Most people meditate in the morning when they have just woken up, but meditation can also be practiced through the day as you feel like it. To meditate first establish a place in your house you can go to each time you would like to meditate. You can sit on a cushion or pillow cross-legged, or you could try half lotus or full lotus (requires a good bit of flexibility), or you can sit in a chair with your hands in your lap and both feet flat on the floor. The important part is that you are upright in a straight and attentive posture. Your position should not be too rigid or too loose, just like tuning a guitar string. Try to be as still as possible and let your body settle.

 

When you start meditating you need to build focus, so choose an object. This could be an item or point you stare at with your eyes open, you could count to 200 or 500 or 1000, you could follow your breath (without trying to control it or manipulate it in any way), you could repeat a positive mantra, inspirational verse, or sound. Your object is yours for the choosing. I personally have enjoyed closing my eyes and focusing on the breath. If you find that your mind is wandering off your object, just gently bring it back to your object, suspending any judgment of yourself. Be patient.  

 

It’s just like learning anything new; one needs to start out small in the beginning. You can go for as little as one minute your first time, and then try two minutes the second time, and perhaps five minutes the third time, and so on. Make sure to minimize outside distractions as much as possible. On my mobile phone there is a little moon icon that blocks all notifications and texts and will only allow in urgent phone calls. It’s quite handy for meditating because my device will not interrupt me. Eventually you will be able to tolerate more activity/noise/distractions in your environment when meditating, but as it has been said, when you begin your flame (concentration) is small and can be blown out easily, and you need to shield it, but as you progress it will become bigger and harder to blow out.

 

It may be helpful as you meditate to see your thoughts as clouds in the sky, or leaves in a river that are slowly floating by. Each thought is neither good nor bad, and there is no need to judge them. You might find yourself looking at the thoughts, in addition to your object or instead of your object, but do not go too deep into them, just allow them to pass through without examination or attachment and return to your object.  

 

When you first sit, or perhaps later on in your session, you can also do what some refer to as body scanning. This is where you move your attention from the tips of your toes to the top of your head focusing on each body part or region looking for tension or sensations. When you find tension try to relax it, if you find sensation make note of it without judging it as good or bad and move on.

 

A good analogy is that your mind is mason jar full of water and silt, daily life shakes it up and stirs up the silt, thus the water gets quite cloudy. Through meditation you can sit and allow the silt to settle, making the water clear, calm and serene. Sleep also helps to settle out your mason jar and this is why it is easier to meditate in the morning before the day stirs up your thoughts, emotions, memories, etc.

 

Once you give it a go at home you might want try to meditate with a group. It is quite nice. I have found group meditation helpful because it is at a set time, for a set amount of time so one can make a habit of it on the calendar. When meditating in a group one is less likely to fidget and move around or get up and work on other projects as might happen at home. There are usually questions and answer times so you can hear what other people are dealing with in their practice and have a chance to ask your own questions.

 

You do not need to subscribe to any set religion or religious dogma to meditate. The place I have been going to meditate is the Theosophical Society in Palmerston North and they have a non-sectarian meditation, so it is secular. The teacher has an extensive background in Buddhism, perhaps the tradition that is most known for meditation but many religions mention meditation in some form in their texts. All people, from any religious tradition can benefit from meditation!

 

I know how much meditation has aided the serenity of my mind and am quite confident that it will benefit you as well. You can try out any number of methods and find what “works” for you. As you practice more questions will likely arise about meditation.

 

Have fun with it! Good luck!

 

Peace and Love, Nate