How to Meditate for Beginners

Meditation is a simple but life-transforming skill that can help you to relax, enhance understanding about yourself and develop your inherent potential. 

The meditation posts I’ve written in the past are focused on the applications of different meditation techniques. But, if you’ve little knowledge about meditation, you may find it challenging to apply them without first learning how to meditate. 

So in this article, I’ve laid down some basic instructions on how to meditate for beginners, as well as address some of the common concerns beginners may have.

How to Meditate

1. Choose a conducive environment. Find a nice, quiet place where you won’t be disturbed for fifteen minutes or longer. Sit down, relax and rest your hands on your lap. You can sit on the floor cross-legged with the support of a meditation cushion, or on any chair with your feet resting on the ground. It’s not necessary to force yourself into a lotus position if you’re not used to it.
   Regardless of how you sit, it’s important to maintain the natural curve of your back. That means no slouching forward or leaning backward — either of which can strain and hurt your back. People with chronic back problem may find a kneeling meditation bench useful, especially for prolonged meditation.
   
   
2. Breathe slowly and deeply. Close your eyes softly. Begin by taking a few slow and deep breaths — inhaling with your nose and exhaling from your mouth. Don’t force your breathing. Let it come naturally. The first few intakes of air are likely to be shallow, but as you allow more air to fill your lungs each time, your breaths will gradually become deeper and fuller. Take as long as you need to breathe slowly and deeply.
   
   
3. Be aware. When you are breathing deeply, you’ll begin to feel calmer and more relaxed. That’s a good sign. Now, focus your attention on your breathing. Be aware of each breath that you take in through your nose. Be mindful of each breath that you exhale with your mouth. Continue focusing on your breaths for as long as you like.
   If you find your attention straying away from your breaths, just gently bring it back. It may happen many times. Don’t be disheartened. What’s important is to realize that you’ve wandered and bring your attention back to where it should be. As you develop greater focus power, you will find it easier to concentrate.
   
   
4. Ending the session. When you are ready to end the session, open your eyes and stand up slowly. Stretch yourself and extend your increased awareness to your next activities. Well done! You’ve done it!
   

Meditation for Beginners Tips

• Aim to have the length of your exhales as long, if not longer, than your inhales to expel used air and make more room for fresh one. If you find the out breath is much shorter in length, you can help to expel more air by gently squeezing your abdominal for the first few times. When both the in and out breaths become naturally long and deep, then you can stop contracting your lower stomach.
  
  
  
• Guided meditation CDs or MP3s can be useful tools for meditators. For beginners, audio guided meditations provide step-by-step instructions that help introduce meditation in an easy, friendly and non-intimidating way. For experienced meditators, on the other hand, they can reveal different perspectives and approaches that might have escaped one’s awareness.
  As there are many types of guided meditation programs available, it’s important to be clear of what you are looking for before buying. Are you trying to stress less and relax more, to manage a chronic pain, to improve sleep or to grow spiritually? No matter what’s your main objective, there’s almost always one that will suit your needs.
  You can also find guided medition videos in this site.
  
  
• When the weather is chilly, keep yourself warm with a blanket or shawl during meditation.
  
  
  
• Meditating with an empty or full stomach may be distracting or even uncomfortable. So make sure there’s something in your tummy, but not so much that you feel bloated while sitting.
  
  
  
• Some people find it easier to meditate with some light music in the background, while others prefer total silence. If you belong to the former group, choose appropriate tunes that help you to calm down but also wouldn’t distract you from your practice. Some examples to consider are sounds of nature (such as rain and ocean waves), traditional music (like native American flute music and guqin) as well as a wide range of contemporary meditation music available nowadays. The choice of music, or lack of, is entirely a matter of personal preference. So feel free to experiment and see what works best for you.
  
  
  
• A meditation timer or any timer with a gentle alarm is another handy tool to use during meditation. It lets you know when your session is over without you constantly thinking about it. You can use the timer that’s built into your mobile phone, wrist watch or computer, but just make sure that it’s not so jarring that you’ll get a shock every time it rings!
  
  
  
• Once you’ve mastered breathing meditation, you can choose to continue with it or try other meditation techniques. There are many types of meditation techniques that can help you to develop inner qualities which you never know existed.