Top 10 Meditation Tips for Beginners
As it goes when incorporating new activities into your routine, starting to meditate as someone who has no previous meditation experience is not always easy. Some commonly encountered obstacles to beginning or maintaining the practice of meditation are self-doubt, physical discomfort, putting in too much or too little effort, lack of motivation, impatience, boredom, restlessness, and much more.
All this is to say that for some people, starting meditation isn’t easy, and for others, it’s sticking to the routine that’s the problem. These feelings are quite frequent. Thankfully, there are ways to curb these adverse feelings that can simplify the meditation process for you and help you to maintain this activity long-term. The following are ten simple meditation tips for beginners.
1. Focus on your breathing
At first, this is far easier said than done. However, one common myth is that meditation is all about ‘clearing your mind’ and gaining complete authority over all of your thoughts. That is an extremely hard skill to master, and not one that is necessary or even achieved by many since it’s almost against human nature! Once you realize that meditation isn’t about controlling your thoughts or emptying your mind, it will become much easier to ruminate. If your mind wanders, let it; it’s inevitable that it will. The average person actually has 6,200 thoughts per day.
Try not to spend so much time controlling your thoughts or breath. All you have to do is breathe naturally, or try long, slow breaths, in and out. A big part of meditation is focusing on your breathing to slow down your thoughts and release tension. Breathe how you normally would, in steady rhythmic patterns, concentrating on the rising and falling occurring. If you have too much trouble concentrating on the task, try counting your breaths. By shifting your attention to your breathing, you’ll find that your thought process is much more lucid and tranquil and that you’re less anxious.
2. Meditate with a friend or family member
Some people prefer meditating alone, but others need company and/or accountability. Lacking motivation as a beginner is not uncommon. If this is the case, meditating with a loved one might be a good idea. It doesn’t have to be someone who already knows how to meditate and has been doing it for a while, but if you do know someone with the skills, it might help you learn faster and perhaps pick up some of their special meditation tactics. Choose someone who pushes you to be better and is loving and encouraging when you’re feeling low. If you would like a meditation buddy but no one in your real life is interested, you can always join an online community to receive support, encouragement, make new friends, and stay on track.
If you need that extra push but will feel too distracted to meditate at the same time as a buddy, you can establish a ‘partner’ system wherein you and your meditation buddy both start meditating habitually, but don’t necessarily do it at the exact same time or place. This will help you to incorporate meditation into your daily regime by motivating you into consistency, discuss certain meditation techniques and areas of improvement or ones that need more attention, and can be lots of fun.
3. Meditate in the morning
Start your day off with the right mindset. Beginning your day with a fresh, positive attitude and activity is incredibly important, and can set the tone for the rest of the day. If you’re a beginner and are feeling a bit intimidated by the practice, it might be better to get it out of the way as soon as possible, until you begin to settle into the practice and enjoy it so much more. It can even leave you feeling much more refreshed, confident, and optimistic.
If you’re not a morning person, or your full-time job doesn’t give you enough room for leisure or self-improvement in the mornings, try meditating at around the same time every day or night in order to establish a disciplined routine and solidify the habit. If it makes things easier, try setting reminders on your phone or alarm, or writing sticky notes somewhere visible.
4. Listen to calming instrumental or sounds
If ambient or outside noise is constantly distracting you from focusing on your meditation, it might be a good idea to listen to something calming for noise cancellation purposes. As long as there are no words and it doesn’t feature upbeat music, listening to a meditation or otherwise peaceful music (lo-fi beats, classical music, serene ambient noise like rain, etc.) can help you get into the zone quicker, feel more relaxed, and forget about the outside world, allowing you to focus on yourself.
If you like making playlists, try creating your own meditation playlist or finding a pre-made one. Spotify, too, has thousands of instrumental or meditation-specific playlists that feature calming sounds and beautiful Chinese flute instrumentals.
5. Realize that doubt, anxiety, frustration, and lack of motivation are common
You are not alone in your feelings of doubt, anxiety, frustration, lack of motivation, and even a hard-to-shake case of impostor syndrome. Starting a new activity or exercise is always daunting, and it takes a while for habits to stick – anywhere between 18 to 254 days, with 66 days being the average – to be exact. Realizing and accepting this can improve your performance and overall mindset. It’s rare to immediately have things down when first starting a new activity. Your mind will wander – it’s inevitable. When this happens, you have to pull yourself back.
