The Beginners Guide To Meditation

Meditation can bring you gnome.

I want to share with you a practice that has changed my life for the better. It’s called meditation, and it’s a way of cultivating awareness, compassion, and courage in our daily lives.

Meditation is not about escaping from reality or achieving some special state of mind. It’s about learning how to be present and mindful of what’s happening in the here and now, without judging or resisting it.

Meditation is also not about clearing your mind or stopping your thoughts. It’s about noticing your thoughts and feelings, and letting them come and go, without getting caught up in them.

Meditation is a simple but powerful way of training your mind and heart to be more open, curious, and kind. It can help you cope with stress, pain, and challenges, as well as enhance your joy, gratitude, and creativity.

There are many types of meditation, but one of the most common and accessible ones is mindfulness meditation. In mindfulness meditation, we focus our attention on our breath, as it flows in and out of our body. We use our breath as an anchor to keep us grounded in the present moment.

When we do this, we will inevitably notice that our mind wanders away from the breath, to other thoughts, memories, sensations, or emotions. This is normal and natural. The key is to gently bring our attention back to the breath, without criticizing or blaming ourselves.

This practice of returning to the breath over and over again helps us develop the skills of attention and mindfulness. Attention is the ability to focus on what we choose to focus on. Mindfulness is the ability to be aware of what’s happening in our inner and outer world, with curiosity and compassion.

The Benefits of Meditation

When we practice meditation regularly, we can experience many benefits in our lives. Here are some of them:

• Understanding your pain: Meditation can help us face and heal our emotional wounds, by allowing us to feel them fully and kindly, rather than avoiding or suppressing them.

• Lowering your stress: Meditation can help us calm our nervous system and reduce our stress hormones, by activating our relaxation response and soothing our amygdala (the part of our brain that triggers fear and anxiety). 

• Connecting better: Meditation can help us improve our relationships and communication, by enhancing our empathy and understanding of ourselves and others. 

• Improving focus: Meditation can help us improve our concentration and memory, by strengthening our prefrontal cortex (the part of our brain that controls executive functions such as planning, decision making, and problem solving). 

• Reducing brain chatter: Meditation can help us quiet our inner critic and negative thoughts, by increasing our self-compassion and positive emotions. 

Meditation is something that anyone can do, anywhere, anytime. You don’t need any special equipment or a lot of time. You just need a comfortable place to sit, a willingness to try, and some patience with yourself.

Getting Started with Meditation

Here are some simple steps to get you started with mindfulness meditation:

1. Take a seat: Find a place to sit that feels calm and quiet to you. You can sit on a chair, a cushion, or the floor. Just make sure you are stable and comfortable.

2. Set a time limit: If you’re new to meditation, it can help to start with a short time, such as five or 10 minutes. You can use a timer or an app to keep track of the time.

3. Notice your body: Pay attention to how your body feels as you sit. You can sit with your feet on the floor or cross-legged. You can rest your hands on your lap or your knees. You can keep your eyes open or closed. Just find a posture that works for you.

4. Feel your breath: Bring your attention to your breath as it flows in and out of your nostrils. Notice how it feels as it fills your lungs and leaves your body. Don’t try to change or control your breath. Just observe it with curiosity.

5. Notice when your mind has wandered: Your mind will inevitably wander away from the breath, to other thoughts or sensations. This is not a mistake or a failure. It’s part of the process. When you notice that your mind has wandered, simply acknowledge it and gently bring your attention back to the breath.

6. Be kind to your wandering mind: Don’t judge yourself or get frustrated when your mind wanders. It’s natural and normal. Just treat yourself with kindness and compassion as you return to the breath.

7. Close with kindness: When you’re ready to end your meditation session, slowly open your eyes (if they were closed) and take a moment to notice how you feel. Notice any sounds or sensations around you. Notice any thoughts or emotions that arise in you. Thank yourself for taking the time to meditate.

That’s it! That’s how you meditate. You focus on your breath, you notice when your mind wanders, you bring it back kindly, and you repeat as many times as you need to.

Meditation is a practice, not a perfect. The more you do it, the easier and more natural it will become. And the more you will reap the benefits of it in your life.

I hope this article has inspired you to give meditation a try, or to continue your practice if you already do it. Meditation has been a source of joy and healing for me, and I hope it will be for you too.