It’s National Garden Meditation Day!

It’s National Garden Meditation Day! Do you have to meditate in a garden? No! But I would highly recommend it or at least try meditating outside sometime. I think many people have this perceived notion of meditation, that you HAVE to meditate for long periods of time (30 minutes, 60 minutes) a day to feel and/or gain any benefits. There’s only ONE way to meditate. Not true! There are many types of meditation. But for this post I’d like to share what works for ME! And offer some benefits and helpful hints. My meditation routine consists of 8 minutes a day. Yes, you read that correctly, 8 minutes a day. For me personally, in sitting 8 minutes a day, I feel so much more centered and grounded. Meditation really adds such a calm, clarity to my days. It makes me better able to focus on what’s important and what really matters. I am able to notice when angry and/or annoyed feelings start to bubble up, and I’m more able to let things roll off my back, so to speak. I don’t feel that same “fire” inside, when something comes up that annoys, angers, stresses me out, or frustrates me. I am better able to pause...breathe and mindfully respond instead of react in a negative fashion. There is definitely more self awareness there. Self awareness, clarity, calm, are just a few of the many benefits of adding a daily meditation practice to your life. Here are a few more: *Reduces stress. *Helps to control anxiety * Improves Sleep*Can help decrease high blood pressure Not sure how to start a meditation practice? Here are a few tips/recommendations: 1. You have to make it work for you! It’s YOUR meditation practice! If you don’t, it’s likely you won’t stick with it. Something I read once was that it helps to associate your meditation practice with something. For me, it’s coffee. After I make my coffee in the morning, I saunter my way down the hallway to my meditation cushion, with my coffee in my hands. I enjoy the warmth of the mug on my hands. I find it calming, soothing, and grounding. ~Decide what time of day to meditate. I personally like to meditate first thing in the morning. Maybe it works better for your lifestyle to meditate in the evening before bed. My husband likes to meditate during his lunch hour at work. ~Where? Bedroom? Bathroom. Seriously! It may be the only place you can get some peace and quiet for a few minutes! Living room? A park? A garden? Etc. ~How long? I would recommend starting out with as little as three minutes. If you find yourself unable to sit for three, try two! Remember you have to make it work for you! Think “quality over quantity.” Then if/when you feel ready to try sitting for longer periods of time, go for it! It’s YOUR practice! As mentioned 8 minutes works pretty well for me. Most days that’s doable. But to be honest, there’s some days that I can’t seem to be able to quiet my mind for that 8 minutes! So, if I notice that is the case. thoughts keep pouring in, I’ll stop my meditation and start going into my gratitude list; More on that latter. But I don’t beat myself up about! Say it with me! “Quality over Quantity!” Louder! ”Quality over QUANTITY!!! Hopefully you weren’t in a public setting yelling that. If you got a few weird looks, maybe take this time to explain why you yelled that and share this blog post with those around you. Or just allow yourself to be seen as a little weird and mysterious. ~Set the mood. I like to light candles and light some incense. What’s that? What’s the details of my meditation routine? Oh, I thought you’d never ask! Here’s the details. I am an early riser. I typically get up anywhere from 4:15 to 5:30 AM. I LOVE the quiet of early mornings. As mentioned I make my way to the kitchen( do I really have to mention my bathroom break before hand? Ok, fine bathroom first, then kitchen!) to get some coffee started. While I wait for the coffee to finish brewing I drink a large glass of room temperature water and light a few candles and some incense. Not only does incense set the mood, clarify and cleanse your meditation space, but I read once that incense wakes our ancestors and/or spiritual guides to help guide our prayers and intentions to the universe. Isn’t that a lovely thought? After making coffee, if needed, I’ll let our dog Lucy out, to go potty. Most of the time though she’s been let out already by my husband. I then will make my way to our office/second bedroom to sit crossed legged on my meditation cushion. Or sometimes I’ll sit in the living room on the couch to meditate. Sitting up nice and tall, I rest my hands gently on my knees palms facing down. And I take a nice satisfying inhale through my nose as I draw my shoulders up by my ears and exhale them away from my ears. I start my meditation timer and close my eyes. I use a free app on my iPhone called, Pocket Meditation Timer. It’s nothing fancy but I like it’s simplicity. It’s set for eight minutes but the first two minutes, are for my pranayama or breathing practice. I include two minutes of my pranayama practice before my meditation practice begins to help center and ground me. With this particular app, you can set your meditation for as short or as long as you like with “prep” time or in my case that’s my two minutes of pranayama time, before your meditation count down begins. One of my favorite Pranayama techniques is called Viloma 1. Viloma translates to “against the grain, against the natural order.” Your inhalation is done in three parts, while you will let out one long satisfying exhale. In other words you’ll inhale a little air through the nose… pause. Inhale, a little more air in…pause, One more Inhale… pause and E-x-h-a-le it out through the nose with a nice long satisfying exhale. Now if you are unable to inhale in three parts, no worries. Don’t strain yourself! Do two inhales instead with one nice long exhale, Viloma 1 is a warming energizing breath. Some added benefits of this breath are: ~ increases breath awareness and control~ it’s energizing After my pranayama bell dings, then my actual meditation starts, that is for six minutes. With my eyes closed I bring my attention to my minds eye, also known as the third eye, or space between my eyebrows. I take a moment to make sure my face muscles are relaxed tongue and jaw is relaxed. If I need to, then I soften my face muscles, I give my jaw a little wiggle, from side to side to help release any tension there. Then bringing my lower jaw back to stillness, I allow my tongue to rest on my lower palate, and allow a little space between my teeth, by allowing my lower jaw to relax downward. For the next six minutes, I continue to take nice, deep long, satisfying inhales and exhalations through my nose. If any thoughts start to bubble up, I noticed the thoughts and I try not to hold onto them or make storylines out of my thoughts. But allow them to pass the best that I can, as many times as I need to, like a cloud being carried away on a breeze and I come back to my breath. When my timer chimes the end of the practice, still seated, with my eyes closed I’ll bring my hands to prayer position in front of my heart. In my mind, I “say” everything that comes to mind that I am grateful for. And also I say some favorite affirmations too. As mentioned earlier in this post, if I just can’t seem to stop the thoughts bubbling up, I’ll move straight into my gratitude and affirmation practice. Whew! That’s a lot to take in! Are you still with me? If you are, thank you so much for reading this far! I hope this post helps you and inspires you to start and create a daily meditation practice of your own! Remember make it simple, make it special and make it work for you!

