Let go of your inhibitions, improve your well-being, and enhance your health by practicing meditation. Learning how to meditate will set you on a path toward acceptance, happiness, and peace.
Since there are all sorts of meditation approaches and traditions, you’ll find that it’s quite easy to feel overwhelmed about a practice that’s supposed to mellow you out.
Here, we’ve come up with a quick and simple guide to help you get started.
Decide the Best Time and Place for Meditation
It will be easier to form a new habit if you do it at the same time and at the same place on a regular basis. Meditation can be done anytime, ideally somewhere comfortable where there are no distractions.
Meditating on your own is essential to the practice, but having guided sessions with experienced teachers will prove to be invaluable. The mind easily wanders as you meditate. With the clear instructions of a teacher, you can easily shift your focus and get back on track.
Luckily, you can download a meditation app for some guided sessions to kick-start your journey.
Here are the best free meditation apps that you can try today:
Headspace
One of the more popular apps on the market, Headspace comes with a wide range of features. It has guided meditations for busy schedules, SOS exercises for meltdowns, and themed sessions on everything from sleep and stress to anxiety.
The Mindfulness App
Go on a five-day guided meditation journey with The Mindfulness App. It’s free to use with optional in-app purchases. Using this app, you can do silent, time-guided meditations that last from 3 to 30 minutes. It also tracks your journey.
Check Out the 5 Best Meditation Apps to Keep you Stress-Free >
Don’t Worry About the How—Just Do
Stop worrying about where you should sit, how you should sit, or what cushions you should use while meditating. All of these factors may make every session a bit convenient for you, but they aren’t as important as getting started.
If you don’t have a private zen corner in your home, don’t worry. You can sit on any chair and listen to some meditation music. As you’re starting out, you only have to do a few minutes of meditation every day. Hence, there’s no need to fuss about the cushions and the candles. You can optimize your meditation corner when this becomes a habit—an integral part of your daily life.
Here are some meditation tips you can practice:
- Count your breaths
- Listen to meditation music
- Notice when your mind wanders
- Be kinder to your wandering mind
- Set a time limit
Pay Attention to the Present Moment
Meditation isn’t about letting your mind wander nor is it about emptying your mind. This ancient practice is about being present in the moment. To do this, you can focus on your breathing. You may also count your breaths.
Another technique you might want to explore is body scan meditation, which involves focusing on various parts of your body. This helps you stay present in the moment.
Here’s how the body scan technique works:
- With your eyes closed, focus on one part of your body at a time, starting from the top of your head. Work all the way down.
- Visualize how your body feels in the present moment. As you’re doing the scan, notice which parts of your body feel relaxed and which ones feel tense.
- Perform the body scan technique again. Take about 20 seconds to do a full scan.
To make meditation a habit, you ought to keep reminding yourself to practice it. Whether it’s an alarm on your smartphone or a sticky note on your bedside, you can leave little reminders for yourself and maybe some inspirational words to motivate you into meditating.