Ways to Deepen Your Meditation Practice

There are a million and one things that can get in the way of a daily meditation practice, but like the old Zen saying states, “you should sit in meditation every day for twenty minutes, unless you’re too busy. Then you should sit for an hour.”

The trouble for most of us is that, even when we do sit down to meditate, we have another million and one things competing for our attention and dragging us away from our center.

Well, readers rejoice!

We’ve compiled a list of 108 practices that are sure to take your mindfulness to the next level, no matter where you are in your meditation journey.

We hope you enjoy 🙂

108 Simple Ways to Deepen Your Meditation Practice

Find your ideal meditation posture so you can comfortably sustain your meditation undisturbed
Try not to move after the first few minutes. Simply notice your impulses of discomfort to move, scratch, yawn, or stretch
Set a timer for yourself if you need to as you’re beginning
Create a dedicated meditation room or space
Remove all clutter and distractions
Use a blanket to keep yourself warm
Set your intention before each meditation. Something as simple as “Meditation comes easily and effortlessly to me now” can be very effective
Meditate at sunrise. This is one of the most energetically potent times of day, when you are most receptive and uninhibited
Wait for as long as it takes to find a consistently natural, calm, and undisturbed breath
Remember that meditation is not to control your mind, but to release your mind’s control over you. Instead of combatting thoughts and trying to do away with them, allow them and release their hold on you. Do not react, simply witness
Meditate at a consistent time each time
Meditate for a consistent duration each day
Start with just 5 minutes at first, and work your way up
Ideally, meditate twice a day for your chosen amount of time (once in the morning and once in the afternoon)
Complete your full time commitment when you meditate (no matter how long you meditate, the most powerful experiences often come at the end of your chosen length of time)
Read inspiring books to deepen your understanding of and inspiration for meditation
Surround yourself with inspiring books near your meditation space
Learn some chants, to calm your mind and feel your devotion
Try guided meditation to completely release into the experience
Draw your focus to your third eye center in a relaxed and sustainable way
Consider using a mala to count your mantra
Release any ideas of what you think meditation is “supposed” to be
“If you want to find God, hang out in the space between your thoughts.” – Alan Cohen
Be kind, gentle and patient with yourself. Meditation is a lifelong journey, NOT a destination
Meditate before eating meals, when you are lighter and brighter
Chant affirmations (aloud or in your mind)
Do a few minutes of yoga or stretching before meditating to relax your body and go deeper, faster in meditation
Focus on meditation as an offering, rather than trying to achieve something
Turn your phone on airplane mode (or don’t carry it with you at all) to eliminate all distractions
Feel as though your creator / idol is meditating with you
Tell yourself, “with every thought I detach from I move one layer deeper” or “with every sound I hear I move one layer deeper.”
Keep a meditation journal to record your experiences
Drink a glass of water before and after your meditation
Read one of your favorite quotes or passages about meditation before your practice
Release your attachments to time as you meditate. Have no schedule. Transcend the future and the past and enter the eternal present
If you use one, do not check your timer. Develop the discipline to sit still without distraction for the duration of your meditation
Meditate in a group (this is an instant and very powerful way to deepen your experience)
Meditate in Nature
Bring an element of Nature to your indoor space
Occasionally use a block of your free time to set out in meditation with no time limit, and see how long you can go
Set meditation goals to inspire perseverance
Be inspired by the words of Paramhansa Yogananda, “When others end, I’m just beginning.”
When time can afford it, go a little longer than normal
Relax the shoulders and release them away from the ears
Let your belly be natural and relaxed
Remember to lighten up J
Practice willingly and joyfully, with devotion and without thought of reward
Practice meditation in the movement of your day, while walking, cooking, driving, or exercising
Offer your meditation as a gift to the Divine Mother
Be present with each and every sensation that arises
Practice non-judgment and non-attachment throughout your day
Pray to become aware of what is trying to make its way into your consciousness
Pray to become a vessel through which your Divine calling may be known and expressed in this life
Pray to be guided through a deeply calming, joyfully bright meditation experience
Pray for inner stillness and relaxation
When you feel tired or a drop in energy, try meditating instead of consuming caffeine
