Meditation is difficult for me. I think there are a lot that I should learn but the problem is that I am not even able to slow down my thoughts. As soon as I wake up my mind jumps everywhere. How can I setup an effective meditation habit that really helps me visualizing my goals?

Sigmar A.
When starting to meditate take deep breaths. Pay attention to them at first. You can also pay attention to how the body feels, feel the weight of your body. If you are expirencing strong emotions and thoughts you can also try labeling them such as thought or feeling. Meditation is a journey, some days are harder then others but hopefully these tips will help.

Joris Y.
Its ok if u toughts jumps everywhere at begining or later. U just need to accept them breath and be calm. In morning and evening visualise your goal, feel it with every breath u take… See it. Touch it….

Marius Y.
Hi!
Don’t try to slow your thoughts down, but at first try to observe them. Simply wonder what your mind jumps to and from.
Try to set up a specific time in the day suitable for your routine that you will mediate at. It will be like your own ritual.
For me, meditation music is key to visualisation. So if I don’t like music behind spoken mediation, I find it more difficult to focus.
Try to imagine colours that you associate with feelings of calm too. Later, your mind may come up with images related to those colours for you to be able to relax.
I hope this helped!

Emma G.
I can't deal with visualization meditation as well. I try to focus on my breathing and let go of the idea that the meditation should be productive and goal oriented. I have the whole day for thinking about goals I have, my meditation is the 10 minutes I really try to give my head some rest.

Just Everytime you notice you dwell off in streams of ttought refocus on your breathing. This can be frustrating at first, but it gets better quickly. Start with like 10 minutes, which seems already very long in the beginning.

Alexander A.
I think the 'visualizing my goals' says a lot. For me the meditation sessions I've done for the past years only work when I for once on a day don't think about my goals.
Try to let go of the idea of making meditation productive, as weird as it may sound.. by that it becomes more productive. Just focus on your breathing and when you find yourself drifting in thought, that's ok. Just try to refocus on your breath.

Fredy X.
Don't try to slow down thoughts, try to recognize every time your mind wanders and acknowledge the thought then decide if you need to make action out of it, if yes make a mental reminder when the thought should come again, then it is free to let it go and continue meditation

Hans W.
Guided meditations can be really helpful when starting off. You don't have to work as hard to slow down thoughts. Just listen to the guide and keep bringing your focus back to whatever visualization they are talking you through. It really helped me 🙂

Dustin W.
I can have a chart or calendar I see when I wake up to remind me to take the time at some point to meditate.

Feliciano E.
Don't slow down your thoughts. Don't try and control them. Just watch them. And start with one minute meditation. Then two minutes and so on…

Zoraide S.
The headspace app really changed meditation for me. The whole concept is that you can meditate doing anything. Mindfulness is not limited to times you are seated doing quiet meditation. You can meditate doing sport, cleaning the house, doing work. It's all about the intention that you set at the beginning of a task. On allowing down thoughts – I've found that it's impossible to slow down my thoughts. Instead, i see my thoughts for what they are. It's like having an annoying room-mate around that keeps saying stupid things. You are not your thoughts. You are meant to be the watcher/observer of thoughts. If a thought comes up, you go, hey there thought, you are not real. It's difficult to do with all thoughts, because some i get attached to easier than others. But keep working on it. It gets easier.

Jonathan E.
To meditate I believe you have to really make time for it. And not just insert it anytime in your daily schedule. You have to make sure you are in good shape to do it too. Consider your space, location, serenity and preparedness. Well that is what I think suits me better.

Ellen U.
Try listening to meditations that are short and happy.

Lucas F.
I have a lot of trouble with medication too, but I have been using a meditation app called “10% Happier” that seems to be designed for people like me who find it very difficult to meditate! It is very forgiving, and keeps reminding me that even one minute meditation is good, and that absolutely everybody gets distracted almost all the time, because generating new thought sis what our minds naturally do. The important thing is to keep coming back, to notice that you’re thinking or are distracted or whatever, and to come back to focusing on your breath, or your body awareness, or your compassion meditation or whatever meditation it is you’re doing. We all get distracted, this is normal and human, and the important thing is to just keep coming back. One thing it said that I found very useful was that the important moment in meditation isn’t when you aren’t distracted – it’s when you realize that you are distracted, and come back to noticing your breath. It’s the moment you do that that you are meditating. Anyway I hope that helps!

Sonja Z.
When I first started to meditate it was a very difficult time in my life. I felt overwhelms by what was happening around me and by what the future would be like. It was hard to take 10 mins a day to be quite. But I found the days I would meditate I was getting slightly better at pushing away negative thoughts. I learnt that meditation is like a muscle, it takes time to build it. I still fall of the wagon, every so often. I once had a 37 day streak where I meditated every day. So be patient and persistent and reap the benefits of leading a mindful life.

Nicodemos P.
You should start writing Morning pages as soon as you wake up. Search on Google how to do morning pages. That practice will help you sort out your thoughts and be ready for meditation.

Andre T.
Meditating outside is very nice because you get a breath of fresh air and you can take a look of the beautiful world around you! Also wearing very comfy clothes and taking deeper breaths helps! 💙

Shannon O.
During Mediation concentrate on your breath in & out moment. It will help to concentrate on the mediation.