Beginners guide to meditation
If you are someone who has never meditated before and or has always wanted to know how to meditate or you want to simply relax the mind and want to know more on how to relax the mind from stress and anxiety through meditation here is a beginners guide to meditation for you.
First of all there are multitudes of meditation techniques out there to choose from and how do you know which one suits you best? Simple try and buy, the best option is to try different meditation techniques, see which one is right for you, also you can choose the type of meditation as per your goal, for example if you are having troubles sleeping you could try sleep meditation or if you want to relax the mind from stress you could try sound healing meditation. Meditation is like reaching a destination, this destination can be calmness, clarity, healing, forgiving, grace. It can be anything you want to imbibe in life and the path you take can be different however the most important is the journey that is the process of meditation.
How to meditate can be very individualistic.
Some may like a silent meditation, which is quieter in nature and there is more observation involved, like the mindfulness meditation, in this one simply observes their senses. To practice this meditation, one should find a silent and peaceful place. You can also choose to sit on a chair or a stool with your feet on the floor or sit on a cushion, sit in a comfortable position making sure your spine is erect. Once you have found your ground, close your eyes and start focusing on the breath, noticing each and every breath. You can also choose to slow down your breath. Notice every aspect of breathing, observing the cool inhalation and the warm exhalation, noticing the rise and fall of the chest, breathing in calmness and breathing out relaxation.
Every breath is an opportunity to heal, to relax and to calm our body and mind. You continue this for as long as you like and then you can move on to another sense like the sense of hearing. You start focusing on the sounds in the environment, instead of getting distracted, let that become an anchor or a point of focus, you can keep identifying different sounds and move on to the next one, let sounds in your environment become more prevalent, notice the minutest sounds and then move on to the next, keep observing for a couple of minutes and then move on to the next sense.
Similarly, you can practice mindfulness of touch and taste in different ways. For example, walking without footwear on the grass in a garden or on the sand on a beach. Do this mindfully, noticing every sensation you feel on the soul, notice every touch of the surface on your feet, this is called mindful walking.
You can also practice mindfulness while eating. When you sit to eat your meal, keep all distractions like phone/TV away, do not speak at this time, eat with your hand and as you take a morsel of food in your hand notice the texture of the food, as you bring the food close to your mouth, smell and take in all the aroma, then as the morsel is placed in the mouth, notice the burst of flavours, and chew the food slowly and mindfully until its liquid, enjoying every bite and then gulp the food, practice this with every morsel.
These basic forms are very easy to practice and one doesn't need to worry about how to meditate, it's a simple observation which all of us are capable of. If this is too tedious and you tend to get lost without guidance, go for any guided meditation available to you based on your goal.
Now, what is guided meditation? It's basically a person guiding you with his or her voice into a meditation technique. These guided meditations are available online on multiple platforms. We at SARVA also offer many goal-based guided meditations on our app, do check them out.
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If you are not into a passive form of meditation like the above ones, you can choose a more active way like mantra meditation, where you are chanting a mantra based on your goal and you focus on the vibration, the sound and the energy of the mantra while chanting it, you can also play the mantra on a speaker and sing along. This is a very effective way of meditation as your focus is completely on chanting the mantra and the chanting in itself will help your mind and body to realign with universal energies.
How do you meditate at home? I always suggest making a corner of the house into a meditation zone, keep that place clean, and you can decorate it with a few cushions, some scented candles and some plants to make this place feel welcoming and warm. Then choose any meditation of your choice and try to meditate at the same time of the day daily at this spot and the spot can be used by all members of the house.
How do you start meditating? DIN DIN DIN (Do It Now)!
As my Guruji used to say, there is no better time than today and no better moment than now so just do it! And if you want to set this into your routine, you can do so by scheduling it right before or after a daily routine which you do without fail like taking bath, brushing your teeth or eating.
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The key here is to practice, and it might be trial and error, also some days meditation may make you feel super energised and some days it might not strike the chord, but the point is to keep practising.