Beginners Guide to Meditation

In the quest to constantly get away from your fast-paced lives, you often forget to look within ourselves. The complexity is not in what you do but what you think. Thoughts are what translates into actions.

Meditation is the ultimate exercise for the mind. While you meditate you’ll realize how active your mind is throughout the day. Once you learn to observe your thoughts and be mindful of them, you can change them.

As a beginner, you can start off with baby steps because meditation within our packed schedules sounds like another thing you don’t normally have time to do.

1. Find your place of serenity:

Look for a place away from the bustle where it’s just you. A place where you can let your thoughts mellow you down. This place will help make the meditation time even if it is a few minutes long, more enjoyable and relaxing. 

2. Keep a relatively light stomach:

A light stomach is essential for your body to relax and focus on your thoughts. I said light and not empty because if you’re hungry, your focus will be on food and how hungry you are.

3. Be aware of your thoughts:

You need to consciously be aware when your mind is going astray. The objective is to calm your thoughts. A person adept at meditation knows when his/her thoughts need to be focused for it to avoid going haywire.

4. Establish a routine:

Our body has an internal clock which helps us wake up sometimes around the same time every morning even when the alarm is not set (Unless you’re working or partying late nights). Maintaining a routine will help you get into the meditating state more easily and turn meditation into a consistent, regular exercise.

5. Choosing a posture:

A comfortable posture accentuates your meditative experience. The idea is to keep your neck, shoulders in a relaxed state. If you are not able to maintain standard poses like vajrasana or lotus/half lotus poses, then it’s best to decide on a pose that is most comfortable for you.

6. Start with 4-5 minutes:

When sitting and meditating, 4-5 minutes can seem like a long time. Start with a short duration and increase it steadily after every few days of regular meditation.

Meditating keeps you energized and relaxed throughout the day, unlike resting which provides momentary rejuvenation. There are many aspects in life which are out of our control and we realize this even more as our experiences diversify with age. But the mind is one of the critical things we should have control over in order to live the so-called happy lives which is more of a rarity these days.