How to Meditate for Beginners

Let's start with some disclosure. There are many, many, many ways to meditate. I'll cover three primary ones that are especially good for beginners here, but this is just barely the tip of the iceberg. It is just to get you started.

Now for some clarification: There are meditation techniques, and meditative activites. For example, focusing on your breathe is a meditation practice. Running is a meditative activity. Washing floors can be meditative, too. Anything that kind of puts you "in the zone" can be meditative, but it is not necessarily a meditation technique. The core difference, I guess, is that with a meditation technique, your primary activity is the meditating. In in meditative activity, your primary activity is whatever the activity is (running, washing floors), and the activity brings to into a state of quiet.

That's all a bit of splitting hairs, but I think it helps to make meditation feel a little more familiar. We've all had those beautiful moments of life when we stop worrying about the future or rehashing the past. We become so engaged with the present moment that we forget everything else, and engage with it through all our senses. That kind of presence is the goal of meditation. To be at peace there requires generous helpings of acceptance about how things are at that very moment. It is the simplest, quietest little thing, this meditation, but there's a reason why some consider it a path to enlightenment.

Scared off yet? I hope not. Enlightenment can be a little intimidating. Fortunately, that's not what we're after here. This meditation we're talking about here is not a big deal. No big spiritual experiences are required. What we're aiming for is to find the still point. To be fully present in the moment... for just a few moments. That's all it is. No big deal.

So... how to get there?

The way to get to the still point is actually to find a meditation technique that works for you. Some people say there are right and wrong ways of meditating, but I lean more towards the idea that there are more and less effective ways of meditating, or effective ways of getting to the still point. However, as a beginner, you need some basic ABCs of meditation to get you started. So here are three basic meditation techniques: breathe meditation, listening meditation, and walking meditation.

Breathe Meditation

Sit in a quiet place. Have your feet flat on the foot and sit up straight. Put your hands in your lap, or put them flat on your thighs. Your eyes can be closed or open -- most people prefer them closed at first. Breathe in and out. Notice how you hold the breathes, and how you let them go. Imagine letting your breathe go out into a huge space -- like the Grand Canyon and disappearing into all the air. Try not to control your breathe (try... ), just watch it. You can just focus on your breathe and stay focused, or you can count from one to ten, with each inhale being the mark to count from.

When thoughts come up, whether they are painful or exciting or whatever, don't label them bad. Just think "thinking", which labels them just what they are, and then go back to your breathe. Be precise with your focus, but not rigid. You are doing this to be kind to yourself, not to be a disciplinarian.

Continue to Listening Meditation.

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