Meditating provides many excellent benefits for your physical and mental health, but it has a learning curve you need to be aware of. It is not something you are going to get the hang of immediately.
Here are some tips that will help beginners get started with meditating.
Start With A Guided Meditation
When you are a beginner that is brand new to meditation, it can be hard to sit in silence and try to meditate on your own. It is good to start with some guided meditation. This is where you listen to audio of someone that is guiding you through the meditation.
They will talk to you in a low, soothing voice, give you instructions on how to relax your body and clear your mind, and create different images for you to focus on, so you can get out of your current state of mind.
Use a Timer
Another issue with people who just start meditating is not knowing how long you have been doing it or when you should stop. While there is no time limit, not knowing the time or how long it has been can cause you to constantly check the clock.
Every time you open your eyes and shift your focus to look at the time, you are getting out of the meditative state. In order to avoid this, set a timer on your watch or cell phone. That way, you focus only on meditating and know you don’t stop until that timer goes off.
You can start it for just 1-2 minutes in the beginning, then gradually increase it over time.
Set Up the Right Environment
The environment you choose for meditation is one of the most important things to remember. You need to have a quiet space where you are alone and won’t have distractions. The television should be off and your cell phone turned off completely, not just on vibrate.
It is better to do if you are home alone, because nobody is going to cause noise in the other room. If you can’t be home alone, figure out a place where others won’t bother you, whether that means going down to the room in the basement or standing in a shower to meditate. You might even know of a quiet, peaceful place outdoors where you can go.
Practice Your Breathing
Breathing exercises are frequently used with meditation. When you breathe in and out, you are only focusing on the oxygen and your breaths, so you aren’t thinking as much about other things.
Breathing also helps you to reduce your stress, relieve anxiety, and help to relax your body. Keep breathing in and out during the entire time you are meditating. It is especially important in the beginning of getting into the habit of meditating.
