Meditation - Now what do I do?

Many people believe that during a meditation session a person has to completely clear their mind of any thoughts. Now while this may happen from time to time if for a few minutes, it is very common for thoughts and emotions to come to the forefront of your mind.  

Meditation allows a person to be more self aware and in control of their thoughts and body. Meditation can help you boost your immune system by relieving stress and supporting a good night’s sleep. It can also help you feel more peaceful and generally happier.  

So now that we know a little bit about meditation, how do we do it? 

First of all be realistic, the chances are that your conscious mind (the voice in your head) has had free reign for quite a while and will jump around all over the place as thoughts and feelings drift in and out of your head. That’s perfectly normal and with time and practice you will gain more control over your meditation sessions and this voice. 

First things first, you have to decide where and when you want to do your meditation sessions. Are you more of an early bird and would benefit with a morning session (and get it out of the way earlier in your day before you run out of time) or are you a night owl that would like to meditate in the evening? This can also set you up for sleep.  

It doesn’t actually matter, what does matter is making sure that you are undisturbed and able to relax. Fitting meditation into your life is better than stressing about when you should be doing it in the first place. Just make sure that you aren’t too tired as you don’t want to become so relaxed you fall asleep. 

Find somewhere you can sit comfortably. It doesn’t have to be anywhere special to start with. Just somewhere you can sit quietly. As you get better and sit for longer you can think about a chair or cushions to increase your comfort. As you probably won’t be sitting for prolonged periods of time to start with you don’t have to worry too much at this stage. It could detract from actually getting around to meditating. 

Decide how long you want to meditate for. A few minutes are ample to start with and are an achievable goal until meditation becomes a daily habit. Start with 5 or 10 and see how you go.  

You are sat in your comfortable place and are ready to start, so what do you do? Before you do anything take note of how you are feeling. Do you have any niggles anywhere? What dominant emotion are you feeling? How does your body feel? Know that any emotions or physical sensations are okay, they are a signal of where you are at this moment.  

Now take two big, deep breaths. I like to think of these breaths as grounding and allows your body to prepare for the session. 

Now breathe! 

Sounds like easy stuff, eh? 

Well maybe not so. Many of us breathe with very little awareness (unless you have recently started exercising and then you will realise how important breathing is). Women also have a bad habit of shallow breathing rather than nice, big belly breaths. This can be for a number of reasons but is common in women who have had pregnancies as they get into the habit of shallow breathing when space becomes restricted by a growing baby. See how the mind wanders... 

Anyway back to breathing. Turn your attention to your breath as you slowly breathe through your nose, feeling the breath, feeling your lungs inflate. Slowly release the breath, keeping as much control as possible and being careful to not slump like a deflated balloon as you breathe out.  

You can count through 1-4 for each breath in and then out or you can slowly count 1 on the in breath and 2 on the out breath repeating until you get to 10 and then starting again. If you are wondering what to do with your eyes, do whatever you feel is right for you. If you keep them open just lower you gaze to the ground. If you close them, don’t become so relaxed that you nod off – I would be lying if I said I had never dozed off before, but its all part of learning. 

Accept that your mind will wander. It will, probably quite a bit to start with. It’s perfectly normal. Acknowledge the thought and smile. If you try to ignore it there is a good chance it will persist in coming back. Just return to your breath and counting.  

A lady I once trained with used the analogy of your mind being like a big pond. In this pond are fish. There are little fish that dart in and out of the plants in the pond really quickly and don’t stay still. These are like the fleeting thoughts that come into your mind and then disappear quickly. Not really time to focus or dwell on them.  

You then have your big, slower fish that meander round the pond slow and steady. These are the thoughts that you have time to acknowledge and ponder for a little while before thinking ‘that’s interesting’ and then allowing them to move on into the darkness of the pond. I really like this analogy and can often spot a small, speedy fish or a big, slow fish acknowledge it with ‘that’s interesting’ and off it goes. 

If all else fails, go straight back to breathing and counting, allowing yourself to relax into the breath. 

Don’t worry that you are doing it wrong, there is no exact way and worrying will undo all of your good work. When you feel like you have started to get control over your breathing you can start to get to know yourself a little better. When thoughts drift into your mind allow them to hang around for a while.  See what you can get from sticking with a thought and seeing what happens.  

If you want to focus more on your body then you can do an exercise called a body scan. Focus on each part of your body working upwards (or downwards) bit by bit. How does it feel? What sensations are you noticing? Take each part one at a time and move slowly. 

You will have a wonderful opportunity to become your own best friend. You will be in tune with your feelings and body enabling you to enjoy a richer life or deal with negative situations. Be kind to yourself, show yourself some love and smile. Enjoy the process of finding out who you are and embrace those elements that are part of you. 

Namaste <3