How to Start a Meditation Practice

Honestly daily meditation is new for me. Sure I have tried it in the past, off and on. Start for a week, suck at it, get bored, move on. Maybe you’ve experienced that before.

OR

Maybe you meditated for awhile, but thought it was supposed to end in bliss. Maybe you are like me and thought meditation was supposed to make you feel like you were levitating, help you talk to dead people or God, or that you were supposed to have some profound experience certain others have mentioned having. Yep, nope. That has never happened to me and it’s honestly not what mediation is about.

We are mostly just looking to spend some time relaxing, in stillness. It doesn’t mean you will or won’t have a profound life changing out-of-this-world experience. BUT we can reap the benefits.

The benefits of meditation are profound. Don’t believe me? This article posts 12 Science Based Evidence that Meditation helps with links to the scientific studies! https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/12-benefits-of-meditation
-Stress reduction
-Anxiety control
-Changes our self-image and outlook on life
-Increases self-awareness
-Lengthens attention span
-Reduces memory loss
-Generates kindness
-Helps fight addiction
-Improves sleep
-Controls pain
-Decreases blood pressure

So how do you get into a habit or routine of meditation when you are clearly so terrible at it?

HOW TO START MEDITATING TODAY

1. Start simple. That will help you make it a lasting habit you can fit into any day that life might throw at you.
2. Begin meditating at the same time of day to create a habit. A time you are almost always available with no interruption. For me, this is in the morning.
3. Begin meditating for just a few minutes at a time. 3-5 minutes is a good starting point. Once you have that down, increase the time to 10 min and so on. You don’t have to a be a marathon meditator for it to be effective.
4. Sit in a comfortable position. Comfort is key. For me, my mid back used to ache and that was the only thing I could concentrate on—goodbye peaceful meditation. Start by using a wall for your spinal support or sit on a cushion if that eases the hips. If you can keep yourself from falling asleep, lie down in a comfortable position. It is important you meditate in good posture, not in your natural slouchy posture.
5. Start by using Headspace or Insight Timer or other apps for short meditations. I find beginning with guided meditations are the easiest. Especially if you can’t seem to rally your thoughts into a corner of your brain.
6. Most of us think meditation means shutting off the brain. Clearing space of all thoughts. This is why I struggled with meditation for years. In reality, we may be learning to eventually do that, but lets be real. When we are a real person with real problems and not a monk somewhere just being a monk… this is not an easy task. Don’t worry about quieting the thoughts.

Instead I have some tricks for when I meditate in silence without a guided meditation.

MEDITATION IDEAS TO PRACTICE

• Follow your breath in and out of your nose. Ride the wave of your breath as it goes into your sinus and down into the lungs. Watch the lungs inflate and deflate with each breath. Whenever a thought creeps in, acknowledge it and set it aside. Maybe imagine you are putting it away in a drawer for safe keeping, closing down a computer tab by clicking that little x, watching your thought as a cloud in a blue sky and imagine it whisking away in the wind, or place your thought in a balloon and exhale letting go of the string, watch the thought get smaller and smaller. These are all super tricks to accepting we are going to think, it’s the brain doing its job, but we can TRAIN the brain to become more quiet. Eventually you’ll see it gets easier.
• Mantra or affirmations Maybe you have a favorite mantra or affirmation. I sometimes use “I am.” (Breath in) I (Breath out) Am. Or I go back to Sa Ta Na Ma (search for this in a previous post). Or the Ho’oponopono prayer: Thank you, I love you, I’m sorry, forgive me.
• Count your breath. Breath in for four and out for a count of four. Keeps the mind busy, but not on thoughts.
• Concentrate on a single point with your eyes open or candle flame.
  
  That’s it! Give it a try. See what works for you. Sometimes trial and error will get you where you are trying to go. I think the benefits are worth the effort!