Meditation is a mindfulness technique that is used all over the globe. It can have benefits that are physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. It may seem intimidating to those who have never tried it – but if you know how to begin, it’s not difficult whatsoever.
Find a Calming Space
Expert meditators can meditate even amongst loud noises and chaotic environments. That level of mastery over one’s own mind can take a long time to achieve, however, and for a beginner, it’s always best to start in a place with minimal distractions. Ideally, you should find a clean and calming space with a comfortable place to sit.
It should be free of loud, sudden noises, flashing lights, strange smells, or other distractions that can interrupt your concentration. It doesn’t need to be perfect – it just needs to be satisfactory for you. Most people have bedrooms or living rooms that will work well.
Focus on Your Breathing
Meditation is really about becoming in touch with your mind and body. It starts by focusing on your natural, rhythmic cycles. While there are many things that people can use as a focus in their meditation, the most common is the breath. That might be focusing on the air itself moving in and out of your lungs. That might be on the motion of your diaphragm, expanding and shrinking.
Or it might just be the feeling of the air hitting your lips and teeth. Whatever it might be, let that sensation become your focus. This aspect of meditation has many benefits – for example, deep breathing helps deliver more oxygen to your brain.
Follow an Audio Guide
The internet has a huge amount of guided meditation audio that can be listened to and used for free. YouTube is a fantastic resource for this. Meditation apps like Headspace or Calm also are good options. This is a surefire way to get into daily mindfulness practice. You can find meditations as short as five minutes or as long as thirty. They will be specifically structured to help beginners ease into the practice. They can be encouraging when the beginning starts to get difficult and can help you understand how and why you become distracted.
The benefits of mindfulness have already been demonstrated for a long time. If you’ve tried to meditate once or twice and can’t seem to get the hang of it, give it another shot. The mind is difficult to wrangle, and it takes practice to be able to calmly navigate it how you want.
Here’s more to read: 5 Ways To Boost Your Mental Health