Silent Meditation

Silent Meditation is easy to practice anywhere, for any amount of time. Sit with your spine straight on a chair or on the floor. Focus on your breathing. Try to count your breaths up to 5 and then you can count back down. You could count to 10 if that is what you need. The point is to simply practice sitting quietly and observing your thoughts and breath without judging or controlling.

This is the beginning of meditation. Once you have tried just sitting and counting your breaths, you may want to move on to meditating on a word or words. It could be a word you choose from your native language (for example, 'calm') or it could be a foreign word you do not even understand. Simply giving your mind a word to focus on might make it easier to let thoughts go. You just come back to your word- your meditation mantra.

More silent meditation ideas:

Sit out in nature and choose one sound (like a bird, or even a car horn) to listen for and count up to 11 or 108 (or any number you like).

Sit or lie down so your body feels expanded and comfortable. Simply scan through your entire body noticing where you have pain, what feels good, and what if any emotion you feel attached to specific body parts.