Do you work out? Or have you ever worked out? If you have, then you know that you always start small and build from there. Muscles take time to develop and grow, they take time to heal and they have to be fed properly. You never just walk into a gym, and say, “Today, I will run a 5-minute mile!” Or, “I think I’ll do a crow stand on my first day of yoga.”

Well, guess what? Meditation is the same way; your mental muscles are no different than your physical muscles. You have to work them out. On top of working them out, they need to be fed and nourished. But what does that mean?

How to Strengthen Your Meditation

In order to properly strengthen your mental muscles for meditation you must feed them with the right knowledge. Read books like the 7 Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra. Or read books like The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle. Anything from Osho is good also. On top of reading good books, keep a prayer journal or spirit journal, as I like to call it. Also make sure you are nourishing your body with healthy food. Remember, the mind and body are connected. Feeding your body with wholesome food is not only good for the body but also good for the mind.

A rule I like to use is, “If it will hurt my body, it will likely hurt my mind as well.” That’s not all though, make sure you are getting adequate rest. Sometimes, inner work, meditation and healing can be very taxing on your mind. It can also drain a lot from you spiritually. Especially when you start to heal, past traumatic incidents. And your mind is just like your body, it needs to rest in order to repair itself.

Do You Rest After Meditation?

Just like if you were to do a long stent at the gym, or run a marathon, your body would need rest. Your mind is the same way. If you never allow it time to rest, it gets damaged, it receives injury and it takes even more time to heal. Sometimes people never allow their mind time to heal, or their soul, and you can see it in the illnesses that manifest.

Meditating is a Lot Like Going to a GymThings like depression, anxiety, addictions, and compulsive disorders do not just happen by chance. They happen by a succession of events that were never given time to heal. When you give your mind and soul time to heal, you will grow exponentially. And just like in the gym, you start with lite weights. You have to start lite when meditating too.

You work up to hours long sessions of deep, introspective trance. Start small with 5-10 minute sessions and build from there. You never want to just go straight into facing traumatic situations without understanding the process of meditation first. You have to learn to crawl before you can learn how to walk. And you learn to walk before you run. And finally, only after you’ve metaphorically learned to run spiritually, can you finally learn to fly within yourself.

Because meditation is a beautiful experience. When you truly work out your mental and spiritual muscles to the point of achieving deep meditation, you can explore your inner soul. And the world within is magnificent; it’s endless with no boundaries. But it can take years to reach a point where you can go there peacefully and comfortably.

Keep Meditation Simple

So I encourage you to start small with simple breathing practices. Start with 5-10 minute sessions and go up every other week for another 5 minutes. When you face an inner challenge and drains you, allow yourself time to rest and heal. And in time, you will have mastered the inner world. And that is where your outer world starts.

As I always say, it’s important to remind yourself on a daily basis that your inner world creates your outer world. And above all else, have fun while you explore the most interesting part of our universe, which is the world inside you.

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