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In this article, we will cover the top 3 meditation tips for beginners. When you first start to learn meditation, you may feel overwhelmed with all the many instructions for meditation online: clear and calm your monkey mind, focus on your breathing, keep your back straight at all times. In reality, practicing meditation shouldn’t be so stressful.
We live in a busy world. We are always on the go, spending our day multitasking and trying to get it all done. In today’s busy digital world, we are constantly distracted much more than we know which keeps our attention off the present moment. Practicing these meditation tips for beginners really means purposely focusing your attention on the present moment. Then you can learn more advanced techniques and methods of meditation.
3 Essential Meditation Tips For Beginners You Can Use Today
You may have heard of a Zen concept called beginner’s mind. It’s one way of describing the way we feel, and the rapid progress we make when we take up a new activity that we’re excited about.
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You can cultivate that mindset so that it becomes a lasting part of your meditation practice or any endeavor. Consider these 3 meditation tips for beginners that will help you delight in learning more about yourself and what brings you peace and joy.
1 Of 3 Meditation Tips For Beginners: Being Enthusiastic
The first time you bake sourdough bread or bike to work, you may be enthralled by the whole experience. Once you master that task, it can become a habit that doesn’t require much thought at all.
See how to hold onto your initial zeal for meditation:
1. Remember your purpose. Think about the real reason as to why you’re wanting to learn meditation. Maybe you’re interested in mental and physical health benefits. Maybe it’s an important part of your faith.
2. Dedicate your efforts. Imagine you can use the positive thoughts and affirmations you have learned while meditating to contribute to the welfare of the planet and extend that to other creatures. Those kind intentions will pay off in good karma.
3. Stay on track. When your meditating session ends, you are really just beginning by holding that positive and relaxed feeling of awareness and compassion you just generated, and caring that into your daily life and the life of others you meet and work with. You will feel much more relaxed and energized at the same time throughout your day.
2 Of 3 Meditation Tips For Beginners:
Getting Down to Meditation Basics
Maybe the basic meditation tips for beginners sound like stuff you already know. In reality, learning how to meditate properly builds a strong foundational knowledge that helps you to quiet your mind and stick to a regular daily meditation schedule. Meanwhile, keeping that foundation firm requires periodic maintenance.
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1. Sit up straight. Find a comfortable sitting position. You may choose the floor, a cushion, or a chair. Drawback your shoulders and lift your chest.
2. Breathe deeply. Focus on the air entering and exiting your nostrils. You may want to count along with each inhalation and exhalation.
4. Scan your body and mind. Bring your attention to the bottom of your feet and scan your entire body all the way up to your head, checking for any feelings of tension in your muscles or soreness that you may have not noticed before. Imagine your breathing is warming your body and beginning to heal any trouble spots you may have not noticed until now. Let your usual thoughts and concerns drift away.
5. Check in occasionally. You may notice after doing this a while, it becomes more and more automatic for you. Use this awareness to move into a deeper and deeper meditation as your mind is no longer concerned with the day to day habitual worries. Maybe you’re ready to learn how to sit comfortably in half or full lotus during your meditation session.
3 Of 3 Meditation Tips For Beginners: Managing Expectations
Each meditation session is different. Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been sitting for years, you may be surprised by what happens.
Be flexible. You will notice over time that your practice will be better some days than others, and that’s ok. If you’ve been up all night with a sick child or a tight deadline at work, try a shorter session. If you’re anxious about a job interview or an argument with your partner, do a walking meditation that will help you settle down.
Adjust your focus. Different approaches are needed depending on whether you feel sluggish or your thoughts are racing. Quick breathing can wake you up while gazing at a fixed point can calm you down.
Accept what comes. Be prepared for days when insights come easily, and other days when your mind wanders in circles. As long as you meditate consistently, you will move forward.
How Meditation Can Improve Your Health
The most common image of meditation is one of a monk in a religious experience. However, meditation is actually a practice that anyone can do to improve mental function and overall health.
Meditation has been proven to reduce stress levels and it can even help with conditions such as high blood pressure. Once you’ve become more calm and peaceful through meditation, your life will open up to more opportunities and you’ll find it easier to make healthy choices.
What Exactly Is Meditation?
Meditation is a way of clearing the mind. Once you’ve gotten into a habit of meditating often, you’ll discover that it’s easier than you think.
Some people sit in a cross-legged position when they meditate, but this isn’t mandatory. Another sitting position might be more comfortable for you, but the key is to maintain a good posture. If you slouch, you’re more likely to get tired and feel like falling asleep.
To get started, find a quiet place and get comfortable. Then start taking deep breaths in and out. Pay attention to your breath. You might find it helpful to say a “mantra” to yourself as you breathe in and out. Your goal is to keep your mind clear of thoughts.
Thoughts are inevitable though. The best way to eliminate them is to recognize that you’ve had a thought and then focus on your breathing and clearing your mind again. This will get easier with frequent practice.
Meditation Tips For Beginners: Stress-Free
When you focus on breathing and clearing your mind, you’re actually centered on the present moment. On the other hand, stress arises when you think about something in the past or future.
Since you have little stress when you have a clear mind in the present moment, you exude calmness. When you practice this often, you can bring a calm, stress-free demeanor to your everyday life.
Meditation Tips For Beginners: Stress And The Body
When you feel stressed, you put your body into overdrive. When it’s overworked, it’s more open to various diseases and disorders. Stress exists for a reason; you need to have the hormonal adrenalin rush and increased breathing and heart rate in order to escape threatening situations. It’s simply how you’re able to handle threats.
By always having your mind on past or future stressors, you keep your mind and body in a stressful state even when you aren’t enduring a stressful situation in the present. This is exactly why it’s important to give your body a much-needed break from all the stress. When you learn to meditate often, you’re giving your body the energy and rest it needs to stave off exhaustion and disease.
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Meditation Tips For Beginners: Improving Your Health
The absence of overwhelming stress improves your health in many ways. You’ll likely enjoy lower blood pressure and a strengthened immune system. Stress can also lead to mental disorders, so when you strive to be stress-free, you’ll keep anxiety and depression away as well.
When you meditate, you place your body in a kind of sleep state. You’re still awake, but your body can begin to repair itself in the same way that it does when you sleep. If you meditate in the morning or at night, you can help yourself transition from sleeping to wakefulness and vice versa.
Meditation is the ultimate exercise for a healthy mind and body. You’ll feel refreshed and rejuvenated once you’ve given it a try. Who knew that “just sitting” could be so helpful!
Using these meditation tips for beginners can enrich your meditation practice and any of your daily activities. Stay open to the possibilities that surround you. Greet each day like a new start, and enjoy more happiness and fulfillment.