It’s National Garden Meditation Day! Do you have to meditate in a garden? No! But I would highly recommend it or at least try meditating outside sometime.

I think many people have this perceived notion of meditation, that you HAVE to meditate for long periods of time (30 minutes, 60 minutes) a day to feel and/or gain any benefits. There’s only ONE way to meditate. Not true! There are many types of meditation. But for this post I’d like to share what works for ME! And offer some benefits and helpful hints.

My meditation routine consists of 8 minutes a day. Yes, you read that correctly, 8 minutes a day. For me personally, in sitting 8 minutes a day, I feel so much more centered and grounded. Meditation really adds such a calm, clarity to my days. It makes me better able to focus on what’s important and what really matters. I am able to notice when angry and/or annoyed feelings start to bubble up, and I’m more able to let things roll off my back, so to speak. I don’t feel that same “fire” inside, when something comes up that annoys, angers, stresses me out, or frustrates me. I am better able to pause...breathe and mindfully respond instead of react in a negative fashion. There is definitely more self awareness there. Self awareness, clarity, calm, are just a few of the many benefits of adding a daily meditation practice to your life. Here are a few more:

*Reduces stress.

*Helps to control anxiety

* Improves Sleep

*Can help decrease high blood pressure

Not sure how to start a meditation practice? Here are a few tips/recommendations:

1. You have to make it work for you! It’s YOUR meditation practice! If you don’t, it’s likely you won’t stick with it. Something I read once was that it helps to associate your meditation practice with something. For me, it’s coffee. After I make my coffee in the morning, I saunter my way down the hallway to my meditation cushion, with my coffee in my hands. I enjoy the warmth of the mug on my hands. I find it calming, soothing, and grounding.

~Decide what time of day to meditate. I personally like to meditate first thing in the morning. Maybe it works better for your lifestyle to meditate in the evening before bed. My husband likes to meditate during his lunch hour at work.

~Where? Bedroom? Bathroom. Seriously! It may be the only place you can get some peace and quiet for a few minutes! Living room? A park? A garden? Etc.

