People tell me they’ve tried to meditate but don’t do it because they aren’t able to clear their mind or they can’t stop thinking. This is all the more reason to meditate. A few minutes a day is all it takes to begin getting the hang of it without becoming overwhelmed or discouraged.
Five minute meditation: Find a comfortable upright sitting position. If you need to use a chair with a back rest, that is totally fine. It’s important to be comfortable. Start a timer for 5 minutes (or less if you need) and close your eyes. Feeling your feet on the floor, wiggle your toes a couple times. With your hands resting on your thighs, wiggle your fingertips a little bit. Take a full breath in and let it out. Keeping your eyes closed, continue noticing your breath as it flows in and out of your body. Breathe in a way that feels good. It can be deep and slow, it can be short and quick. It doesn’t matter as long as it feels good to you. If it stops feeling good find a new good-feeling breath. It may help to say “in” on the inhale and “out” on the exhale to settle your focus.
As you sink in your mind will probably wander, in fact, it will definitely wander, this is to be expected. When you notice your mind has wandered away from your breath, simply bring it back. No need to judge yourself for wandering off, just bring yourself back. This is the practice. The practice is bringing yourself back to the breath. The mind will clear itself over time as a result.
When your 5 minute timer goes off, use that moment to bring your attention back to your breath one more time by taking a good feeling breath in and letting it out slowly. Open your eyes, stand up and go about your day.
When you first begin practicing meditation this is all you need to do. Make a plan the next day to do it again. As you get the hang of it, you may want to add some time, a minute here and there is plenty. I started off with 2 minutes a few years ago and now I meditate anywhere from 20 minutes up to an hour or more everyday. I built up slowly.
If you ever wonder if you are doing it right, assume you are. Mentally respond with: “Yes I am!” you can even smile a bit. If you’re trying your best to focus, then you’re doing it right .
There is no right way to meditate. There’s only different techniques and teachers. Experiment with different styles. Some techniques will get you into a calm and peaceful state more easily than others based on your mental and emotional makeup. I change meditation styles every so often. Sometimes meditations with visualizations work better for me, other times I use more kinesthetically based body awareness styles. Look at how you learn best. If you learn best listening to instructions, try mantra meditations.
Over the years I’ve come to rely on breath based meditations as described above. It’s my default style. When my practice feels a little stagnant I’ll switch it up for a week or two. The main goal is to develop your inclusive attention and focus, creating and discovering your own path along the way.