Meditation for Beginners

In the video below I discuss the fundamental principles of Qigong (energy work) meditation. Qigong is essential internal energy work/practice, and is designed to concentrate and control your internal energy. After some time the benefits of this type of meditation can be felt by even occasional practitioners, and generally improve health and energy levels. At advanced stages one can develop energy channeling abilities for healing or martial arts, as well as self healing.

The basic pointers of energy work include:

• Sit with erect posture
• Press your tongue to the roof of your mouth
• Keep the center top of your head upright as if suspended by a string
• Breath long and deep into your lower abdomen
• Rest your hands comfortable on your knees or in front of your lower abdomen

This type of meditation is not particularly difficult, but the commitment to it requires great discipline.  Nothing comes quickly.  You’ll need daily practice for a few months before clear signs of energy accumulation are present.

In the video above I discuss the basic principles behind mindfulness meditation, principles I’ve discussed several times in previous posts.  To reiterate, some of these include the principle that mindfulness meditation should not be treated as a means to an end, but as an end in itself.  That is, meditation is the practice of living in the moment.  As such, consequences and results are only theoretical, and not real.  The present reality is all we have in front of us, and to be fully present in the present is its own reward.

Leaving behind the baggage of judgment and selfish ego driven thought is like removing a heavy blanket from your shoulders.  And it opens the door for a more serene and profound experience in future presents.

But mindfulness meditation again should not be seen as a thing, but as ‘being’, in the fullest sense of the word.  Practice of mindfulness should not remain isolated in a series of events, but should eventually expand into mindful living, and experience the fulness of life with every breath.  This takes tremendous commitment, and is in fact very hard work.

Meditation is a hobby where people learn to relax and concentrate properly. Usually, people try to concentrate on just one thing until they do not think of anything else but that one object. This may sound simple, but many people find it hard. In our modern world, there are so many things that we think about even while we are doing one thing. This is why meditation for beginners is important.

Meditation allows you to become peaceful and calm from the inside. You will be able to relax better and your body will feel more rested because of this. Also, it reduces stress and tension. Stress can cause many illnesses and problems, so getting rid of it through meditation can be very beneficial.

Aside from relaxation, meditation can also help you improve your concentration. You learn how to focus your attention on one thing at a time without straining yourself. By meditating often, you can learn how to focus on anything that you need to concentrate on. This will help you be efficient in doing a task so that you will not get distracted.

While you meditate, you will also learn more things about yourself that you probably didn’t know before. Since you will be calm and relaxed, you can hear what you are thinking about deep inside and you will be able to address these thoughts better. You will be more self aware.

Here, we will look at a technique that you can start out with for your meditation. Before you meditate, you will need to go into a room where you are alone. Tell others that you want to be alone, turn off all gadgets including your cellular phone or make sure that they are in another room. Sit in a comfortable chair, or straight on the floor. Remember to sit comfortably but not too relaxed since you could fall asleep if you are not careful.

The next thing you need to do is relax and close your eyes. Breathe calmly in and out. Do not think of anything buy focus on your breathing. Count your breaths and keep all other thoughts out of your mind. If you catch yourself thinking of other things, then start counting again.

Continue to do this for five minutes or until you have breathed in your one-hundredth breath. Then slowly open your eyes and get up from where you were sitting. Keep calm and take everything in. You can start to return to what you need to do for the day, but try to stay relaxed and calm during your day. With your new focus and awareness, you may find yourself being able to do your activities faster.

This is just one technique of meditation for beginners. As you progress in your meditation, you can start doing more complicated exercises. But to master this technique, you will have to be able to concentrate on your breathing and only your breathing for a very long time. Once you have mastered the basic techniques, you can begin advanced techniques and further your meditation.

Meditation can sometimes be confusing for beginners, since there are just so many different techniques for you to choose from and so many different ways to do them. A lot of people get lost in the many different guides out there and start out with advanced techniques before setting the basics in. This can lead to frustration, which is definitely not the point of meditation techniques for beginners.

This is why it is important to start out with techniques that are meant for beginners to lay the foundation of your meditation techniques. After you’ve finished mastering the basics, you can start to do more advanced meditation techniques and get farther in your meditation.

