How to Start Meditation – 5 Quick Tips for Beginners

Meditation as a calming and healing practice is gaining popularity at a fast pace all over the world. Whether it be young men and women in schools, yoga lifestyle enthusiasts or career folks taking some time out from work to celebrities in LA, meditation is becoming a way of life. Meditation has scientifically been proven to infuse a positive thinking mentality and folks who practice meditation tend gain from immense health benefits. So we at Team Sivalya decided to create a beginners tip list for those of us who are new to the practice and would like to take up and learn more about Meditation.

Meditation can take a while to get used to but once you start making it a habit it eventually becomes much easier to practice. The hardest part of meditating can be focusing your attention solely to the process and not getting distracted by external forces surrounding your body. The best way to get past that hurdle is to keep pushing the thoughts away as they occur, and not try to stop them. Thoughts will come naturally, and its fine – we just need to push them aside instead of dwelling on them. Slowly but surely, you will move past this initial barrier and can carry on for longer periods of time as your experience increases.

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1. Set the Scene

First and foremost, setting the scene mentally with your surroundings is of prime importance. Choose a quiet spot, inside or outside space works equally well, and prepare to dedicate yourself to the meditation process with complete focus. Some of our friends like to mediate with soft music playing in the background, some with incense burning, some with an altar and a statue to focus prayer on and some in pure silence. Whichever way works for you, start with that and improvise if needed.

2. Get Comfortable

Before you start, get your body primed up, stretch your arms, legs shoulders and free all those tight muscles as best as you can. Start off by sitting comfortably on the ground or a flat surface. The best position would be to sit cross-legged on the ground or up right on a chair with your back flat against the back and your feet upright. You can fold your palms in your lap or rest them down comfortably either on your knees or thighs. Still your mind and you are now ready to meditate.

3. Inhale Process

Take a slow, deep breath as you inhale for 5 seconds. Make sure the air has settled deep inside of your lungs. Hold your breath for 5 seconds, making sure you’re not straining your lungs too much. It might take some time to practice this as learning meditating takes time plus it can take a while to build up your stamina.

4. Exhale Process

Calmly release the air settled in your lungs and feel your breath as it moves up your trachea. Imagine that you are extinguishing all the negative energy in your life and around you. Make sure you don’t strain and keep building up your breathing skills.

5. Repeat

Repeat the process of inhaling and exhaling in this sequence, and viola you’re meditating! It might take a long time till you’re able to banish all thoughts while meditating but persistence and practice is important. We never know when Grace will enter us and make life better, so it’s important to not give up.

Try get some practice every day if possible, and you’re on your path of becoming a meditation champion. As simple as that! The ideal meditation time for beginners is 3-5 minutes. Many masters can go on for hours and days meditating, but remember meditation is not a competition and each person is different. Instead use meditation as a tool to reach wellness and to bring positive energy into your life. Namaste 🙏🏼 – Team Sivalya.