Meditation For Beginners – Achieve A Monk-Like Meditation!
Here is a step by step process on a type of meditation that will leave you feeling refreshed and ready for the day!
1. Finding your silent space.
Find a way to make white noise to block out the noises around you. If you have access to a white noise machine or fan, turn that on to provide a constant noise to block what is going on around you.
If that is not available, go to SimplyNoise to play a white noise loop or download a file. If you would rather have an application, download Noisy for Macintosh.
If you don’t have access to the internet, look around your house for noise canceling headphones, earplugs, or a towel to wrap around your head. If necessary, even plug your ears like a little kid. Anything to get peace and quiet for meditation.
2. Sitting yourself down
Figure out the position you want to be for meditation. Some people like lying down, others like sitting on a chair. If you are lying down, DO NOT lie on your bed. I did that once and fell asleep for two hours. Lie on carpet or hard ground to ensure that you are relaxed or awake. If you are sitting up, you don’t need to be in the lotus position. Just find somewhere where you can sit up with your back straight.
3. Setting the time for meditation
Now you need a way to time yourself. You could meditate for just as long as you wanted, but I’ve found that setting a time limit for meditation is helpful. Go find a kitchen timer, oven timer, egg timer, watch timer, cell phone timer, or iPod timer. If none of those are available, you can go to Online Stopwatch and use their fullscreen countdown timer.
If this is your first time meditating, set it for a short time – 3-5 minutes works well. If you are more advanced, you can do more time.
4. Starting the meditation
Set your timer for however long you want to meditate. Now the meditation will start! Start the meditation by taking a deep and full breath. Pretend like you are about to dive off a boat into the ocean, to go searching on the sea-floor for pearls. That is the kind of big breath that you want. Feel like you can’t breathe in any more and that you are about to burst. Take it in nice and slowly, and exhale out slowly.
What I have found helps is breathing out of my nose for meditation. To do this, cover one nostril. So, for example, breathe in slowly through your right nostril for 3 to 5 seconds. Hold that breath for a couple of seconds. Then cover your right nostril and breathe slowly out of your left nostril. Keep doing this alternating pattern for the duration of your meditation. This controlled breathing will help you relax.
5. What to think about
Most people don’t really understand meditation. They say “unless your mind is completely clear, you fail”. That is very difficult in ANY stage of meditation . Thoughts will come into your consciousness. I have found two effective ways of dealing with these thoughts.
6. Dealing with thoughts in your meditation
Whenever a thought comes up, you can say in your mind “Look, thought. I know you want to be important. Maybe you are really important! But right now, I am focusing on being calm. If you are really all that important, you can come back later, after I am done meditating.”
Another method I use is to let go of the thoughts. I think of each thought as a cloud, and when it comes to me, I don’t get caught up in the thinking. Instead of letting the story play out in my head, I take the thought, imagine it is a cloud, and let it float away.
Now you know some basics of meditation! It really isn’t that hard. Just make sure that you schedule a time during your day to do this meditation. I find that earlier in the day, after I have showered, when I am still fairly calm (and tired) is the best time to do this. If you want to expand on your meditation time, you can meditate right after getting up, and then right before you go to bed to relax you.
Good luck with your meditation! I find meditation to be fulfilling and give me lots of energy and focus during my day. Hopefully this tutorial will give you some guidance!
About the Author
I have been interested in meditation for many years. I like to feel calm and relaxed as much as I can, and I love to share my information on the topic of meditation and Relaxation Techniques. To learn more for ideas on relaxation and meditation, visit my page about letting go of anxiety.
meditation with talah rama (for the DS)
