How To Start Meditating

I've been asked by a lot of people to explain meditation and to help them start. I often have to unravel some weird knot of information that people have on the subject. Everyone has different ideas about meditation and they often get caught up in the usual social definitions. So first I want to break it down to make it a little easier.

• Who?: You, yourself and your other self. Meditation is for you, not for anyone else it is for you.
• When?: Whenever you have the time at first. If later you choose a certain type or path of meditation then there are suggested times, but for now don't worry about that.
• Where?: Somewhere out of the way from things, you don't want distractions when you start. Make sure the place is comfortable to you, you should be able to relax there fairly easily.
• What?: What you need is simply yourself and some time. Put those two things together and your ready to go.
• How?: The tough one, we'll go into this in detail a littler later but for the basics I'll say focus on relaxing. At first meditation is all about relaxing. Like I said we'll get into this more later.
• Why?: There are many benefits but it depends on the individual. If your looking for a certain benefit in general then all you need to do is focus on that benefit. Other gains will be realized with time.

Those are just the basics to start with, think of it like a journey and your drawing the map. Wherever you go is up to you and however you get there is up to you. There is no right or wrong way when starting out. Honestly after all my experiences and study I'll say there is no right or wrong there just is. To be we must start so we may never have started to be. That's the advanced stuff you can look forward to later, right now start from the beginning and don't rush. Some of the best words ever written were "DON'T PANIC!"

The first part everyone needs to learn is how to relax. This is not an easy thing with the high stress lives people tend to live. This is why it is very important to pick a comfortable place to meditate. It is about getting away from those stressful things so that we can balance ourselves out. How we do this is going to be different for everyone. Some people are creative thinkers and some people are logical thinkers so it's different all around. When we go into deeper forms of meditation that doesn't matter anymore but for now we need to learn how to put our feet in the water. Progression is an important part, it helps us keep from getting frustrated. Don't expect to instantly be an enlightened person when you close your eyes. Instead just be positive every time you meditate and things will work out. I'm going to give you the steps to relaxation I teach, when you become comfortable with these you'll create your own progression system.

How to relax:

1. Find a comfortable position, sitting, standing, cross legged, laying on the floor (I suggest legs bent so you don't fall asleep). Do whatever is comfortable for you, remember there is no right or wrong here.
2. Take a deep breath and exhale reminding yourself that your relaxing and stressful things do not effect you right now. The outside world can wait for right now it'll be there when you get back I promise. Do this two or three more times reminding yourself your relaxing.
3. With your eyes closed you are going to tell your body it is relaxing. To do this start at your feet and work your way up the body. You can be as specific as you want or just use general areas of the body. Try to at least separate sections like lower legs and upper legs, forearms and upper arms. I use muscle groups because it helps me focus on releasing the tension everywhere.
4. The body is now relaxed because we told it to be, we are not done though. Now we need to focus on relaxing. The body is very easy to tell what to do, the mind is not. Your thoughts may wonder but remind yourself now and then we are focused on relaxing. Later we will not need to do this but we need to build a strong foundation now so we can let go of this exercise later.

That is a basic way to start meditating. The focus on relaxation is a meditation and it will help in your journey. Always remember this is about you and your in control. Stay positive and keep at it, these things take time but are worth it.

Once you feel comfortable with your relaxation there are a few short beginner exercises you can do. I will post another hub on the exercises I teach in the future. In that hub I'll explain more of these exercises but here are two to get you started.

• Focusing on Breath: To do this we will start by first going through our relaxation process. Next we will make ourselves aware of our breathing. Feel the inhale and the exhale and try and give them a rhythm. When you have established awareness start counting. This is a traditional Buddhist meditation. We try and count as high as we can without letting our mind stray to other things. At first we count each inhale and exhale as its own number, this will get more advanced later. If your mind does wonder just let it go until you can gently bring it back. Interrupting a thought is not always the best practice.
• Focusing on Body: There are two ways to go about this exercise. One way is to follow your sequence you use in your relaxation process and at each place say, "this part (name the part) does not exist." At first this will make you more aware of that piece of your physical self, later it will help you go into a deeper relaxation. The second way is to again follow the sequence but say, "This part (name the part) feels" and then tell yourself what it feels. This will help you become more in tune with your body and what it is experiencing.