Meditation for Beginners

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.