4 tips to begin your meditation practice

I had thought of writing a post about meditation some time ago, but I was unsure if people would be interested in the subject. After the little poll I did on my Instagram last week, I was happily surprised - a lot of you want to meditate! So here it goes...

Like yoga, or praying, your meditation practice is unique to YOU. There is no right or wrong way to meditate. The purpose of your meditation will depend on your needs, your desires, the obstacles you may be facing at this moment, or simply to find peace and reconnect with yourself. Below I share some tips that have helped me when I began my practice - maybe they help some of you, and maybe you make up your own practice, completely different from mine, and that is awesome, too!

But remember that the #1 tip is to JUST DO IT!

1. Find your way

Talk about trial and error! Crafting your meditation practice is all about getting to know your body, your mind, and finding the right combination for them. Many people get lazy during this part and just quit - don't! I guarantee you will find your way at some point, and when that moment comes, it will be epic.

~Place

Find a place in your house, a bench at a park, a beach, a corner of your room - somewhere comfortable, with few distractions, where you can go on a regular basis. For me, it is important to always meditate in the same place, and I suggest you do the same as you begin your practice. I have found that, especially at the beginning, having a routine makes everything a lot easier. So, at our house, we created a little "yoga/meditation corner," separated from the living room with a room separator, and it is just perfect!

~Time I meditate first thing in the morning, most days I stick in a session sometime in the middle of the day, and I try to do another right before going to sleep (although I have to admit, this has been really hard to do - I just fall asleep!)

I highly suggest you set a specific time for your meditation. As with the place, this routine will help you to stay consistent in your practice. Find the time that best suits your schedule. Try to meditate before you are super stressed out to help prevent it, and also carve out some time during the day to center yourself. We all have crazy days, and I can assure you your body, mind and spirit will be pretty happy if you give them a break once in a while!

~Position

Lying, sitting, standing, walking... whatever feels better for you!

Make sure you find a comfortable position where you can stay for a while, with good posture, but not rigid. I sit cross-legged with my palms facing upward on my thighs, and my back against a wall or a flat surface. After a good session of yoga it is super yummy to meditate in shavasana, but for me shavasana in the morning = falling asleep.

~Type of meditation

Most people think that meditation consists of sitting silently doing nothing. Period. But in fact, there are many different types of meditation - figuring out which one works for you is key for a consistent practice.

You meditation can be sitting silently doing nothing, or it can be a guided session, mindfulness, it can include mantras, chanting, moving, it can be of Buddhist, Hindu, Christian origins, it can work on a particular aspect of your life or you body, or not have a clear guiding thread at all... the list goes on.

Personally, I suggest to begin with guided meditations. This will help you to not fall asleep, get bored, or fall prisoner to your own restless mind. This is what I do and slowly I have added minutes to my practice, after the guided portion is over, of just silence. I have certainly not tried every type of meditation, so let me know what you prefer!

~Length

Find out how long you want to meditate for. Start small and then increase, gradually. If you start with an hour meditation, and are able to maintain a consistent practice - well, you're too cool. But I think most mortals needs to start slow.

It it quite hard for me to sit still, so I started with 5 minute guided sessions - which at the beginning felt like an eternity! Eventually, they got longer, and now I do 30' every session - and it goes way too fast!

“You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day — unless you’re too busy. Then you should sit for an hour.” -Zen proverb

I know this was a long first tip, but it is an important one! Now onto shorter ones...

Meditation at Sea Ranch, CA. A-MA-ZING

2. Try tech!

With so much technology here to facilitating our lives (or not - we can debate that later), why not use it for meditation?! There are dozens of apps for meditation. I have tried a few, here is the one that I currently use and recommend:

Insight Timer: it is FREE on the Apple Store and includes many, many guided meditations, talks, and music.

I am always open to trying out other ones - so let me know of any interesting finds!

They have a great Instagram, too :)

3. Set an intention

If you do a guided meditation, this may be part of the session. However, if you have trouble getting your mind to come down (like me), I suggest you set an intention for your practice.

This can range from a desire (to find peace of mind), a general concept (forgiveness), or an affirmation (I trust in my intuition and in the present moment).

But note that this is a tricky one, because the point of the meditation is precisely the opposite of overthinking a problem you are going through or stressing out even more. Always state your intentions in the positive, ie: instead of "to not be such a bad mother/father/sister/brother, etc," try "to be a present and loving mother/father/brother/sister, etc."

4. Stick with it!

If you get anything out of this post, remember to give meditation a try - for at least a week! Set it as a little challenge. Seven days of 10 minutes every day.

This will allow you to 1) find out what works best for you (tip 1), and 2) begin to see the positive impact that the practice can have on your life!

I hope these tips help you - and that you share them with those who you think would benefit from meditation! They are clearly not exhaustive, but I prefer to leave room for your own imagination in finding out what works for you, rather than giving detailed "instructions."

Nevertheless, let me know if you have further questions, and tell me of the obstacles you face as you begin your practice - and I will happily do a follow up post to try to help you!

#meditation #mindfulness #yoga #mantra #howtomeditate #tipstomeditate #comomeditar #startmeditating #stressrelief