One meditation technique that beginners should learn is counting your breath. You should learn how to focus and think about your breath as it goes in and out of your body. This will help keep you in sync with your bodily rhythm. You may not be able to focus on your breath right away, and you may get distracted. It is completely normal, though. After a while, it will be natural for you to concentrate easily.

To start, sit down and breathe in and out slowly and carefully. Close your eyes and think only about your breathing. Breathe naturally and just think about how your breath is passing through your body. From your nose, to your throat, to your lungs, and back out again.

After you’ve figured out your breathing pattern, start counting your breath. One count going in, two going out, three going in, and onwards. It is natural to start thinking about outside things after a while, so when you catch yourself doing this start counting again from the beginning.

Soon, you will feel your breathing getting slower and deeper. You will breathe from your stomach and not from your lungs. Notice how your breathing changes as you get deeper into your meditation.

Try to count as far as you can go, and stop at around one hundred. Once you’ve gotten this far, open your eyes and slowly get up. Then stretch and do something else with your newly relaxed body.

The other meditation technique for beginners that will be discussed is flame meditation. It is similar to breathing meditation, but with an added twist in the form of a candle. Firstly, get a candle and light it in a room. Dim your lights, but don’t turn them off completely. If the flame bothers you or hurts your eyes, you can replace it with another object like an apple or a glass.

Place the candle at a small distance in front of you, and sit down. Close your eyes and do the breathing meditations exercise. In between a few breaths, open your eyes and look at the flame or the object. Don’t think about it, just stare blankly at it. Continue breathing carefully and stare at the flame for ten or more minutes, depending on how long you would like to meditate.

Next, close your eyes and visualize the flame or the object for as long as you can. Then open your eyes and your exercise is done. With these two meditation techniques for beginners mastered, you can start on more advanced techniques.

Before you start meditating, the posture you assume is very relevant. In most cases, your ultimate attainment from a meditative process is determined by your body posture. For instance, a comfortable and relaxed posture can easily be achieved sitting on a meditation chair. If you perform regular meditation, it is important that you use a specially designed meditation chair on which you will be able to relax fully and maintain concentration. Such a chair should complement your ability to relax, explore and concentrate during meditation processes.

Mediation chairs are precisely designed to allow a flexible posture of the back, to enhance your breathing pattern and to maintain the body at the correct alignment. If the chair you are sitting on during mediation causes physical discomfort, it would be hard you attain concentration during the meditation session. Sitting on a proper meditation chair is more comfortable and ideal than sitting on a regular chair or on the floor.

In their design, mediation chairs incline slightly forward. The leaning angle however prevents you from totally bending the torso during the meditation session. The chair therefore, should neither be angled steeply nor tilted more than just for a few inches. If the chair is steeply angled for instance, your torso will have to overarch. This position makes it hard to relax. It is very essential that you do not strain your back during meditation. Your weight should be distributed evenly and equally on the body.

When you go out to shop for a chair for use during your meditation, it is important that you consider the ideal weight of the chair for easy movement, the sitting height as compared to your physique and the comfort level it affords you. You can test this while the chair is still in the shop so that you can pick the exact type you need. In most of the stores that stock meditation chairs, you will find chairs with a range of different sizes. The most popular though are the medium sizes. The smallest meditation chairs in the market are precisely designed for those people who meditate a lot.

Besides the standard design, you will also find meditation chairs that are specially designed to enable you assume a sitting position that is both comfortable and appropriate. Variant designs of meditation sitting accessory include meditation benches, inflatable cushions and ergonomic tilt chairs. A meditation chair is the most ideal sitting accessory for those who are starting out on meditation. Once you have mastered meditation processes, you can then graduate to other sitting apparatus.

Besides this, the meditation chair you buy must also be based on the particular meditation practice you are interested in. You will probably use different chairs when conducting relaxation and spiritual meditation. Many types of meditation practices such as the Zen demand a variety of sitting postures. Ensure that the chair facilitates the sitting posture required by your meditation practice. Strike a balance between comfort and the ideal posture you need. Your mediation chair must also prevent cramping the in an uncomfortable position. While purchasing one, ensure that you can spread out both of your legs comfortably while sitting on the chair.

