Meditation 101 How to Meditate

Have you ever wondered how to meditate? There is no one set technique for participating in a meditation practice, no necessary tools, nor is there a prescribed set time for a meditation practice. Another great thing about meditation practice is that it can be performed anywhere, sitting down, standing up, or laying down.

So what is the best way for a beginner to perform meditation? In my own daily meditation practice I have found that the easiest and most practiced way to achieve a calm, meditative state is to focus on your breath.

The Buddha gave the following discourse concerning becoming aware of one’s breath:

“What is the way to develop and practice continuously the method of full awareness breathing so that the practice will be rewarding and offer great benefit?

“It is like this, the practitioner goes into the forest or to the foot of a tree, or to any deserted place, and sits stably in the cross-legged position, holding one’s body quite straight. Breathing in, one knows that one is breathing in; and breathing out, one knows that one is breathing out.

“. . . The full awareness of breathing, if developed and practiced continuously according to these instructions, will be rewarding and of great benefit.”

An Easy Meditation Practice For Beginners

1. Sit in a chair, or on the floor either in lotus or half-lotus position, keeping your spine erect.

2. Breathe in two to three times, inhaling through your nose, and exhaling through your mouth. As you exhale, physically relax your muscles in your body while still maintaining an erect posture. Feel your neck and face, and brow muscles relax.

3. Close your eyes. Breathe in slowly and deeply through your nose, drawing the air down into the pit of your stomach. This will cause your lower abdomen to push out slightly. Notice the air as it enters you nose. Observe how it feels as it fills your lungs.

4. Next, exhale slowly through your mouth. Pay attention to the air exiting your mouth. Notice how it feels as it exits your lungs and mouth. Just observe it.

5. If a thought arises such as “Did I pay my electric phone bill?”, or “I’m hungry”, don’t ignore the thought, just notice it and return to your breathing.

6. Continue this process as long as you’d like to, preferably 15 to 20 minutes.

The greatest challenge in the above exercise is what I call “soft” focus on the breath. Don’t try too hard to notice or analyze your breathing. Just pay attention to it. Most important of all – relax!

Quite often when I am teaching meditation it becomes readily apparent who is trying to “force” their attention on their breath. Their shoulders tense and rise with each breath, their jaw may clench, and a lot times their eyebrows wrinkle together. The key is to allow yourself to completely relax and to just allow the breath to come and go while observing it.

Learning how to meditate is a simple as stopping your daily routine, relaxing your body, and pausing a few minutes to focus on your breathing. Practice your breathing meditation on a daily basis, and before you know it, your mind and body will be hooked!