How to Meditate For Beginners

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Experts Featured in This Article The Benefits of Meditation I Meditated Every Day of 2021 — Here’s How Hard (and Rewarding) It Really Was Different Types of Meditation Given that meditation is older than many countries, this wellness practice has had plenty of time to evolve and segment. Presently, there are countless types of meditation. Below, Randhawa breaks down just a few of them. Mindfulness Vedic Visualization 7 Free Meditation Apps That’ll Give You Peace of Mind 5 Tips for Starting a Meditation Practice You Can Stick With Here’s how a simple mindfulness meditation session looks on paper: Find a comfortable yet upright position that you can hold for the entirety of your meditation without too much fidgeting. A chair, a pillow, or a stool will work nicely. Set your timer for the duration you’ve chosen for your session. Gently close your eyes and bring attention to your breath. As you begin to note your inhales and exhales, you may find it helpful to count: inhale one, exhale two, inhale three, exhale four — and so on. If you prefer not to count, simply rest your attention on your breath. Whenever your mind wanders, don’t chastise yourself. Instead, gently draw your intention back to the breath. Whether you do this one or one hundred times per session, be patient and kind with yourself. When the timer goes off, gently bring your awareness back to your body and blink your eyes open. Move slowly as you re-engage with the world, and note how you feel. At face value, meditation may seem easy. You just shut your eyes and pay attention to your breath, right? Well, yes, but (but!!!), it’s easier said than done. Before you jump onto a couch pillow and close your eyes, take note of Randhawa’s five beginner meditation tips. 1. Find Your Intention 2. Stay Consistent 3. At the Same Time, Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously 4. Express Gratitude for This Practice 5. Let Creativity Into Your Practice Try This Beginner-Friendly Meditation

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At this point, recounting the benefits of meditation is akin to singing the praises of the sun or Birkenstocks or chocolate cake. The jury is back, and meditation kind of rules. But if you’re just getting started, you may have questions about how to make the most of the time you spend with your eyes squeezed shut.

“Meditation is a way of transforming your life from the inside out by transforming your mind,” says , a meditation instructor for . The most common form of meditation is mindfulness, which involves focusing on your thoughts, your breath, an object, or a feeling without judgment.

By some estimates, meditation is thousands of years old. And there’s a reason this practice stands the test of time: for many people, it just works. Here, Randhawa explains the benefits of snuggling up on a meditation pillow for as little as one minute a day — and how to incorporate this well-being exercise into your everyday life.

Experts Featured in This Article

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The Benefits of Meditation

Randhawa says that meditation offers a wide range of benefits that vary from person to person, from need to need, and even from culture to culture. “In general, [meditation] can aid people in developing a more accepting relationship with their experience, including the busy mind, which allows us to see clearly and thus move with more wisdom,” she says.

Over time, spending more time with your mind may allow you to have more autonomy over your inner and outer experiences. “We access an internal resourcefulness that can help us meet a wide range of goals — like sleeping better, feeling less stressed and anxious, focusing better, making intuitive decisions, igniting creative flow, noticing how we contribute to our own distress, and learning to trust our own experience,” Randhawa says.

That’s a lot of wins for meditation, but the benefits aren’t purely mental. Meditation has also been shown to improve conditions like hypertension and reduce your chances of cardiovascular mortality. Mindfulness training has also been linked to better sports performance, so adding a sit to your pre-workout routine may actually make today’s session a PR.