Meditation Tips for Beginners
Despite the fact that I’ve been adamant on the idea that meditation cannot be taught, it can only be learned, there are things that certainly aid sensitivity, relaxation, and awareness. Meditation is about a personal relationship with the now, a sincere openness and awareness to both internal and external stimuli. It is about being at peace and being alive.

Meditation tips therefore cannot so much be instructive as suggestive. These tips are not necessities, but they are common in many systems of meditation and most practitioners find them useful. And while the beginner may benefit greatly from adhering to meditation tips, they should all be tried and discarded if found not conducive to personal development.

Meditation tip 1: Find a positive and soothing environment. Environment is essential for the beginner, as distractions can be overwhelming at first, along with the natural inclination of our minds to wander. This type of environment cannot be defined. For some it may be next to a mountain spring, for others perhaps an art gallery or museum. This will be any place where you feel awake and at peace.

For the intermediate to advanced practitioner meditation tip 1 should be disregarded. Why? Because meditation is not escapism. One can be meditating anywhere at anytime. If meditation is relegated to select times and locations, it never really alters the heart and mind of the practitioner. When one is able to feel the sensitivity, awareness, and beauty of a meditative mind in every day activities, then meditation has truly become meaningful.

Meditation tip 2: Sit comfortably with an erect spine. Some people like to lie down while meditating, but I find this puts me to sleep. Some people like to stand while meditating, but I find this can at times be distracting and uncomfortable. Sitting provides a happy medium between comfort and tension. An erect spine is essential for smooth energy flow, proper and deep breathing and organ function.

Meditation tip 3: Don’t chase sensations or believe everything you read. That includes what you’re reading right now. Meditation for beginners needs to be personal, private, and honest. Forcing your mind into someone else’s structure is moving in the wrong direction. Observe and understand principles, but allow yourself to experiment in practice.

Meditation tip 4: This will seem contrary to my warning of meditation tip #1, but try to find consistency in practice. Try to meditate at the same time each day in the same location. Starting this way allows for a relaxed and comfortable mind as you’re not in a strange location, and it allows you to develop new habits. The irony here is that meditation is the opposite of habit in essence. If habit is conditioned, meditation is complete freedom.

Nevertheless this can be a useful path toward that freedom, and it’s a paradox I have yet to resolve. People that don’t find regularity in meditation times tend to miss days, then weeks, then stop all together. Those that make meditation practice a regular component of daily living tend to stay the course and realize the deeper benefits of meditation. If these meditation tips are of benefit, use them. If they aren’t discard them. But be mindful at all times regardless.

Most of the content on this website is already geared toward mindfulness meditation for beginners, but has not thus far breached the topic of meditation technique. And while I am not a strong advocate of ‘formal’ meditation, there is a time and place for sitting still and reuniting with the present.

Mindfulness meditation is an exercise which aims to put to rest the selfish compulsive thought and action that dominates daily living. It accomplishes this by letting us live in the now. By slowing our pace or stopping everything all together and simply listening without judgment, one is forced back to the present.

Looking back and anticipating things to come is the cornerstone of discontent. Looking back is simply playing games with dead thoughts and experiences. It is only our continued attention that keeps them alive, and there is nothing intrinsic to them that gives them credence. Looking to the future is the abstraction of past ideas to what may become. These thoughts too have no intrinsic value save for what our subjective egotistical minds can construct.

Looking forward or back is a game of memory and abstraction, both of which are selfish. Mindfulness meditation is a selfless immediate relationship with the present and in this present exists peace and tranquility. And while this exercise can be performed as you are walking or eating, today we’ll discuss the basic technique for sitting meditation.

Mindfulness meditation is best practiced in quiet natural settings with few external distractions. There should be little to remind you of troublesome thoughts or personal anxieties. It makes little difference if you’re sitting cross-legged on the floor or comfortably in a chair. The key to both is comfort and good posture. Good posture allows our lungs to open fully and for a full breath and increased energy circulation. Hands can rest comfortably in the lap or on the thighs.

Your eyes can be open with an unfixed gaze, or can be lightly closed. The former is better for external experience, the latter better for internal. But with practice, both will coalesce in the expanded perceptive abilities of the mind. And finally, breathing should be deeply drawn into the lower abdomen. This becomes our base of immediate experience. The breath comes and goes, in constant flux. Being with our breath allows us to remain in the present.

