Meditation 101: Beginners Tips

“Meditation can help us embrace our worries, our fear, our anger; and that is very healing. We let our own natural capacity of healing do the work”

-Thich Nhat Hanh

The word meditation originates from meditatum, a Latin term that means ‘to ponder.’ Through the practice of meditation, we combat the habit of inattention and disconnection, while we cultivate an inward awareness that benefits every area of life.

In a world constantly calling our attention outward, taking the time to check-in becomes extremely important. And the best part is that meditation offers a broad range of benefits.

Two Reasons Why You Should Do It

1. Promotes Emotional Health

studies have shown that meditation promotes emotional health and improves the health of those suffering from anxiety and depressions.

Other similar studies show that long term or regular practitioners of meditation have more activity in the parts of the brain that have to do with positivity and life optimism.

2. Longevity

Mediation has been identified as a great way to combat and slow the aging process, allowing longtime mediators to not only live longer but feel and look better for as long as they live.

studies have shown mediation can be used as a healthy tool to prevent Alzheimer’s disease and improve the condition of those who have it.

These are just a couple of reasons why meditation is a super beneficial practice and the benefits continue beyond what is seen here. An amazing recourse and website for all things meditation and science is the eocinstitute, which has a wealth of information on the science of it all.

How to do it

The important thing is to let go of the idea that mediation is hard. Meditation is just foreign to most of us because of our distraction orientated society. Consequently, we are afraid to slow down, but slowing down is how we speed up and do life better.

let’s go over a few tips to start!

1.Be easy on yourself

It is important to remember that everyone starts somewhere, and trying to be a master your first few goes is a recipe for irritation.

The best way to start is with a few minutes a day, as small as five, and work your way up to thirty, maybe even an hour. Giving yourself small goals will make it easier for you to make it a regular and consistent habit.

2. Find your spot

For a lot of us, especially if we travel quite a bit this won’t be literal. For the most part, carving out space, and tailoring an environment to your specific meditation practice is the goal.

having space or a room will make it easier to build the habit, and oftentimes motivates you to meditate regularly.

3. Make it your own

Meditation like relaxation is not a one size fits all. There are many different styles that are associated with many different cultures around the world. with all that variety, everyone’s meditation style, and practice, may look considerably different. The room to augment your practice to fit your needs is a valuable component of mediation.

Here are some easy techniques to start!

Walking Meditation

walking meditation is the easiest and can be a great way to ease your way into sitting meditation, or more complicated meditation practices.

Now walking is one of those naturally meditative activities we all do without realizing it. But the key to walking meditation is to really “feel” everything that you’re doing. Focus on: the way the ground feels under your feet, the way the air feels hitting your face, how on your lungs rise and fall with each inhale and exhale

Vippassana Meditation

Vipassana is a meditation that relies on the concentration and focus of breath. Using the breath as an anchor, makes it easier to center yourself regardless of what distractions may arise. Just by focusing on the inhale, and exhale, you can deepen any meditation technique.

vipassana also requires you to notice and feel all other sensations in the body that arise, without judgment or labeling. Vipassana once mastered will prepare you for other meditations that always rely on concentration and focus to some degree.

Mantra Meditations

Mantras are tools of the mind or tools to free the mind. They are words or phrases often in another language that correlate with a goal, chakra, or energy. The versatility of mantras and what they correspond with is what makes mantras a great start.

Performing a mantra mediation is simple enough, the process either requires the active repetition of the chosen phrase or word, or the passive listening of a mantra while you meditate.

Mantras are great tools for focusing the mind for beginners, it offers a concrete and tangible way to focus. Mantras also promise to transform consciousness which is a more esoteric benefit, but a benefit nonetheless.

Go try it!

With all that being said the most important part is to get up, or sit down, and try it for yourself. meditation just might be the thing you’ve been looking for to help you live life on your own terms.