Have you considered getting into meditation but don’t know how to start? Or perhaps you have been experimenting with mediation and want to enhance your practice. This article aims to help both the absolute beginner and the somewhat experienced meditators learn the basics of a traditional form of meditation.
The kind of meditation covered here will be a quiet, unguided form which involves focusing on your own body as well as awareness of your surroundings and thoughts. The instructions given here are loosely based on the Jump Starting your Practice section from The Mind Illuminated by John Yates. Before getting into the instructions, let’s go over the goal and benefits of meditation
Benefits of Meditation Practice
The two major gifts of meditation practice are tranquility and insight. Tranquility is described as calmness and freedom from distraction. After practicing meditation regularly for some time, you might begin to feel this sense of tranquility, not only during your session but in your day to day affairs as well.
Insight is defined as a capacity to gain a deep and accurate understanding of people, events and the world at large. This insight can bring greater understanding of yourself and your role in the world.
The above benefits include a greater ability to focus, enhanced general awareness and reduced stress along with all the health improvements that come with that.
Basic Instructions for Mediation Practice
This guide will provide two sets of instructions for meditation. One set for the preparation of your practice, and the other set is for the session itself.
Preparation Instructions
- Try your best to allocate some time each day for meditation, as the commitment of having a daily practice is encouraged. It is ideal for your practice to be done at the same time each day.
- Set a time duration for your practice and aim to complete each session to the end regardless of how it goes. For beginners it is advised start small with a time of about 1-5 minutes.
- Adopt a mindset of avoiding self-criticism and feelings of frustration. At first you will likely be flooded with thoughts and it is normal to be distracted by them, so have patience with yourself.
- Do your best to find a relaxing area to meditate in with which there are minimal distractions.
Mediation Instructions
- Sit comfortably with your eyes closed on a chair or cushion with a straight back. Have your head, neck and back aligned front-to-back and side-to-side.
- Breathe through your nose as you normally would. Do your best to avoid controlling your breath.
- Direct your attention to the sensations related to your breath. This can be the feeling of your breath coming through your nostrils or the expansion and contraction of your abdomen. This point of directed attention is referred to as the mediation object.
- While focusing on the meditation object, allow your mind to be aware of your surroundings, sensations in your body and the various thoughts that enter your mind.
- When you get distracted by thoughts or by noises in your environment, make the conscious intention to bring your focus back onto the meditation object. Each time you do this, you are incrementally improving your meditation skills and strengthening your ability to focus.
- Continue to repeat steps 1-6 of the meditation instructions until the end of the session.
With these instructions, you are well on your way becoming a skilled meditator. With time you can increase the duration of your sessions and the practice will become more easier and more enjoyable. If you let go of your expectations for the practice, over time you will be pleasantly surprised by the results of regular meditation. Each time you have completed a session, give yourself some credit and acknowledge your diligence and dedication.