Meditation – What’s it All About?
Most of us have heard of meditation, but few truly understand what it’s all about. Essentially, meditation is an umbrella term for a variety of relaxation exercises. Put simply, it is the practice of contemplation, using a variety of techniques to focus the mind. By following 3 simple meditation techniques, beginners can quickly appreciate the benefits that meditation can bring to our busy lives.
Meditation can take many different forms, and the list below shows just a few of the many different types:
- Qigong. Qigong combines meditation with breathing and movement exercises, which enhances the flow of energy (qi) through the body.
- Yoga. Yoga is perhaps the best known form of meditation, and combines different postures and breathing techniques in order to promote better physical and mental wellbeing.
- Mindfulness. This is a form of meditation that focuses on our breathing in order to develop the sense of being fully ‘present’, by calmly observing our thoughts and feelings without any form of judgment.
- Movement Meditation. Involves gentle, deliberate movements, such as tai chi, to enhance both mindfulness and physical awareness.
- Zen (Zazen). A seated meditation, rooted in Buddhist tradition, which focuses on breathing and posture in order to develop calm and understanding.
- Progressive Relaxation. This focuses on tensing and relaxing different muscle groups in order to reduce physical tension and stress in the body.
Meditation can improve our lives in a great many ways – both in the short term and the long term. In the short term, meditation can be thought of as a kind of refuge. Meditation is about calming your mind and driving out negative, stressful thoughts. If you can do that, then you can find an oasis of peace in even the most chaotic circumstances.
Imagine for a moment; you’ve come home from work after a stressful day. Your colleagues are pressuring you, and you have a deadline that you’re falling behind on. What are you going to do?
You might come home and stress all evening – spending your whole evening thinking about work, rather than enjoying time with your partner and your children, or an evening out with friends.
OR you could meditate. Remove the distracting thoughts from your mind, and just enjoy your evening. Worry about it tomorrow, when you can actually do something about it.
Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
In the long term, being able to do this ‘on demand’ will eventually help you to change habits that have formed over a lifetime. It will help you to learn to rise above your problems, and to not think of them as the end of the world. You can put things into perspective, and you can crank down that irritating little voice at the back of your head.
But how do you start? It’s still a daunting and somewhat abstract concept for many, so to help you overcome that stumbling block, here’s how to start these simple beginners meditation techniques in 3 easy steps.
The 3 Simple Steps to Successful Meditation
Find a Quiet Place
Meditation can be done anywhere, but it’s certainly easier when you’re free from distractions. This is especially true when you’re just starting out. So, find a quiet spot, and if you want to make this a regular practice, try to make it somewhere that you will be able to retreat to often.
Now sit down however is comfortable. You can sit on a chair or sofa or sit on a cushion on the floor. The important point is that you must e comfortable and be able to relax. Don’t lie down though, because you risk falling asleep if you do!
Set a Timer
The next step is to set yourself some time out. You can easily do this by setting a timer, which means you won’t need to keep checking your watch or worry about overshooting and missing an appointment. There’s nothing worse when you’re trying to meditate than worrying about whether it’s been 10 minutes yet every 30 seconds!
If you’re starting out for the first time, then ten minutes is more than enough. But in all honesty, you can even get benefit from just five minutes. This is what many people don’t realise when they make excuses for not starting. We should all be able to find five minutes of quiet in our day.
Focus
Finally, the next step is to focus. That means focussing on something like your own breathing, or perhaps repeating a word or phrase. You can also try focussing on something in the environment around you. A popular practice for instance is to focus on a single flame, or you could put on some relaxing music; try setting up a playlist that lasts for around 10 minutes. Then there’s the option to focus on emptying your thoughts, or perhaps to focus on reflecting on those thoughts in a dispassionate manner.
Whatever the case, all you are trying to do is to take conscious control over your attention and to direct it towards something that is non-stressful, and that will help you to recover a little energy and mood.
What About Distractions?
To get started with your practice, try not to put any pressure on yourself. Sit somewhere quietly, choose the type of focus you’re going to employ and begin. If you need to move your hand to scratch your nose – that’s fine. You don’t have to ‘start again’. If you notice your attention start to wander, don’t punish yourself for it, just bring your mind quietly back to the task at hand.
The mistake many people make is to place too much pressure on themselves to get it right straight away. The whole point is that this is meant to be relaxing!
Essentially, the goal in Mindfulness is to be ‘aware’ and to be ‘present’ of your own thoughts and to reflect on them. This form of meditation doesn’t encourage you to try and empty your mind, but rather the objective is simply to let your thoughts ‘drift by’ like clouds in the sky.
What this allows you to do, is to become more aware of what thoughts you tend to have, thereby being better able to spot negative thought patterns etc. that might be causing problems. This type of meditation has also been shown to reduce anxiety, almost as effectively as anxiety-reducing medication.
Final Words
That’s all there is to meditation, there’s no dark mystery to it. Meditation is simply about calming your mind and putting things int perspective. By following these simple meditation techniques, anyone can do it, even you. You don’t need any special skills or training. However, if you do find that you struggle with self-guided meditation, then you may wish to consider using a guided meditation, such as something from Headspace. His is an app that provides easy guided meditations for beginners. Whilst the full version is a paid subscription, you can sign up for a 14-day free trial, so that you can ‘try before you buy’. These guided meditations talk you through a script that will help to direct your attention for you. Once you’ve really got the hang of it, you can do your own thing, whenever, or wherever you feel the need.
For the ultimate in de-stressing, why not combine your meditation program with a digital detox which will go hand in glove with your new meditation routine.