Meditation for Busy People – How To Meditate in Five Minutes

Successful meditation in five minutes seems like an oxymoron – especially when the world tells you sitting for 30 minutes is the only way to achieve peace.

 But, if sitting 30-minutes in a lotus position takes too much time, or is just too boring (or too painful), I’m telling you doing a 5-minute meditation for busy people is okay. And it might be better in the long-run.

 It’s Okay to Meditate for Five Minutes

 Whether you just turned to meditation or been practicing for some time, you’ll find yourself pressed for time occasionally. Doing several five-minute meditations can benefit you more than carving out 30 minutes – both mentally and physically.

 Firefighters and EMTs are a prime example of this. Some organizations look at the benefits of quick meditation on the responder’s ability to concentrate, change focus, and remain collected in times of stress.

 Although they know meditation reduces their stress, the problem stems from actually finding enough time to meditate for that particular 30 minutes. As it turned out, when the defecation hits the ventilation, these people don’t have time to use the bathroom, let alone sit in quiet contemplation.

 Does that sound familiar?

 So, the focus turns to quick meditation. Short blasts of meditative composure lasting from 30 seconds to 5 minutes help calm you down. Some research shows that as little as 2 minutes of active meditation can show a visible difference in the reduction of stress, blood pressure, and composure.

 This is not a new concept, either. In the Shaolin temples of China, many practitioners practice quick meditation. Short meditation helped practitioners build the foundation for longer meditation practices and a specialized type of focus switching for battle readiness.

 In your day-to-day life, where can you find instances where you need to change focus quickly? Where can having a few minutes to yourself can help you handle situations in a healthier way?

• Are you parent?
• Are you a manager?
• Are you a business owner?

 These are all situations where your focus needs to shift so you can dedicate the right type of energy and focus to the right person. Giving somebody your full attention quickly can establish the soul connection people crave in today's society. You become a more loving and dedicated person by being able to switch your focus.

 Types of Quick Meditation

 There are hundreds of variations on how to do a quick meditation. What I have here for you is a couple of examples. When we work together, I help teach you some of these more in-depth and how to implement them into your life so they make a huge difference.

 Counting Breath

 Counting your breath is a basic meditation you can do anywhere. The basis is to count each breath you take, usually with longer, deeper breaths.

 The mental action of counting keeps your mind focused. For people with anxiety and depression, this refocusing helps move the mind to simple, non-emotional tasks that can break the uncomfortable cycle of random thoughts.

 Physically, the longer, deeper breaths help fill our lungs with oxygen. By slowing down the breathing, you help slow down the heart rate. By increasing the volume of air you take in, you increase the amount of oxygen in your system. This combination can help wake you up and increase your focus.

 Most people start with five or ten breaths. But, you can go as long as necessary as long as you keep your focus on your breath without allowing your mind to wander in random directions. Want to dive deeper? Check out my online course Conscious Breathing.

 Walking

 Thich Nhat Hanh may be the most famous Buddhist teacher to emphasize walking meditation. Walking meditation turns your focus solely on the action of walking: what muscles are being used, where is your balance, how do you feel.

 Most people walk without paying attention to the action of walking. Over time, inattention and sloppy steps can lead to hip, knee, ankle, and foot problems. This meditation may reverse that.

 Walking outside is best, but anywhere you can walk will bring peace. Plus, you get a bit of exercise in!

Quick Mantra

 I have a great series of topics in my ebook Healing vs. Curing that can help lead you to more beneficial meditative practices. It’s a little more than what I can go into here, so I recommend you grab your free copy of the ebook. And for those of you who enjoy the feel and sensual beauty of a real book, you can get the physical book, too!

 Benefits of Five Minute Meditations

 We already talked about the ability to quickly switch focus using the five-minute meditations. You can train your mind to switch between calm and active by using this type of meditation.

 You can also use this as a reset button for your mind. Similar to helping people with depression and anxiety, anybody who has stress or scattered focus can use the simple meditation to calm down and refocus. Those couple of minutes of meditation allows the body to stop certain trains of thought and enables you to restart. Since you’ve read this far, I want to give you a gift. Dive into my Reframing Stress online course. It’s a course to help you find your inner peace, I'll open for 2 weeks for free.

 And, of course, there are all of the health benefits. Meditation lowers blood pressure and heart rate. As part of a weight management tool, it can help increase the amount of air and oxygen you take into your body, which can allow you to exercise better. Practicing walking meditation can help you get in more walking.

 And for many people, meditation can help you look happier and younger. There's no secret to what meditation can do for your looks. Unhappy and angry people tend to frown and wrinkle their brow. Meditation can bring peace, which makes you look younger and healthier. Not to mention that being happy correlates to all factors of health.

 Concluding The Reasons To Meditate for 5 Minutes

 Multiple sessions a five-minute meditation can be more useful for your health than trying to carve out 30 minutes of practice. These five-minute meditations relieve the pressure of finding a long time to sit down. It naturally reduces your stress, both physical and mental. Quick five-minute meditations may also help improve your relationships, which can feed your spirits and create the interconnections we all crave.

Here to support you in your GREATNESS!

Abundant Blessings,
Lou Corleto, D.C., CHPC

Speaker, High Performance Coach, 
Author, Facilitator
LouCorleto.com
[email protected]