Meditate l How To Meditate As A Beginner l An Easy Guide
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A Beginner’s Guide: How Do I Meditate?

I am glad you are interested in incorporating meditation into your life as I believe it is one of the best decisions you can make regardless of your religious affiliation. That being said, there are many types of meditation that produce various types of results or outcomes. So number one, I would determine what you desire to gain from meditation. Is it peace of mind? Overcome negative thoughts? Draw closer to God? Even if I prescribed the same type of meditation for each of these, having an intention for your meditation is very important. In this way, you will know what you want to receive from meditation and over time, if you accomplished it.

Secondly, this will seem a little contrary to the first question, but I would tell you not to judge your meditation, meaning, don’t be in a big hurry to see results or stop too soon. Meditation is a process that is accumulative and works over time, just like taking your vitamins. Therefore, please commit to at least 8-weeks of regular practice before you start to evaluate if it’s working for you. You can’t expect to meditate once a week and see any real results.

Third, I believe it is good to take a course, join a group, or at least get a book (or ebook) on meditation instruction, techniques, and/or fundamentals. This will help you to avoid some of the pitfall that can happen as you begin to meditate. For example, what would you do if you encounter fear or negative emotions during or after meditation. Many people think that just sitting quietly and focusing on your breath is meditating and although this may be an aspect of meditation, depending on the method you choose, there is much more to it. Knowing the fundamentals will assist you in getting the best results as well as helping you feel confident and knowing that you are meditating correctly.

Here are the basics of a simple meditation practice:

  1. Find a quiet location.
  2. Sit in a comfortable position. Close your eyes.
  3. Focus on your breath (your anchor).
  4. Whenever you catch your mind wandering, bring your attention back to your breath, or if doing a mindfulness meditation, just watch any thought or sensations that arise without attaching to them. Just notice them and let them dissolve or disappear.
  5. Start at 5 minutes and then increase up to 20 minutes each time.
  6. Repeat once or twice a day.

Also, another alternative I would recommend is to meditate using a guided meditation. During a guided meditation you just follow the narration and it takes all the guesswork out of it. Also, it may be easier to keep your mind from wandering so much, when doing guided meditations. This is helpful to reduce meditation frustration.

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