Meditation Techniques for Beginners
There are many common misconceptions about meditation, ranging from the state of mind that you need to be in, to whether there’s a specific position you have to do. In reality, meditation is a personal process that can happen in a wide variety of ways depending on your personal preferences.
Meditation Techniques for Beginners
If you’re dealing with a difficult personal situation or if you’re simply getting stressed at work, using these easy-to-follow meditation techniques for beginners can help you to get started without worrying about whether you’re doing it right or not.
1. Focus on your breathing
Breathing is arguably one of the most important things to focus on when it comes to meditation. However, we like to think that all of these great techniques are equally as important, though this is the easiest one to master.
To do this, you’re going to want to sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and breathe naturally. Don’t try to create a unique breathing pattern or put too much thought into it. Just allow the air to flow in through your nose and out through your mouth or whatever feels most comfortable for you.
2. Consider mindfulness meditation
In the past, people always thought that meditation meant you had to sit in a quiet room and quell all of your mental thoughts. In reality, mindfulness meditation is the complete opposite.
Rather than trying to silence your brain, which is difficult for most people, you can observe the thoughts that wander through your mind instead. Ideally, you’re not going to want to judge the thoughts or get too involved with them; you just have to acknowledge that they are there.
With mindfulness meditation, you’ll have a deeper understanding of your feelings and how they move through your mind, which gives you a deeper understanding of who you are as a person. This gives you the mental strength that you need to become a more balanced person so that when stressful situations arise, you’re able to tackle them with ease.
3. Try lying down
Another one of the main factors of meditation is to make sure that you’re comfortable. If you’re someone who experiences difficulty sitting for long periods, consider lying down instead.
Though you’re not going to want to fall asleep, lying down gives you the opportunity to feel all of the energy flow throughout your body without focusing on discomfort. You’ll want to make sure that you lie down in a place other than your bed, such as on a comfortable rug in your home or on a yoga mat.
4. Buy meditation accessories
Meditation accessories can mean a variety of different things, but the main definition is that they are an assortment of items that help you to feel the most comfortable. For example, if you try lying down to meditate but the floor is too hard for your head, consider buying a memory foam pillow.
One of our favorite meditation accessories is a cooling eye mask or an eye massager as this can help you to get into your deepest state of Zen without having to put a lot of effort into the task.
5. Begin with shorter periods of meditation
At first, meditation might feel slightly uncomfortable, which is why one of the best meditation techniques for newbies is to start with short sessions. Similar to working out, you’re going to want to start out with three- to four-minute sessions, and then work your way up to thirty minutes to an hour, depending on how much time you have in your day.
The main purpose of this is to make sure that you don’t overwhelm yourself with trying to get calm for too long, as you might lose interest in the entire task altogether.
6. Create a meditating playlist
For beginners, silence while meditating can be overwhelming. For this reason, it’s recommended that you consider making your own Zen playlist that you can listen to while you’re relaxing.
Whether you’re the type of person who likes to listen to nature sounds or if you have a particular artist that gets you into the perfect relaxing mindset, the options are endless. You might even find that you’ll reach for your playlist at different times throughout the day to bring you back to your peaceful state of mind without having to separate yourself from those around you.
7. Listen to your body
If you find that your thoughts are too loud for you to get into a peaceful mindset, then consider paying more attention to what your body is telling you. This is a great way to distract you you’re your constant thoughts. You would be surprised at the sheer amount of things you’ll be able to focus on once you allow yourself to get a little distracted.
Think about how comfortable you feel with the help of your new meditation accessories, think about how comfortable your meditation clothing feels against your skin. You can even go as far as to run your hands along the ground and think about the feeling of your flooring against your palms.
8. Practice as often as possible
As with anything else, the more often that you practice, the easier it’s going to become and the same goes for meditation. Even though you might be someone who thinks that it’s easy, once you get into a comfortable position and begin the process, you’ll realize that your mind needs a little more training than you originally thought.
It’s recommended that you allocate a few minutes every day for your meditation, whether you do it first thing in the morning after a shower or right before bed to help you drift off into a peaceful sleep.
Final Thoughts
There aren’t a set list of meditation techniques for beginners, as everyone has the tendency to go through the process in their own way. However, there’s no need to rely on traditional meditation techniques if they simply do not work for you, otherwise attempting to calm your mind and senses will be relatively useless.
With the right relaxing accessories, the perfect playlist, and a comfortable position, you’ll be able to get rid of excess stress, strain, and any discomfort you might feel throughout the day. Not to mention you’ll also be able to get your whole family in on the task once you’ve mastered it for yourself!