For most people, the best place to practice meditation is home. That’s true for me too, but there are times when it may not be the ideal place to meditate. In this blog post, I am going to tell you why home may not work sometimes and, most importantly, I am going to share with some of the best places to meditate. There may be a few of them that make the list that you have never thought about. This is going to be an interesting read for those of who are new or quite new to meditation. Let’s dive into this interesting topic now.
Home is the Best Place for Meditation, but There are Exceptions
The best place for meditation should be a place that is quiet, familiar and comfortable. There are words that can describe most people’s home. I don’t care whether you live in a huge and fancy house or a small and cozy home, I bet you do feel very comfortable in your home. If you like alone, I am almost be certain that home is the best place for you to practice meditation. However, there are a lot of people who like with family or boyfriend / girlfriend. I belong to the latter group. That’s when things get tricky. If you are like me who are used to waking up earlier before everyone else, you should have no problem meditating with no one disturbing you. But if you don’t wake up before everyone else, you are very likely going to have your family members or your other half bothering you. I am not saying that they will bother you intentionally, but I am saying that those people who don’t meditate rarely get that we do need to be absolutely undisturbed when we meditate. Good luck if you are trying to persuade your family members or other half to leave you alone when you meditate.
Sitting on the Beach Before 7am is a Great Meditation Idea
If you live near a beach and you are able to wake up early, preferably you get to the beach by 6am, by 7am the latest, meditating the beach is simply wonderful. Not only the subtle wind from the ocean that can bring you the extra refreshing feeling, the sound of the wave is going to make it more enjoyable to meditate. The big bonus is the darkness that makes you feel more concentrated when you meditate. You will have to wake up really early though if you want to enjoy the darkness. I don’t suggest you to intentionally wake up too early to meditate. If you happen to like to wake up early, it is perfect. If you like to stay up like and you want to wake up early to meditate, that’s the wrong thing to do. Having enough sleep is 100% more important than to practice meditation.
Lake Can Bring You Silence & Calmness
If you don’t like the sound and the wind on the beach, you can still get near the water and have good meditation. The solution is to go to the lake for meditation. Sitting in front of still water and under a beautiful sky can easily make your meditation more effective in terms of the way it can calm and relax your mind. Doing meditation in a beautiful place, to me, is half entertainment and half meditation.
Meditate on the Bus or Train
For those of you who live a busy life and complain about not being able to find ten minutes to meditate, I am telling you that you can always find a way to meditate. Unless you have to drive a car to work which I don’t suggest, you are likely going to travel by bus or by train. If you travel by bus and you do have a seat, you can simply meditate sitting at your seat. I know that there are people around you but they don’t disturb you the way your family members may disturb you at home. If you travel by train and you don’t have a seat, you can also try to meditate standing. You will be surprised that you can actually meditate standing. There is no doubt that meditating quietly at home is likely going to make you feel better, but having only-average meditation is better than having no meditation. You can’t use “not having the best meditation” as your excuse for not having meditation. That’s the same reasoning as saying that you don’t eat because you can’t afford to eat in the best restaurant in town.
Meditation at the Office
Another good time for meditation is to do it during lunchtime at the office. I get that a lot of people are concerned of looking weird by meditation at their seat in the office where every colleague can see them. I also understand that not everyone is comfortable with letting people know that he or she is meditating, although there is no reason for such discomfort. The easily way to, when asked, tell people that you are just having a nap. It’s not really lying and it’s just that you don’t want to explain. Sometimes, the quote “never complain, never explain” does work very well in life.
Good News for Those Who Walk To Work
For those of you who takes a 30-minute plus walk to work everyday, I have some good news for you. You don’t really have to sit down to meditate. The long walk is your meditation. Taking a long walk can clear and relax your mind almost as effectively as having a formal meditation. I would argue that having a long walk is the best informal way to meditate. For me, I found that taking a 45-minute walk would roughly calm my mind a 10-minute mantra meditation does. Of course, you can do your formal meditation and take a long walk in the same day. The big bonus is that taking a long walk every single day is very good to your body health too, not just mental health.