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Anthony V. Lombardo
Meditation

Say Goodbye to Boring Meditation: 20 Unique Mindfulness Techniques That Will Unlock Peace And Clarity

written by

Anthony V. Lombardo


Anthony V. Lombardo meditating, Carefree Arizona

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    I never resonated with watching my breath in meditation.

    For one, observing your breath can seem like a chore, not to mention a bit boring. Additionally, when my intention becomes solely about watching my breath flow naturally, my breath can immediately become erratic and unnatural.

    However, breath-watching is far from the only way to achieve relaxation and remain grounded in the present moment. Here are twenty mindfulness and relaxation techniques that are more engaging than watching your breath, yet still offer the same benefits of relaxed alertness and focused attention.

    Choose a few that interest you and start experimenting with them. In a short time, they will rejuvenate your meditation practice, offering you a more dynamic path to peace and clarity.

    1. Points of Connection

    Focus on the connection of your feet with the floor, the connection of your body with your chair, or the clothes against your skin. Choose one, zero in on the contact points, and feel the sensations it creates.

    2. Hypoglossal Nerve Activation

    Focus on your tongue resting on the floor of your mouth, and notice yourself becoming relaxed. This relaxes the hypoglossal nerve that runs from your tongue into the vagal nerve, which sends a signal to your whole body to relax.

    3. The Space Between Your Eyebrows

    Slightly lift your head up and put all your attention on the space between your eyebrows. Try not to squint your eyes or clench your jaw.

    4. Mindful Exploration of Sound

    Listen to all the sounds in your surroundings from the faintest sound to the most glaring. This is fun to do outside or by a window listening to all the different bird chirps.

    5. “Come to Your Senses”

    Scan through all of your five senses, noticing each one at a time, and then try to hold as many of them in your awareness simultaneously.

    6. Somatic Presence

    Feel the happenings inside your body, noticing your own energy and the aliveness within you. Think of it like you are “dropping down and going in” within yourself. Acknowledge any warmth, tingling, or pulsations.

    7. Hand Energy

    Pay close attention to the sensations in your hands. See if you can follow the energy traveling and dancing within your hands. You can also try this with your feet.

    8. “I’m Home”

    Gently repeat the mantra: “I’m home.” Hear it as a faint whisper, almost like an echo, deep in the background of your mind.

    9. “Be Here Now”

    Inspired by Ram Dass’s famous words, repeat the mantra: “I’m here now. This is where I am. This is all there is. It’s all happening now.” Allow this mantra to keep guiding you back to the present moment.

    10. Heart Coherence

    Put all your mental focus on the area in and around your heart and see if you can notice it beating. As you breathe, sense the flow of energy moving in and out of your heart space. To learn more, check out this Ultimate Guide on Heart Coherence.

    11. Embodies Awareness

    Sense your whole body as one mass of energy and then move your awareness to the space between you and the walls in the room, the ceiling, the door, etc. Can you notice the volume of space that lies there? Once you do, can you notice just empty space?

    12. Focused Object

    Find a relatively uninteresting object in the room and focus on it non-judgmentally with curiosity and interest. Keep your mental focus fixated on it. Try this with the flame of a candle.

    13. Light of Love

    Visualize a loving light above you shining down on you. Give this light a color and see it coming down from the universe, going into the crown of your head and filling up your entire body.

    14. “Your Favorite Place”

    Visualize being in your favorite place, a place that makes you feel peaceful and joyful, whether real or imagined. Become aware of everything you see in this place, paying attention to all the details.

    15. Systematic Relaxation

    Systematically relax each part of your body one by one, starting from your feet and moving all the way up to your head. Give each one a loving, gentle squeeze, releasing any tension, and allowing them to relax.

    16. Countdown Deepening Technique

    Slowly count down from 10 to 1, and on each number, feel yourself getting relaxed a little bit more. Say each number a little more faintly, feeling yourself softening and surrendering, letting go a little bit more like you are drifting off to la la land. To learn more, check out this step-by-step practice of the Countdown Deepening Technique.

    17. Body Smiling

    Imagine a smile emerging from the inside of your body. What does it feel like to say my “body smiles?” What does it feel like for your heart to smile? Notice the experience this creates inside you. Stay focused on it.

    18. Conscious Observance of Thoughts

    Play the part of the non-judgmental, hyper-curious witness by observing your thoughts without attaching to them or critiquing them. Use mental noting to name or classify whatever thoughts come into your mind. For example: “worrying,” “planning,” “fantasizing,” etc. Or you can just say “thinking.” A favorite of mine is: “There I go again, drifting off.”

    19. Sensing Gratitude

    Call to mind a few things you are grateful for. These can be as simple as a warm cup of tea or as profound as the love you have for your family. As you think about each one, PAY ATTENTION as the thoughts create the EMOTION of gratitude and see if you can notice it developing as it arises within you. It’s not the content of gratitude you are focusing on, but the feeling it creates.

    20. Peace, Joy & Love

    Repeat a few times: “I am peace, joy, and love.” Then, embody being peace, joy, and love. What does being peace feel like? What does being joy feel like? What does being love feel like? Your sole focus is to explore embodying these qualities and experiencing yourself as them, and them as you.

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