Starting Meditation: Best meditation guide for beginners

“Mediation is a vital way to purify and quiet the mind, thus rejuvenating the body”
Deepak Chopra

We believe that meditation should be a practice used all year round. Whether it’s on your new year's resolution list, taking part in our January Wellbeing challenge on IG, you’re looking for a refresher or you’ve come here to find a new outlet for a feeling you’re experiencing right now - let us take you through some easy steps for a better understanding of how to use this practice and why!

 

 

What is meditation?

‘It's about training in awareness and getting a healthy sense of perspective’
Headspace

Meditation is an individual practice that can be completed almost anywhere. The practice involves becoming more aware of oneself to bring a heightened level of understanding to the way one is feeling and a way of being more attuned to seek solutions for balancing the mind. The observations of one's feelings in this way encourages less judgement and therefore a kinder approach to the choices one has made or will make. Once a level of being able to listen to oneself has been achieved, this can develop into an ability to work through unwanted or uncomfortable feelings to find resolution.

Meditation is not something that has a definitive answer and there is no perfect practice. To meditate involves finding what works for you and it can’t be compared to anyone else. Meditation can be an aid to becoming more mindful as it can help to offer a more cohesive view on things which in turn makes you feel more present.

 

 

Why would you want to meditate?

You might wish to meditate to understand something you’re experiencing and unlock the key to finding some answers. Some people choose to meditate to help them relax or take themselves away from feelings of upset and others choose to meditate to start their day in a place of awareness and focus. Meditation has been shown to decrease blood pressure and improve sleep as added benefits!

 

 

How do you start meditating?

A commonly googled question is how to start or how often to meditate or when does meditating start having benefits. These are often asked because there is an underlying disagreeable feeling that is causing friction stopping someone from just sitting down and trying. Starting meditating can be easy, it doesn’t have to be long or intrusive. Work through the steps below and you’ll be on your way to a consistent practice in no time!

 

 

Realise your intentions

Take a moment to think about why you want to meditate and what you would like to get out of it. Maybe note down these intentions, but make sure you know why having this practice in your arsenal is going to benefit you.

 

 

Outline sustainable parameters

Think about how this practice can exist as part of your life. Is daily meditation too much to ask of yourself right now? Would once or twice a week be more achievable? You’ll need to consider how you can build consistency in doing this practice in a sustainable way so you can enjoy the benefits.

 

 

Find a quiet place

When you’re ready to start meditating, seek a quiet place where you aren’t distracted by devices, other people or activities going on around you. Make yourself comfortable.

 

 

Set a timer or choose a guided meditation

Set a timer for 5 minutes. Once you’ve been practising over a period of time, you’ll want to increase this, but for right now, getting started is the key. Attempt this 5 minutes on your own first, if you have concerns that this hasn’t worked or you feel a little confused, consider following a guided meditation to learn the things you might like to include. Insight timer is a great app for guided meditations. Also we love The Clementine App, which is actually hypnotherapy but very similar to guided meditations. They have amazing sessions for anxiety and deep sleep which really help. 

 

Observe your body

Work through the different parts of your body and highlight how they feel. Do you have any aches and pains? Does part of your body feel great? How aware are you of each building brick that makes up your body?

 

Become conscious of your breath

Start to track how you’re breathing. Are they long breaths? Are you inhaling through your nose? What sound does it make? How does each breath make you feel? Breathwork is a great tool to clear stuck negative energy and blockages and it goes hand in hand with meditation. There are many breath techniques to try and we recommend attending an in-person session with a breath practitioner for a deeper healing session and to learn some great techniques. Breathwork is great if you suffer from anxiety, depression or could just do with improve your mental and physical wellbeing.  

 

Raise awareness to your mind wandering

Follow how your mind moves away from what you're asking and onto things that are bothering you or positively impacting you, like a recent success that you’re happy about.

 

Recentre your breath

Mark your mind wandering by being aware of it and then ask yourself to return back to the present moment by recentering using your breath once again.

 

Finish with kindness

Choose to finish with kindness; thank yourself for showing up, say something nice about yourself, reward yourself.

 

Increasing your practice

Once you’ve established your baseline meditation practice, you can take it into so many different directions. You can enjoy extended meditations, meditating away from home, using meditation as a way of recentering during trying moments.

For deeper meditations, we love to: Use Room Sprays

 

You can elevate your meditation practice by spritzing your space before you start. Choose a scent to match what you wish to get out of the practice like Revival or Calming. Each spray represents an intention and additional respect for what you're doing.

 

Try The Natural Meditation & Yoga Cushion

Find more comfort in your practice by being seated or placing under your knees for additional support to increase your focus when meditating. Another choice for being intentional during your practice, respecting your body and taking you to the next level.

The weeks surrounding Christmas are always a blur and the enjoyment of being with loved ones often takes up most of our time. There is no guilt or regret for using this time to focus on others, but when January hits, we are faced with the looming concept of New Year's Resolutions. We’re not great fans of this because the pressure of setting goals and becoming the best version of yourselves is tainted by extreme choices that prove unsustainable and have the opposite effect after a few weeks or months. Meditation is a practice that can provide peace and harmony all year round and you can start anytime you like - choose now to start!