~How long? I would recommend starting out with as little as three minutes. If you find yourself unable to sit for three, try two! Remember you have to make it work for you! Think “quality over quantity.” Then if/when you feel ready to try sitting for longer periods of time, go for it! It’s YOUR practice! As mentioned 8 minutes works pretty well for me. Most days that’s doable. But to be honest, there’s some days that I can’t seem to be able to quiet my mind for that 8 minutes! So, if I notice that is the case. thoughts keep pouring in, I’ll stop my meditation and start going into my gratitude list; More on that latter. But I don’t beat myself up about! Say it with me! “Quality over Quantity!” Louder! ”Quality over QUANTITY!!! Hopefully you weren’t in a public setting yelling that. If you got a few weird looks, maybe take this time to explain why you yelled that and share this blog post with those around you. Or just allow yourself to be seen as a little weird and mysterious.

~Set the mood. I like to light candles and light some incense.

What’s that? What’s the details of my meditation routine? Oh, I thought you’d never ask! Here’s the details.

I am an early riser. I typically get up anywhere from 4:15 to 5:30 AM. I LOVE the quiet of early mornings. As mentioned I make my way to the kitchen( do I really have to mention my bathroom break before hand? Ok, fine bathroom first, then kitchen!) to get some coffee started. While I wait for the coffee to finish brewing I drink a large glass of room temperature water and light a few candles and some incense. Not only does incense set the mood, clarify and cleanse your meditation space, but I read once that incense wakes our ancestors and/or spiritual guides to help guide our prayers and intentions to the universe. Isn’t that a lovely thought?


After making coffee, if needed, I’ll let our dog Lucy out, to go potty. Most of the time though she’s been let out already by my husband. I then will make my way to our office/second bedroom to sit crossed legged on my meditation cushion. Or sometimes I’ll sit in the living room on the couch to meditate. Sitting up nice and tall, I rest my hands gently on my knees palms facing down. And I take a nice satisfying inhale through my nose as I draw my shoulders up by my ears and exhale them away from my ears.

I start my meditation timer and close my eyes. I use a free app on my iPhone called, Pocket Meditation Timer. It’s nothing fancy but I like it’s simplicity. It’s set for eight minutes but the first two minutes, are for my pranayama or breathing practice. I include two minutes of my pranayama practice before my meditation practice begins to help center and ground me. With this particular app, you can set your meditation for as short or as long as you like with “prep” time or in my case that’s my two minutes of pranayama time, before your meditation count down begins.

One of my favorite Pranayama techniques is called Viloma 1. Viloma translates to “against the grain, against the natural order.” Your inhalation is done in three parts, while you will let out one long satisfying exhale.
In other words you’ll inhale a little air through the nose… pause. Inhale, a little more air in…pause, One more Inhale… pause and E-x-h-a-le it out through the nose with a nice long satisfying exhale.
Now if you are unable to inhale in three parts, no worries. Don’t strain yourself! Do two inhales instead with one nice long exhale,

Viloma 1 is a warming energizing breath. Some added benefits of this breath are:

~ increases breath awareness and control

~ it’s energizing


After my pranayama bell dings, then my actual meditation starts, that is for six minutes. With my eyes closed I bring my attention to my minds eye, also known as the third eye, or space between my eyebrows. I take a moment to make sure my face muscles are relaxed tongue and jaw is relaxed. If I need to, then I soften my face muscles, I give my jaw a little wiggle, from side to side to help release any tension there. Then bringing my lower jaw back to stillness, I allow my tongue to rest on my lower palate, and allow a little space between my teeth, by allowing my lower jaw to relax downward.

For the next six minutes, I continue to take nice, deep long, satisfying inhales and exhalations through my nose. If any thoughts start to bubble up, I noticed the thoughts and I try not to hold onto them or make storylines out of my thoughts. But allow them to pass the best that I can, as many times as I need to, like a cloud being carried away on a breeze and I come back to my breath.

When my timer chimes the end of the practice, still seated, with my eyes closed I’ll bring my hands to prayer position in front of my heart. In my mind, I “say” everything that comes to mind that I am grateful for. And also I say some favorite affirmations too. As mentioned earlier in this post, if I just can’t seem to stop the thoughts bubbling up, I’ll move straight into my gratitude and affirmation practice.


Whew! That’s a lot to take in! Are you still with me? If you are, thank you so much for reading this far!
I hope this post helps you and inspires you to start and create a daily meditation practice of your own! Remember make it simple, make it special and make it work for you!




Amanda Stivers