3 Meditation Techniques to Jump Start Your Day

Do you sometimes wake up in the morning feeling stiff or sore, finding it hard to bend over to tie your shoes? This isn't an unusual condition, especially as we age. Sleep is restful and allows the body to repair itself, but muscles and joints, after eight hours of reclining, are sometimes not as flexible as we'd like.

There's a way, however, to get over this morning 'stiffness' relatively quickly and easily; a few minutes of focused meditation. Proper meditation and relaxation first thing in the morning can ease stiff, sore muscles, and give you a head start on a productive, pain-free day. The following three meditation exercises should be a part of your daily routine, if you want to feel better, and lead a more active life.

Stretch those muscles and then let them relax

If you've ever watched a dog or cat when it first wakes up, you'll notice that the first thing it does is stretch; it stretches every part of its body before it even looks for food. Slow, gentle stretching when you first get out of bed, is one way to ease the stiffness in those muscles and joints. Start with the arms, then the shoulders, neck, and back, and then stretch the leg muscles. Try standing erect with your feet together, and then bend slowly at the waist and reach for your toes. Do this in a smooth motion, avoiding bouncing or jerking, and repeat it five or ten times. Don't worry if you can't actually reach your toes at first; the idea is to stretch the main muscle groups in the body, and this exercise targets many of them, including lower back and legs.

After stretching, you now want to relax the muscles, so they don't tighten up again. A particularly effective meditation technique is to stand in the shower, allowing the water to massage your back, neck, or shoulders. While the warm water is doing its magic on those muscles back there, stand erect, but relaxed with your arms held loosely at your side, and 'see' rather than 'look at' the shower wall. Don't try to think or avoid thinking about anything, just stand there and feel the water hitting your body. After two or three minutes, begin to try and visualize parts of your body, especially those that are prone to stiffness or soreness. Then, in your mind, visualize the stiffness or pain traveling along your arms or legs and exiting your body. Sounds farfetched, but it works.

Learn to Breathe

Proper breathing is essential to proper meditation. It is also important to maintaining good health. If you use public transport, this is a good exercise to try on the morning commute. Sit erect with your hands loosely in your lap. Take slow, deep breaths, remembering to breathe through the nose. While you're doing this, notice the air going in and out of your nostrils. Don't concentrate on it, just notice it. Feel the flow of air in and out of your nasal passages; and the feel as it brushes across your upper lip. You're apt, while doing this exercise, to notice some interesting things. For instance, most people pause after they inhale, and then exhale. Another interesting thing is that air doesn't flow equally through both nostrils, and when you've done this exercise for a while, you will notice the difference.

Hear without Listening

The final exercise, which will help to clear your mind and make you more alert, can be done even if you're driving. In fact, it can be done anywhere at any time. Try to stop listening for the sounds around you and just open your senses to them all. Don't focus or concentrate on any particular sound, but let every sound wave drift into your ears. You are likely to be amazed at the cacophony of nearly inaudible sounds you hear. That annoying 'ping' in your car's under carriage that you never heard before, for instance. As opposed to 'trying' to listen, just 'hearing' enables you to pick up more. Good journalists have this ability, often without even knowing it. Kids are also good at 'hearing.' With practice you might find yourself able to hear and understand multiple conversations; a handy skill for people who have to interact with crowds at cocktail parties and such.

A word of advice; meditation, contrary to what is commonly believed by many people, is not a process of going into a trance-like state. Meditation is, in fact, a process of opening your mind to the environment around you, and becoming one with that environment, but being fully conscious of what is going on,. Nor is it necessary to utter meaningless phrases, wear special clothing, or have a special place. None of these hurt, by the way, they're just not necessary. Try these techniques, and see if they don't make an improvement in your life.

References:

http://www.ananda.org/meditation/learn/technique.html

http://www.meditationsociety.com/108meds.html

http://www.freemeditations.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation

http://www.project-meditation.org/meditation_techniques.html