New to meditation? Here are some tips to get you going.
1) Early morning is the optimum time to meditate. Set aside a specific quiet time (preferably twice a day).
2) Don’t stress! If you start to feel frustrated, really focus on your breath and let that tension go, otherwise you’re defeating your purpose.
3) Make sure you won’t be disturbed and choose a room or space that’s not used for work, exercise, or sleep.
4) Place a candle in the room to help you focus — this allows you to strengthen your attention with a visual cue, and can be very powerful. Meditating with eyes closed can be challenging for a beginner.
5) Stretching is great. Then, sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Stretching starts the process of “going inward” and brings added attention to the body.
6) Meditation is an ACTIVE process, so do it with purpose.
7) Breathe deeply — this focuses the mind, slows the heart rate, and relaxes the muscles.
8) Feel every part of your body relax; when a meditative state starts to take hold, be aware of your body. Once your mind quiets, put all your attention to the feet and then slowly move your way up (include your internal organs). Now you’re on the right path.
9) Meditation is meant to be a life-long practice, and experts say you’ll benefit most by NOT examining the results of your daily practice. Just do the best you can and then let it go!
10) To extend the benefits of meditation, keep it real. Remind yourself to “be present” (find your breath) each day. This will help you generate moments of awareness, so your meditation habits can evolve.
11) Notice when your interest begins to wane, but don’t stop, just keep at it. Losing the ability to focus on meditation may correlate with lack of focus in other areas of your life.
