The Beginners Guide to Meditation
Simple Meditations.
The many benefits you can derive from meditation are undeniable. Meditation not only helps to combat stress, tension, and worry, but it also is an excellent source of prevention and intervention for a variety of other mental health problems and even physical diseases.
The primary challenge that many people report is difficulty getting into the mind state of meditation—the here and now, the moment, and the mental presence that is the foundation of this practice. If you feel this way—if you find that you struggle with quieting your mind in order to fully immerse yourself in a meditative experience—then simple meditations may be just what you need.
One simple meditation that you can easily practice in as little as 5 to 10 minutes is a breath awareness meditation. In this practice, you sit comfortably on the floor with our back against a wall or some other support, or in a chair, and focus on breathing in slowly through your nose and then out through your mouth. For an added benefit, you can practice diaphragmatic breathing, which is simply taking the breath from your abdomen by inhaling and contracting your abdominal muscles inward followed by exhaling and releasing your abdominal muscles slightly outward to a comfortable position again. It helps to place one hand on your abdominal area so you can feel the up and down motion as you exhale and inhale. In breath awareness meditation, you place your attention on your breathing. If any thoughts come to your mind during the 5 to 10 minutes of practice, you simply acknowledge the thought without judgment and then shift your focus back to your breathing. This meditation is an excellent form of practice to increase your ability to keep your mind focused on the here and now—or in this case, on your breath, which keeps you focused on a function of the physical body and will help you maintain a presence.
Another simple meditation is known as mindful walking where you focus on your body’s movement, steps, and any physical sensations you experience as you walk in a safe space, such as a park or outdoor area. If you can’t access the outdoors, mindful walking can be done indoors, too. Similar to breath awareness meditation, mindful walking provides an opportunity to focus on bodily sensations, which is an excellent way to bring you to the here and now.
Doing a body scan is another simple meditation that is also known as progressive muscle relaxation, which involves engaging the muscle groups throughout your body. Begin my sitting comfortably or lying down and start with your feet by slightly lifting them off the floor and squeezing as you pull your toes towards your shin as much as you can. Hold this for 5 to 10 seconds and then release the tension slowly and return your feet back to their normal position. Make sure that as you relax your muscles, you exhale slowly. The tension you place on each muscle shouldn’t cause you any pain, but you should squeeze each muscle as much as you can so you can feel the tension. Below are the remaining muscle groups that you should go through, in order, as you complete your body scan.
Hold your legs against your chest, as if you were in the fetal position
Squeeze your buttocks tight and hold
Squeeze your abdominal muscles tight and hold
Arch your back away from your chair or the surface you’re lying on and hold this position
For your chest area, take a deep breath in through your nose and hold
For your neck, tilt your chin downwards, as if you were trying to touch your chin to your chest
Lift your shoulders upwards, as if you were trying to touch your ears
Clench your fists tight and hold
For the cheeks and jaws, smile as widely as you can and hold
This meditation helps you to see the differences in bodily sensations when you hold onto tension versus release it. It also allows you to remain present as you focus on your physical body.
These simple meditations provide you creative options that will help you strengthen the mind-body connection and your ability to remain present. They can be done practically anywhere and within a short period of time. With daily practice, you will find that your ability to remain focused on meditation will improve as you reap the many benefits of enhanced emotional, physical, and spiritual wellbeing.
