can help you adjust your reactions and emotions so you deal effectively if similar circumstances reoccur. Naming your feelings will help you identify repetitive triggers that have resulted in the same reaction or emotion.

Your Beliefs

Meditating by focusing on your beliefs or your core values can be a great way to center yourself and serve as a reminder to remain calm when the world seems crazy. Thinking about your core beliefs is a method of coming back to yourself and is a good tactic for drowning out the added noise that modern life can put on a person.

Clearing The Mind During Meditation

An alternative to filling your mind with a single focused thought process is that of clearing your mind entirely during meditation. Doing so has been seen to be a fantastic way of relaxing the mind, achieving the same feeling of calm and restoration that body scanning may provide.

Clearing the mind can be difficult to do at first. But with practice, it will become easier for a person motivated to meditate in this fashion. It is, however, a practice that may seem challenging at first. Many want to reap the rewards of meditation - being more productive and less stressed or anxious - without retraining their brain to calm down.

Thinking While Meditating - Key Takeaways

Thinking while meditating may sound counterintuitive to some. However, what you reflect on - and give dedicated time to reflect on - can be a productive way of meditating that assists a person to move forward more confidently in their lives. If you struggle as you begin your meditation practice, you may want to join an online meditation group for support.

Your new confidence may come from a rejuvenated brain, one not hyper aware of the constant distractions that may cause a person to become agitated and anxious. Instead, you can be more mindful in everything you do and begin living in the present - worrying less about the future now that you have confidence in your ability to cope. Thinking while meditating is often a way of letting the mind just focus on one thing, and it is this specific focus that the mind finds relaxing.

For further reading, check out our other articles like Can You Meditate with Music and Can You Meditate Laying Down or about best online meditation.