Meditation For Beginners

Meditation is a thing that we should all try to do in our daily lives.  It helps us relax, unwind us from a stressful day we might have had, or prepare us for a day ahead of us.  A daily routine of meditation is how many people cope with their fear or anxieties.  Without meditation a lot of people would be lost.  It is a great way to better understand yourself and what makes you tick.  

Meditation is all about balancing every aspect of your well being; your body, mind, and soul.  All the external forces are eliminated and all of your internal components can operate without any distractions.  At this point, when you have total silence, you will feel as if your body is not attached to you and all you have is your mind and soul to work with.  When you don’t use your body, all that energy is transform into thought, therefore you can think more clearly.

There are many types of meditation that you can try, but most of them all deal with the same concept.  The concept is this: you need to focus on something to “unclutter” your mind.  There are many techniques to achieve this, some easier to get the hang of than others. 

One technique is through concentration on your breathing.  You focus only on your breath and nothing else.  If the thoughts in your mind go to something else, you immediately change your thoughts back to your breathing.  It may seem hard at first to only focus on breathing, but when you practice this daily you can get to a deep state of meditation in no time.  Within a week of this daily routine you could easily master it.  The important thing with this technique is to try not to control your breathing, just let your breathing flow naturally. 

When I started with this technique I found it hard to focus on my breathing and I could not control it.  I would force the breathing (if that makes sense) and after about ten minutes I would be out of breath.  So try as much as possible to breathe normally and just focus on the air coming in and out of your lungs.  

Another meditation type I have practiced in the past, is meditation when you walk.  This is maybe an unconventional way to meditate, but I find it just as powerful as any other type of meditation.  It makes sense why this can be considered a type of meditation because all you really are doing is focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. 

You can easily clear your mind and you can become in a trance like state if you allow yourself to do so.  You can even do this walking down the street with cars rushing past you, with some practice the distractions won’t interfere with your thoughts.  I have found that when I walk I seem to make a mental list of what I have to accomplish and what needs to be done in my life.  The same rules apply to jogging.  It is the same concept, just one foot in front of the other. 

You might also like to try the technique of transcendental meditation.  This is where you continually say a word or phrase that you or someone else has picked, to help you better concentrate on one thing so you can clear your mind.  I have not tried this myself, but hear it does a good job to achieve a deep meditation.  If you are a beginner you might want to check this technique out first.  I personally find the best way to meditate is to focus on breathing, but everyone is different and you should do the one that best suits you.  

There are many different approaches to meditation, like some of the above examples. So there really isn’t one right way to meditate properly.  I suggest you try out every type of meditation to see which one has the best affect on you, but I will tell you how I approach meditation and some tricks I use.

The first thing is to find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed.  I personally like to be in nature when I meditate, so I usually go to a nearby park that has some benches and meditate there.  But if I don’t have time I usually find a room that not a lot of people use and sit in a chair or a couch.  If I’m inside, I like to have a window open to let the fresh air in to make my breathing more enjoyable.  I also like to have plants in the room where I meditate so they give off some extra oxygen.  Try to pick a room that doesn't get direct sunlight so it’s not that bright in the room.  I have found that the darker the room, the easier I can meditate.

It is important to make sure your back is straight when you meditate.  I keep my head straight forward and fold my hands into my lap.  I then close my eyes and start to breath.  And then I fall into a thoughtless experience, as I like to call it.

When I start my meditation session I only think about my breathing.  I have practiced meditation so much that other thoughts rarely pop into my head.  But when they do, I immediately focus on my breathing. 

Once I have meditated for about 20 minutes I then turn my attention to my life. I like to describe it as looking at my actions and myself.  I may go over what I have done the previous day and if I would change something.  I also like to think about my goals and aspirations. 

I think about them and try to devise a plan on how to accomplish them.  I also think about problems that have come my way and I try to solve them. 

Then I usually end the session by visualizing what my goals would look like if I accomplished them already. 

What Is Meditation?

How To Meditate

Transcendental Meditation