Meditation: How to Begin

Like many people in today’s hyper paced world, you’ve probably experienced bouts of constant worry, anxiety, racing thoughts, and stress. We’re all bombarded with images and messages that can lead us to think that we’re not good enough, must continuously strive for more achievement, more accumulation of material goods or experiences, more status, etc. This naturally leads to an unbalanced mind that could use a lot more peace and quiet. 

Meditation can be an extremely powerful tool to focus the mind, decrease over thinking, mitigate stress and anxiety, and just accept the present moment. The key to the practice is consistency. One doesn’t need to meditation hours each day to experience its benefits. Even 5-20 minutes each morning will start to build on itself and show positive effects within weeks. 

​There are many types of meditation, but most come down to observing/focusing on your breath or thoughts. Many people believe that the point of meditation is to completely clear your thoughts, but this is both incorrect and extremely difficult, and can frustrate the beginner very easily. 

Here are some simple steps to begin your meditation practice:

• Start by either sitting on a chair or lotus position on the ground. Use a pillow or bolster if you aren’t flexible or feel discomfort. Alternatively, lie on the ground. 
• Close your eyes, and just start following your breath. Follow your in-breath. Then follow your out-breath. Try just 2-3 minutes at first, then extend it longer and longer when you begin feeling more comfortable with it. 
• Whenever you notice that your attention is being pulled away by your thoughts, refocus it on your breath. Do this gently. Remember, having thoughts is fine. Picture your mind as a river, and you’re the observer of that river of thoughts, watching each go by. There are no right or wrong thoughts. They are just thoughts, and there’s no need holding on to any of them. Allow them to happen and flow down the river as you watch. 
• If you’d like, introduce a mantra or intention to your meditation such as “Love & Compassion.” Begin by giving yourself love and compassion, then extending that to ever increasing people in your life (example: Love and compassion to myself, love and compassion to my family, love and compassion to my friends, love and compassion to my city, etc), until you’re sending love and compassion to all beings. Incorporate this manta/intention to follow your breathing. 

Meditation is similar to exercise, but for the mind, heart, and soul. Like any exercise, be patient, start slow, be consistent, and slowly build it up. Before you realize it, you’ll experience a multitude of benefits, including increased compassion, acceptance, focus, and a gentler mind. ​

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Written by: Chris Prucnal
​LLY Student