Meditation Monday: How to Start

If you have never tried meditation before, how do you start? We recommend that eventually you make your way to your local book store or library so you can purchase a book/CD set to guide you, but let’s say you’re planning on doing that tomorrow. Here’s what you can do today:

(For instructions on how to sit, please see our introduction to meditation article)

After sitting in your desired position, begin by focusing as much attention on your breathing as possible. Bring as much awareness as you can to willing your breathing to slow down, deepen and become more fluid and evenly rhythmic. This has the effect of causing one’s mental state to become calmer and more lucid.

This kind of focused attention is sometimes referred to as “one pointed-ness”: Your mind is not split among multiple concerns or topics, it is placed only on this singular point of focus. You’re not thinking about how to make the car payment, deadlines, romantic interests or anything else while you are practicing this. Rather, the entirety of your awareness concentrates on how smoothly your breath flows. If an unrelated thought should come into your mind, simply tell it to leave and you will follow up with it later. Do not give it a second thought.

The ability to focus solely on your breathe for a few minutes may not happen immediately. It takes practice and gradually you will get better at this. Once you can do this successfully you can dive into the deeper levels of meditation. Repeat this task daily without ambition or expectation. You can start with 3 minute sessions and then work your way up. You’ll notice that eventually those distracting thoughts will go away when you ask them to. Your clarity will induce a sense of calm that stimulates creativity and reduces tension. It also strengthens your willpower and ability to concentrate, to stay focused and stay on task.

As with learning anything new, you must first focus on the basics, the fundamentals in which the more advanced methods of meditation are built upon. It takes a great deal of patience and understanding. Do not set time goals such as “by the end of the week I should be able to do this for 5 minutes straight,” instead, approach it by simply doing it. Start naturally and end each session naturally, when you feel your mind is ready.

Resources:

“A No-Nonsense Guide to Meditation”
http://thegrowinglife.com/2008/03/meditation-guide/

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