Continually search for inspiration, and new ways in which you can fill your practice with joy
Create a meditation altar filled with beautiful, uplifting, inspiring things that bring you back to your purpose and your devotion
Experiment with new and different sitting positions / postures
See your meditation as service to the planet
Offer unconditional love, kindness, and upliftment to situations or people
Become soft, fluid and yielding, for “Whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. What is soft is strong.” – Lao Tzu
Learn what it truly means to meditate without an agenda
Encourage your family / friends to meditate and invite them to join you
Share the power of meditation with a child
Develop a habit of not over-thinking your decisions throughout your day. Practice listening to and following your intuition in everyday life, and watch it deepen through meditation
Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment. – Alan Watts
Ask for divine guidance / help when you need it! Know in your heart that you are not alone, and you never have to do anything alone.
Open yourself to become a channel and concentrate on feeling the tangible vibrations of lightness, peace and bliss that are flowing through you
The mind is responsible for the feelings of pleasure and pain. Control of the mind is the highest Yoga. – Swami Sivananda
Ask yourself, “What is behind my attachment to this thought / feeling / reaction?”
Remember that the answers you seek are already within you. You must learn to get quiet and listen
Watch movies that will inspire your meditation practice
Follow the breath, concentrating single-mindedly on making it long, easeful and smooth. Notice how thought-distractions instantly break the flow of breath, and return to it again and again
Embrace your beginner’s mind. It’s impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows
Remember, if you have time to breathe you have time to meditate!
Notice the impulses and desires that arise and gently release them
Recognize your true self as the “witness” behind your thoughts and feelings
Let every thought come and hug you, but you don’t hug anything. Then, gradually, the noise will start to back off. – Mooji
Sometimes practice disciplined posture, sitting on sit bones, spine erect, heart uplifted, shoulders relaxed, breathing mindfully
Sometimes practice complete surrender and pay no mind to how you are sitting or breathing, or how you might look to an outsider. Just let go
One day per week have a longer meditation than normal
Share meditation practice with someone you love
Find someone who is more experienced in meditation, and ask them questions or meditate with them
Listen to the silence
Become aware of the most prominent sensation in your body. Hold your awareness there for a time, and then move to a slightly more subtle sensation. Hold your awareness there for a time, and then move to an even more subtle sensation. And so on
Ask for help! Find an instructor, a class or an online resource to guide you
Keep moving forward on your path no matter what. Don’t give up
Offer it up. Whatever you meet in meditation that challenges your peace, do not fight with it (fighting is attaching). Simply offer it up to a higher power to transmute and release it from your heart and mind. Do this over and over and over
Learn to hear your inner guidance. It speaks to you in words, symbols, feelings and callings which are often mistaken for fleeting glimpses of imagination
Don’t get caught up in the “how”… just do!
Check in with how you’re feeling at the beginning of your meditation, and accept it all, totally and completely
Try counting your breath. Start with inhaling for 5, exhaling for 5, and then experiment with lengthening and deepening the breath
Stay with whatever arises. Notice your tendency to “run” away from things as they come up by opening your eyes, shifting your seat, scratching an itch, etc. and instead just stay calmly with whatever comes up until it passes
Become friends with yourself. Learn how to just be whole in your own presence, and always approach yourself with love instead of criticism
Meditate anywhere! Don’t let a busy day stop you from fulfilling this sacred commitment. Meditate in the car, on the plane, in the waiting room… anywhere!
Always let your breath be light and even
Keep your face completely relaxed
Soften the mind – keep your mental focus soft, not hard
Don’t take your thoughts too personally
Resist the impulse to claim each and every thought as your own
Learn to smile at the voice in your head
Be here now, and be somewhere else later
Remember that the best meditator is the one who meditates!
End your meditation slowly, with mindfulness and an honoring of the stillness you’ve just created
Smile when you’re done J Feel grateful for your accomplishment
Remember that “The you that goes in one side of the meditation experience is not the same you that comes out the other side.”
Take your practice off the cushion and out into all the moments of your life