What is Meditation and How Do I Learn?
There’s a good chance you have heard about meditation. Over the past several years, meditation has grown in popularity and has become a practice which our Western society has learned to embrace. From business individuals seeking to attract more abundance to college students seeking to relax and unwind, meditation is trickling into our modern-day lives. However, just because you have heard of it doesn’t always mean you understand it.
What is Meditation?
Meditation is a Buddhist practice with the means to transform your mind. Now, this isn’t any form of brainwashing or a mind control technique we are talking about. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Meditation practices rooted in Buddhism act as tools which support and deepen our concentration, clarity, emotional processing and provide us with a calm and positive outlook into the true nature of ourselves as well as the world we are living in.
You may be wondering, “Do I have to be a Buddhist to practice meditation?” The answer is, “no”. In the Buddhist tradition, countless meditation practices have been established which allow the individual to deepen their experience through a consistent approach to calming the mind. However, using one of them is not required. To develop your practice of ‘mind-training’ we will need to cover the basics.
How Do I Learn How to Meditate?
To achieve a successful and proper meditation practice there are several essential tips we must address.
1.The Focal Point
What generally fuels a meditation practice is having an area of focus to activate a greater amount of awareness. Some forms of meditation include focusing on your nostrils as you inhale and exhale; some on your lungs, as they expand and contract; some focus on moving their awareness through the energy centers located along your vertebrae;some choose a mantra, word or phrase spoken repeatedly, to use in their practice. Whatever you choose, this is the driving force that will pull you out of your conditioned mind and into one of presence and mindfulness.
2. The Environment
When first starting a meditation practice, it’s rather important to dedicate this time in a space that is nourishing and supportive of our efforts. Finding a quiet location is ideal; one with plenty of space for you to be comfortable and undisturbed. What is most important about this aspect is your comfortability. If you want to sit cross-legged on the floor, you can. If you want to sit on a chair or a couch, you can. If you want to lie down, and know you won’t fall asleep, you absolutely can.
Most individuals do not recommend lying down because it does make it easier to doze off, however it can be done, especially if sitting for long periods is uncomfortable for you. The goal in the sitting is to be as upright as possible without experiencing any pain or irritation—creating a supportive internal environment for your meditation.
3. Breathing
The consistent variable in all meditation practices is the heightened focus on our breath. Before starting a meditation, it can be calming and purifying to take some “enhanced” breaths to reign in our focus. Start by inhaling for five seconds and exhaling for five seconds, repeating this process a handful of times. This exercise will calm your nervous system and begin to tune ourselves into the subtleties of our bodies that we ignore on a day to day basis. After completing these breaths, return to a regular pace of breathing but maintain the awareness on each inhale and exhale.
4. Unifying our Awareness with our Breath
Now is the time when we walk the walk of meditation. Your chosen point of awareness will come together with the mindfulness you already created with your breath. The two of them do not have to synchronize, although many people prefer for them to. It’s important that whatever your practice surrounds—love, a mantra, moving the chi through your chakras—it remains gentle and calm. Meditation does not need to be forceful. This practice is about you; about deepening your presence and finding your source of peace within.
5. Release Judgment and Embrace Acceptance
Many meditation teachers will promote the emptying of one’s mind and eliminating all thoughts in their practices. Although these two ideals stem from good intentions and dedication to finding inner stillness, they can also create a lot of stress and judgment when they don’t occur. The purpose of meditation is to become aware of the inner workings that we generally don’t acknowledge, and in that process, there is going to be a point where there is a lot to be aware of.
Our minds wander, it’s a part of human nature, but because this happens during meditation does not mean you are failing. When thoughts pop up or perhaps you begin to drift away from your practice—embrace it. Your awareness will eventually register that you have become distracted and when it does you may simply return to your focal point and breathing. The process of drifting away and returning back to a present state is a vital piece in the art of meditation.
6. Timing
Everyone has a different opinion on the amount of time you need to commit to having a proper experience of meditation, so let’s just throw out any expectations about the length of your practice. Research does show that daily meditation improves mental, emotional and even physical health, but that’s not always realistic or easy to implement into our heavily scheduled lives.
A recommended, and a rather undaunting approach to creating time for meditation is transforming our daily activities into moments of active awareness. Through this principle, you may not always be in quiet and calm environments but it brings about a deepening of mindfulness through activities that we usually write off. This can look like mindful breathing when brushing your teeth, driving home from work, going grocery shopping, going for a walk, or before getting out of bed—the possibilities are endless! By doing this we welcome more opportunities for awareness that may support and strengthen our meditation practice.
Discover Inner Peace
Despite being an ancient mind-training practice, meditation isn’t as difficult as some chalk it up to be. The technique of finding peace and stillness in our active lives can still prove to be challenging, but as I like to think of it, it’s a fun obstacle to overcome.
The six tips expressed above are tools for establishing a meditation practice that is tailored just for you, and won’t turn you into a Buddhist monk—but if that’s what you want then that’s okay too. More than a practice, meditation is an art form suitable for everyone to engage in at any point in their lives. Are you ready to find your inner stillness?