5 Simple Ways To Make Meditation A Practice Every Day

Meditation? Who has time for that?!

Maybe you're thinking that your mind is too busy, that you can’t sit still, or that your animals, kids, or partner are too distracting.

Meditation often feels like a really "big" thing; like something that requires a lot of time that has certain expectations attached to it. For instance, you must have absolute quiet and your mind must be completely blank.

Guess what? Meditation doesn’t have to be such a big thing.

RELATED: 6 Essential Skills That'll Help You Practice Mindfulness Like A True Zen Master

Simply put, meditation can be just a few minutes when you focus inward and are completely present with your experience, whatever that experience is.

Meditation can be a small practice that easily becomes part of your already very full life. It can help you to feel more at ease, less anxious, more in touch, and connected to yourself and those around you.

Meditation makes you better able to weather the storms and uncertainty that are part of life.

Here are 5 simple ways you can make meditation a daily practice in your life:

1. Spend a few minutes focusing on your breath.

As you inhale, feel the breath move all the way down into your belly.

You may want to rest your hands on your belly as well and feel it move in and out with each inhale and exhale. Try sitting quietly and watching your thoughts.

Notice to yourself that you are “thinking.” Label it as thinking.

Do this without judgment and without trying to change anything. Just notice what is happening with your body. Watch the thoughts float by, as if on clouds.

2. Check with your body and see what's happening.

Find a comfortable place to sit or lay. Let your attention drop into your body, floating downward from your mind.

What is present? Do you notice a fluttering, a throbbing, or a tightness?

Again, observe yourself without judgment and with curiosity. Just notice and cultivate curiosity. Give space to whatever you find within.

RELATED: 4 Mindfulness Meditations To Break Your Addiction To Codependent Relationships

3. Try walking meditation.

Walk outside and focus your attention on your feet and how they feel when they land on the ground.

Notice what your body is doing and how you occupy space. Become aware of any sounds or smells around you.

4. Practice nature meditation.

Step outside and engage with nature with all of your senses.

What do you hear? What do you smell? What do you see?

What do you feel? What does the ground feel like under your feet?

5. Lay on the ground and breathe with the Earth.

Lay flat on the ground wherever you are, as long as it is comfortable. This could be in your office, bedroom, living room, etc.

Allow your body to sink and melt into the ground beneath you. Imagine that the Earth rises up to meet your body as your body melts into the Earth.

You can even match this to your breath: Breathe the Earth upward toward your body and breathe your body downward, melting with the Earth.

These are five simple and fast ways to add meditation to your life. They can easily slip into your existing routine. Most can be done exactly where you are without having to create a special space or specific circumstances.

They are things that you can return to multiple times daily when you feel that you need some calmness and peace. Meditation is accessible to everyone when you expand the definition to include small practices such as the above.

RELATED: 17 Quotes To Remind You To Breathe & Take Time For Yourself

Emy Tafelski is a licensed marriage and family therapist and founder of ME-Therapy, a therapy practice dedicated to helping people reclaim their authenticity, brilliance, and wholeness after the world knocks them down. ME-Therapy is also passionate about helping people have their most connected, loving, conscious relationships.