Simple Meditation
This page is all about how to practice meditation naturally using traditional methods. Meditation has been practiced for millennia around the world, in many different traditions and cultures. As a result, there are thousands of different meditation techniques, which include sitting or standing still, walking, moving or dancing, being quiet, making sounds, listening to sounds, staring at an object, having eyes closed, repeatedly thinking certain words, not thinking, visualising, etc.
As you can see there are a lot of different ways to meditate that you can choose from and some will work better for you than others. Finding a meditation practice that works for you may involve exploring and trying a few different methods. Having said that, you should be aware that meditation is not necessarily going to be easy at first, because you are going to be attempting to keep your untrained mind focussed on one thing for an extended period of time, for most meditations.
Our minds are more practiced at flitting all over the place, as you will no doubt discover when you first attempt to meditate. Don’t worry though, that is just how it tends to be for most of us. So when you do try any new meditation technique, do practice it for a while before giving up and moving on to the next one. When you find techniques that really work for you practice them regularly and keep going deeper.
So there are many different ways to meditate yet they all have some fundamental similarities. Primarily, meditation will require you to become fully present in the here and now. In normal life our minds are generally wandering between the past and the future – what happened in the past, how it could have been different or what might happen in the future. Between the reminiscing and the planning we often miss the fullness of the present moment & therefore, miss much of our lives.
Start with simple techniques
Perhaps the simplest technique is just watching your breath and I would encourage you to explore this as your basic technique because you can generally always come back to this practice in any meditation and whatever you are doing. (Well actually, that is not strictly true, as was pointed out to me by a professional free diver who was in a meditation class that I was teaching – however for most other activities, habits and professions, it is normally easy to have moments where you can become fully aware of how your body is breathing). Further down this pageare a set of basic, simple meditation practices that you can try.
Learning Meditation and Practicing with others
You can learn a lot about meditation just by practicing and exploring on your own, however, it can be really helpful to learn with teachers too. An experienced teacher can often help you to get through blocks or challenges that you might be having with your meditation. They can also teach you, perhaps more clearly, how to meditate with specific meditation techniques. Weekly classes can be helpful at some points or if you have the time and ability to go on extended meditation retreats, these can be really useful. There is also great value in meditating with other people at the same time. For some reason, it seems to be easier to drop into a deep meditative state more quickly when you are meditating with other people.
Good Practices And Tips
Meditation can be practiced at any time of the day or night. However, first thing or last thing before sleeping, are particularly useful times to practice it. It is always useful to practice meditations regularly, as this will allow you to keep going deeper and find greater inner peace. Try to practice somewhere you will not be disturbed, where it is quiet and there are as few distractions as possible. Over time you will find that it becomes easier to practice the meditation whilst more things are going on around you. If you are sitting to do this meditation then try to sit with a straight back as long as it does not cause strain in your body.
The First 10 Minutes Trick.
Whatever you focus your mind on when you first wake up will condition your unconscious mind for the rest of the day. Hence the expression “getting out of the wrong side of the bed in the morning” which relates to someone carrying challenging emotions into their day because of how they were when they woke up. Instead of being subject to the impact of our unplanned and random morning thoughts we can consciously choose thoughts that are beneficial and positive, that our unconscious mind can remind us of throughout the day. To this end, doing a meditation first thing when you wake up can be immensely useful.
Challenges And Hindrances
Our minds are untrained and as such they tend to be constantly wandering. Primarily our thoughts drift to the future or to the past but they also get distracted by our senses (sights, sounds, smells, sensations), by cravings and random desires, as well as restlessness, tiredness and negativity. Rarely do our minds rest in this present moment and all that is happening here. Meditation is the practice of being fully in this present moment.
The “Key Moments”
Generally guided meditations can be easier to stay with and follow. However, if your mind gets distracted and wanders off to some other set of thoughts and experiences you will at some point recognize this. This is the “key moment”. At this point just gently bring your thoughts back to the words of the meditation. Every time that you bring your distracted thoughts back you are strengthening a new neural pathway in your brain that will make the process of being aware of your mind’s wanderings and to being able to re-focus it, much easier. Meditation is a learning process and a practice. The heart meditation should make this practice easy and joyful.
Warning
It should go without saying but just in case, I am going to say it anyway. Never practice any form of meditation when driving, operating heavy equipment or when involved in any other activity that requires you to pay full attention to do it totally safely.
The Simple Breath Meditation
Bring your awareness to your breath. Focus on a precise area of your breath such as your nostrils or the movement of your abdomen. Now just become the observer of your breath as it is in the moment (avoid changing your breathing). Listen to your breath. Feel your breath. Imagine the movement of your breath in your mind’s eye. Pay attention to whether it is deep or shallow, fast or slow. Notice any pauses between your breaths. Be aware if your breathing changes at all.Any time that your mind gets distracted, just gently turn your attention back in the moment that you become aware that it has wandered.
This is best done in a quiet environment that is free from distractions. It can also be done anywhere at anytime, as a way of coming back to your center.
A Quality Meditation
Turn off the ringer on your phones and eliminate any interruptions. Set a gentle-sounding alarm to go off in ten minutes. Choose a word you’d like to focus on and keep using this same word each time you meditate.This word should be a positive quality or attribute that you would like to experience more in your normal life. An example of this might be to use the word “Peace”. Close your eyes and imagine turning your energy and attention inward. Breathe, relax, and keep bringing your attention back to the present moment by focusing on your word. You might repeat it to yourself, see it before you, or imagine writing it in the air. Keep doing this until the alarm goes off. Return to your word each time you get distracted and to stay focussed until the alarm sounds.