Warming up before meditation can make the difference between a relaxing session and a session that just feels very uncomfortable.
Whenever I am coaching someone about meditation, warming up is one tip I like to give. Warming up is something that is often overlooked and undervalued. It is common to think that when you meditate, you just jump right into sitting down without doing any type of preparation. Well first, thinking that you have to sit down to meditate is one misconception to be addressed in another article. Second, when you start meditating without warming up, it can be challenging to stay comfortable and relaxed. Tight muscles and joints also make it hard for the energy to flow.
When you are uncomfortable, your mind tends to focus on being uncomfortable or you wind up shortening your meditation practice. In light of this, whether you are doing a sitting meditation or a moving meditation, warming up your body, joints and muscles is a great way to relax beforehand. It allows your muscles and joints to loosen, blood flow to increase and more oxygen to circulate through your body and brain. Warming up will simultaneously relax and wake you up. This is good especially if you are feeling a little sleepy or tired as well. Going into a meditation practice sleepy or tired lays the foundation to falling asleep during meditation.
My favorite warmup exercise is qigong shaking. I do this everyday before I begin my qigong practice. Qigong shaking is an excellent way to open up your energy channels and allow more energy (oxygen, blood, etc) to flow throughout your body. It may seem strange but it is a great practice that I highly recommend. It is especially good for “waking up your spine” (spinal joints).
Qigong Warm-up Instructions
When you are doing the qigong shaking, remember this concept, you are “getting into your body” and literally “getting out of your mind”. You are grounding yourself and focusing your attention on your feet. When you focus on your feet you “ground” yourself in the present moment. You release thoughts of the past and the present. Whenever you have found your mind wandering, refocus on your feet.
- Have some inspiring music playing.(optional)
- Spread your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent.
- Rock your feet back and forth and side to side until you find an even balance between the 4 corners of both feet.
- Visualize roots growing from your feet. You are like a tree grounded to the earth and this moment.
- Do a quick body scan and notice any areas that may need more relaxing. Do this in a mindful and nonjudgmental way.
- Relax your shoulders and begin bouncing up and down.
- Put a smile on your face and have fun with it.
- You should be relaxed enough that your head bobs up and down and is you are saying yes. Remember to focus on your feet the entire time.
- Do the warmup for about 5 minutes or until you feel relaxed.
- At the end, do another quick body scan from head to toe and mindfully observe the difference between how you felt before and how you feel now. Do you feel more relaxed?
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