It isn’t essential, but in my opinion is helpful to practice deep abdominal breathing as opposed to chest breathing. As we age, our breathing tends to be more and more upper chest breathing. This is the kind of breathing used when we’re exercising. Energy is drawn from oxygen. But if you watch a child their breathing pushes out the lower abdomen rather than the chest. This is where the seat of energy in the body resides. And its no coincidence children have boundless energy. They haven’t forgotten how to breathe.

As you begin to meditate, keep in mind that you are not performing an exercise with a focus on results. This is hard for us westerners because action in general is result driven. In this case however the practice itself is the end, and we should undertake mindfulness meditation without ambition. Start only with your breath. Watch, listen, and feel your breath draw into the lower abdomen. Do the same as you exhale. And remain relaxed and sensitive.

After some time this simple breathing exercise will start to reveal much more than your own breath. Your mind will take note of other sensations within the body, as well as sights, sounds, and smells from outside. Observe all of these things without judgment. Simply accept them as they come and go. The difficult part is to allow the mind to function without judgment.

Your mind will wander. Don’t force it or control it. Try to watch it without judgment. This will create almost a dual consciousness for a few seconds where you’re watching your own thoughts. This observation will cause your thinking to cease, and your mind can then return to your breath. There is no time limit or time minimum to this type of meditation. Don’t force yourself to meditate beyond natural limits, which at first may only be a couple minutes. With steady practice you’ll find your limits.

With more time you’ll find mindfulness meditation will cease to be practice and become a way of life. You’ll notice on your walk to work that you’re much more aware of your rhythms and breathing. You’ll begin to feel stronger and more in tune with the environment. And on trains, planes, and at parties you’ll find yourself breathing properly and mindfully taking in conversations and internal sensations without judgment. And in these moments you’ll be at peace.

Many people assume that meditation for beginners is a tool to realize inner peace or relaxation. They assume it is a means to an end. And while meditation has countless mental and physical health benefits, if it is undertaken for these reasons it will probably not produce any of them.If meditation for beginners is treated as a means to an end, it will result in the same frustrations and discontent that led them to meditation in the first place. The reason? If desire and self centeredness is the root cause of our detachment from reality, of our discontent, then how does following another selfish desire (the desire to rid myself of such desires) lead to selfless experience of the now?

Let me elaborate a little more. If I meditate because I believe it will do something positive for me, this belief is a reflection and manifestation of my ego. I have an idea of myself. I have an idea of the world. These ideas have nothing to do with truth and reality, which is here and now and new and fresh. So when I try to experience the now by following my own perceptions and ideas of the past, I will only be following an illusion, an illusion I created.

True meditation is not a means to an end; it is the end and the means. It is the act of living in the now, without interpreting or analyzing according to our own dead constructs of reality. In order to meditate then, it is essential that ‘we’ are not present. It is essential that I have no motive, no goal or end in mind. It is essential that I meditate just to meditate. It is its own end.

This is easy to say, but to actually ‘be’ in the present without ‘you’ being in the present is much harder to accomplish. Most of us don’t realize the extent to which we construct our own perception of reality. Looking past that construct is exceedingly difficult if we don’t see that we’ve constructed it, and that it isn’t real.

Furthermore it requires the perception that our identities do not produce happiness. Once we perceive this fact in its glaring truth, our conscious associations become more obvious to us, and so too, their consequences in our lives. If we don’t see the we, by virtue of simply being who we have created ourselves to be, are causing our own pain and discontent in the world, than we will never be able to fully let go of our identities, and experience the beauty of mindful meditation.

And so, as we discussed in the last post, meditation for beginners must begin with the most basic element of life…breathing. Leave your ‘self’ behind, and simply observe the truth in front of you as it comes and goes, energizes and passes away.

Meditation for beginners typically starts with simple observation of, and control of, ones breathing. And while I am not a big supporter of adherence to meditation rules, breathing itself is fundamental to meditation, on occasion being one and the same.Regardless of whether we’re discussing mindfulness meditation or other forms of energy meditation like qigong, deep abdominal breathing is the starting point for two reasons. The first is because it’s the natural forgotten state of breathing from childhood, and the second because it’s a vehicle for reunion with the present.

