Beginners guide to meditation

Meditation assists with your brain’s ability to focus, which leads to better performance in tasks, reduced stress, more creativity and your ability to be fully focused on any situation you are in.

You will have a greater ability to focus on your task at hand, learn new skills easier and you will develop emotional changes and may have some spiritual connections.

It takes a little time to notice the changes but within a few weeks you should start to notice some emotional changes that benefit your mood and focus.

For most people, the easiest way to start meditation is with a guided meditation app on your phone. This helps beginners with only a few minutes a day. Meditating every day is the key to success, you can build on these few minutes a day once you are in a routine.

Make yourself accountable, keep a 2 minute journal and write down each day after you meditate your mood, your focus level and how long you meditated for.

How to get started?

The key basic elements to meditation are:

• Breathing exercises

• Body scans

• Music

• Affirmations

• Focus exercises and not letting your mind drift away.

Don’t stop thinking when you meditate, you will eventually maintain greater focus the more you meditate.

As your mind drifts off onto a thought, acknowledge the though, accept it and let it go. Bring your focus back to your breath and don’t get upset with yourself that your mind has bounced around from one thought to the next.

Just keep bringing your attention back to your breath and acknowledge it happened and move on.

Start with a short meditation of 2 to 5 minutes and accept to will take time to focus. Slowly you can build your mediation time up to 30 minutes a day.

Don’t feel you need to increase your meditation time if you have been doing it for a while. The key is consistency, so keep your 2 minutes up each day and let your focus improve. Each time you meditate, you are practicing.

How do I fit in time for meditation?

Some ideas of when you can get a short meditation session in:

• Meditate on the train or bus

• In a work break at lunch or coffee break

• When you first wake up in the morning

• Right before bed time

• Allocate a specific time of the day or evening to meditate each day

How to sit when meditating?

You don’t have to sit in a specific position when you start. If you are lying in bed, you can meditate here laying down. It may take a bit of practice not to fall asleep here! Otherwise sit in an upright position in a chair with your feet flat on the ground or on a cushion with your legs crossed in a comfortable position.

Try and keep your spine straight but relax your shoulders and neck.

You may feel like you are not great at meditating when you first try, don’t give up. Most people struggle when they first meditate as we are not used to calming and focusing our mind on nothing.

Simple meditation for beginners

This meditation exercise is an excellent for beginners.

1. Sit or lie in a comfortable position.

2. Close your eyes.

3. Take 3 deep breathes, breathing in to fill your lungs completely, hold for a few seconds and breath all the way out. Repeat 3 times.

4. Return to breathing naturally, make no effort to control the breath

5. Focus your attention on your breath, how your body moves with each inhalation and exhalation. Notice the movement of your body with each breathe. Focus on your breathing, observing your chest, shoulders, rib cage and belly movement. Do not try to control your breath; simply focus your attention on each breath. If your mind wanders and you have many thoughts, accept the thought and simply return your focus back to your breath. Continue this meditation practice for 2 minutes to start, and then try it for longer periods.

6. Slowly open your eyes and reflect on your meditation

7. Keep a journal on how you felt before and after your meditation.

I've made a short recording to help you prepare for your first mediation experience. This will help you get ready for your 2-5 minute meditation.

Once you are comfortable with this, you can add in the body scan.

Here is the link - https://soundcloud.com/user-282119031/beginners-meditation

Body Scan

If you are feeling comfortable with the above meditation, you can add in a 5 minute body scan once you have focused your attention on your breath.

Starting at your feet, notice the physical feelings in them - any pain, coolness, warmth, discomfort, tension, tightness, etc. Focus your attention to the physical feelings and sensations of each part of your body. There is no good or bad feelings, just be aware of them and there is no judgement.

Slowly move your awareness to up from your feet to your ankles, lower legs, simply paying attention to any physical sensations in that part of your body.

Continue this awareness up your body, doing the same and noticing for all of the parts of your body – your upper legs, hips, buttocks, pelvic region, stomach, your solar plexus, chest, your lower back, upper back, fingers and hands, lower arms, upper arms, shoulders, neck, your head, forehead, temples, face: eyes, cheeks, nose, mouth, jaw line.

Then after a complete body can, slowly scan back down your body until you awareness settles back at your feet.

Come back to the focus on your breath, take a deep breath in, open your eyes and welcome the day and the amazing feeling after your have given your body a few minutes of time to relax and your mind to clear.

There are many types of meditation but as a beginning focusing on your breath for short period of time each day is a great way to start. This will have a positive effect on your focus, anxiety, stress and a deeper relaxation.