A Beginner's Guide To Meditation

I’m not usually a New Year’s resolution type of person, but this year, I swore to myself that I would meditate every single day for the entirety of 2023. I failed within a week, but I’m still on a grind to meditate as much as possible this year. 

When practiced reguarly, meditation has oodles of benefits. It can improve mindfullness, boost focus, help you manage your emotions, and help you gain a better perspective on life all-round, just to name a few.

so how do you meditate?

There really is no right or wrong way to meditate. Different meditation techniques work for different people. So like many things, it’s about finding what works for you. For me personally, focusing on my breathing and counting each breath cycle up to ten is what I find most effective. Other people might prefer visualisation methods, which involve picturing things in your mind, such as a ray of sunshine warming your skin. I struggle big time with anything that involves visualisation, but that’s fine, because breath focus works really well for me.

It's also important to remember that meditation is a practice. You can’t expect your mind not to wonder while you’re first learning to meditate. In fact, it can be a really good thing. When your mind wonders, you’ll have the opportunity to notice your thoughts and separate them from reality, which is exactly what mindfulness is. 

While meditating, it’s natural to have thoughts come and go about anything and everything. From relationships, to wondering what’s for dinner, or even just noticing an itch on your leg. Having these thoughts is absolutely fine, but it’s important to recognise when you have them, so you aren’t pulled away by it. 

There are a few different techniques to help with this process. The most simple is to imagine that you are lying down and looking at the sky. The sky is clear and blue, but each time you have a thought, a small cloud appears and you watch it pass through the sky from left to right, noticing it, but not spending time focusing on it. 

Another similar technique is to imagine you’re sitting by a road, and each thought you have passes by as though it is a car driving past. Or, my personal favourite: you’re standing in an empty field, and every time a thought comes into your mind, it passes by you like a cool breeze.

step-by-step guide to meditation

Now that you have a bit of background info, here’s a step by step guide to a meditation that’s perfect if you’re just starting out.

1. Find a comfortable chair or surface you can sit upright in.
2. Position yourself so that your back is straight and your body is comfortable. 
3. With your eyes open, look straight ahead, but don’t stare at anything in particular. This is something called soft focus. 
4. Take three deep breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth.
5. When you’re ready, close your eyes.
6. Take three more deep breaths, then allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm.
7. Start to notice the sensation of your body pressed against the chair, and your feet against the ground. 
8. Take note of the feelings that come with each breath: the cold air entering your nose, and your chest expanding as you breathe in, then your chest deflating and the warm air leaving your mouth as your breath out.
9. Begin counting each breath cycle. So every time you exhale, add one to your tally. Count up to five exhales, then start counting again from zero. 
10. Every time you notice your mind has wandered, note to yourself that you had a thought, then go back to focusing on counting. 
11. After counting up to five breath cycles five times, start to become aware of the room around you again, without opening your eyes. Feel the seat beneath you, the sensation of your feet on the ground, and start to notice the sounds around you.
12. Finally, when you’re ready, open your eyes and take a moment to notice how you feel after taking a moment to meditate. 

This is only a sample meditation, and I’d recommend trying a bunch of different meditation techniques to find one that works really well for you. Even if you liked that one, there could be another method that you absoultely love. 

If you’re keen to make meditation a regular thing, there are so many apps and youtube videos you can check out to find different meditations and mindfulness excercises. Give it a few weeks, and you’ll be feeling like a brand new version of yourself.