Deep abdominal breathing, as opposed to upper chest breathing, is the natural forgotten method of breathing from childhood. If you watch a baby or young child sleeping, you’ll notice their chests don’t expand and contract, their bellies do. This is a source of energy and vitality, and one of the reasons children have so much energy when they’re awake. We can relearn this skill, and find our lost energy sources from childhood by practicing deep abdominal breathing.

The second reason meditation for beginners begins with breathing is because our breath is constantly changing, fluctuating, flowing in and out. It is not a stagnate state of being, but dynamic and immediate. By observing our breath, becoming fully aware of its inhalation and exhalation into the lower abdomen, we are reuniting with the present. Our breath is here now, and when we are aware of it, we are in the here and now. This is the basis of awareness, mindfulness and meditation.

Deep abdominal breathing should not be forced, but should be deep and long, within reason. And inhalation should be relatively close to exhalation in duration. One’s spine should be straight, shoulders upright, and atmosphere clean and conducive for relaxation. Nature and music may be a great help for some people. Other factors like hand position or leg position are inessential. Comfort is key, so long as your posture allows you to take a full long breath other factors needn’t be dogmatically observed.

Once this simple practice becomes second nature we begin to realize a great number of other health benefits. We experience higher energy levels, more relaxation and patience, lower blood pressure, faster healing, a stronger body, and a sharper mind. And while these are not our motivation, motivation being antithetical to true meditation as mentioned in meditation for beginners, it is hard to ignore and appreciate such positive results.

As much as I don’t believe in religious or spiritual dogma, I do recognize the need for guidance in realizing the truth in our own lives, as well as hidden potential. And once we have a start and begin to see for ourselves, our teachers and assumptions should be abandoned as our own guiding light takes over. Because when all is said and done, meditation for beginners and experts alike is not about a ‘thing’, it is about our own being and experience, something we alone can know and discover.

Ironically, meditation for beginners can be more harmful than beneficial if undertaken the wrong way. Most of us seek inner peace, beauty, happiness. And for most of us this desire is the root cause of discontent. Many religious leaders and teachers pass on traditional forms of meditation that does little but put the students mind into a new box. Because true meditation has no form, and it has no structure, when people ‘learn to meditate’ they typically wind up chasing a new desire, rather than find the peace they were searching for.That is not to say that there are not beneficial techniques or suggestions, like observing ones posture, not meditating while hungry, and doing so in a healthy and quiet environment. But it is to say that meditation is not a ‘thing’ with which to become good at, as if it is any other skill. Often times, beginners are at an advantage because they are not weighed down by worthless dogma or structured practice.

Meditation for beginners ought to look no different than anything else you do during the day. It ought however to feel different. Rather than eat your breakfast, you should taste your breakfast. You should smell the fragrance, listen to the sounds of rumination, and watch yourself as you are. And you should do all this without judgment. There is no right or wrong. There is only the truth of your experience. When you can taste your breakfast, I mean taste it as if it’s the first time you’ve eaten that thing, the first time you’ve eaten anything, than you are beginning to meditate.

Notice here I didn’t say anything about sitting under a tree with legs crossed and tuning out all external distractions. These are images at cross purposes with true self discovery and happiness. There is indeed a place in life for solitude and sitting quietly with oneself, but forced ‘meditative’ practice is not meditation. If you are forcing the thing, it winds up being a selfish action, an action emanating from your ego’s perception of good and bad, right and wrong. It comes from judgment.

True meditation is not judgment; it is the experience of life before the mind judges it. Before the mind ‘knows’ it. Many people misconceive this as detachment from reality. In actuality it is non-attachment, not to be confused with detachment. We leave behind the conscious and unconscious associations we’ve developed over a lifetime, we leave behind the ‘me’, and we experience the now. We don’t experience it as US Experiencing; there is only the experience, the smell, the taste, the sight, the thought. And there is beauty, and peace, and happiness.

Mindfulness, awareness of life in its fleetingness gives birth to selflessness and love. It opens avenues in the soul that we haven’t known since childhood. An innocence and an energy we all have and suppress is finally allowed to manifest itself again. And so today, for those of you out there looking for information on meditation for beginners, do yourself a favor, stop looking, and listen, look, taste, and feel. Start with breakfast.