As the great meditation teacher and originator of Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), Jon Kabat-Zinn, says,
- “Meditation is very simple, but it’s not easy.”
The practice requires us only to sit, and then use an internal anchor, such as watching our breath, to simply return to again and again.
We recommend you consider the following as you begin your meditation practice:
- The basics:
- Sit comfortably
- Close your eyes or lower and soften your gaze
- Set a timer that will ring after a set amount of time
- As you begin, simply focus on your breath – just watching yourself breathe without trying to alter or control it. It may help to watch the rise and fall of your chest or belly as you breathe, to count the breaths (restarting at 1 after you reach 10), or feeling the expansion and contraction of the ribcage. The breath is your anchor.
- You will notice at some point that you have drifted off in thought. That’s completely normal and something even the most experienced meditator will do. When you noticed you’re no longer paying attention to the breath, just pause for a moment and then, very gently, return your attention to your breath.
- Start small. Set a goal for meditating 5 minutes a day and continue that until you feel ready to extend your time practicing.
- Be gentle with yourself. Be aware of the attitude that you take with you into your practice. A condemning practice, during which you judge yourself, let the negative self talk flow, and get angry and frustrated with yourself may actually do more harm than not meditating at all. Instead, consider an attitude of gentle, loving acceptance of yourself and your experience, allowing the practice to naturally emerge. The acronym COAL can help us on helpful attitudes and behaviors that will support our practice and overall growth and development. COAL stands for…
- C = Curiosity
- O = Openness
- A = Acceptance
- L = Love
- Use guided meditations until you feel comfortable guiding yourself. You’ll find three meditations on the Meditations for the Season for Nonviolence page, and you can also find excellent meditations at the following websites:
- Tara Brach
- UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center
- The app, Insight Timer, available for iPhone and Android
- Soundstrue
Additional basic instruction as well as frequently asked questions for new meditators is offered by renowned meditation teacher and psychologist Tara Brach on her website.
Blessings as you begin your journey.
What Meditation Is and Isn’t
Meditation is…
- A practice that helps us to truly know ourselves
- A way to learn to fully love and accept who we are
- A way to experience the felt sense of our inner divinity, so divinity shifts from being a theoretical construct “our there” to our own personal truth within us
- Through practice, as we gain wisdom and compassion for ourselves, and that wisdom and compassion naturally begins to flow into how we view and interact with other people
- A scientifically proven method for increasing concentration, mindfulness (non-judgmental presence and awareness), and compassion
Meditation is not….
- A way to escape or numb out our current circumstances, lifetime wounds, and traumas. In fact, it helps us to greet those circumstances with wisdom and compassion
- A religion in and of itself
- Something that requires you to change who you are, or something that requires special skills or knowledge
- A way to clear our minds of thoughts. Instead, we learn to work with the thoughts in our minds
- A method for relaxing – because we are turning into our inner landscape instead of away from it, it can sometimes actually be the opposite of relaxing. An outcome for a consistent practice can be inner peace.
- A way to make our problems go away. Instead, it helps us to work through in a loving, productive way.