Be patient with yourself and treat yourself with kindness; handle yourself in the same way that you’d handle a friend or family member who is trying something new and is feeling apprehensive. In the Information Age, it’s difficult to focus on one thing, and constantly being bombarded with a million other facts, events, and news stories definitely makes it harder to sit down and concentrate on your breathing and overall meditation. Know that you are not the only one feeling discouraged, but keep at it, and be gentle with yourself when these thoughts arise.
6. Choose positions that are most comfortable for you
You don’t have to be uncomfortable while meditating; the statement that you have to be uncomfortable or meditate in certain painful or awkward positions is a common myth. Meditation is a versatile and customizable activity, making it quite accessible to everyone.
If you’re uncomfortable, chances are you won’t be enjoying the activity, meaning that you most likely won’t continue it despite it being beneficial to your mental and physical health. Like Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Try not to compare yourself to other people and their progress or techniques – each individual is unique and has their own capabilities, likes, and dislikes. No one person does an activity in the same way.
You don’t even have to sit down! Meditate while standing, lying down, and walking. Stretch your cramped legs, prop a towel, pillow, or blanket under you for more support, and anything else that best suits you and your body. Not everyone enjoys sitting cross-legged. What matters is that you’re comfortable. This way, you’ll be able to keep up the habit and get more enjoyment out of it.
7. Follow guided meditation videos, podcasts, or apps
One thing that makes starting a new hobby or activity especially hard is not knowing what to do in the early stages. This is where guided meditation apps, videos, or podcasts come in to help you with instructions, accountability, and motivation. It is much easier to follow along to guided meditation resources as opposed to freestyling meditation as a beginner. These sources act as further guidance to help you become an expert meditator and a serene person.
This is why I created Mind Shift, my on-demand meditation platform with meditations, mindfulness tools, breathing exercises, and so much more so you can create and sustain your meditation habit. You can get started with a free 7-day trial today.
8. Meditate for a few minutes every day to build the habit
Like all hobbies, meditation depends on your availability and capacities. Unfortunately, not everyone has time to dedicate hours to their favorite things. If your schedule seems to always be overflowing with tasks and you can’t find the time to immerse yourself in meditation for a few hours every day, try starting out small and meditating for at least 5 to 10 minutes every day. The great news is that those mere 5 to 10 minutes still have benefits and effects; decreased stress and increased positivity.
There is no handbook that says that you have to meditate for hours upon hours every single day! Try squeezing in at night or in the evening if you’re unable to find the time to do so during the workday or morning, to ultimately build the habit and demonstrate your commitment to the activity by getting used to it.
9. Create a designated meditation space
Finding or creating a unique meditation space can inspire motivation and easily get you into the ‘zone’ when it’s time to meditate, which ultimately helps you establish it into your routine even more. This space doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. If you have the means, you can certainly dedicate an entire room to it, but you don’t have to do this. Your meditation space can be one corner of your bedroom, in your backyard or under a certain tree at the park, or anywhere else that makes you feel most comfortable and serene.
The most important thing is that this area is one that is quiet, calming, and has none or minimal clutter. Clutter is detrimental to your mental and physical health; it can trigger anxiety and stress, and decrease concentration and productivity. Similarly, try not to make your meditation space the same as your office – if you have one – or in the same place that you do your work. This will simply stress you out even more, as there are existing connotations and associations to that workspace. If possible, try to find somewhere with lots of light filtering in from a window, as light improves the mood and cognitive performance, and decreases depression. Doing all of this will make you much happier and much more prepared to meditate each day. Consistency is key.
10. Create and keep a meditation journal
If you’re an artistic type (and even if you’re not!), consider making and keeping a meditation journal. In this journal, you can keep track of how many minutes or hours of meditation you put in per week or day, keep track of and write down fluctuations in your mood before and after meditating and after long periods of meditation, write down the benefits of meditation, record reasons for days you choose not to or don’t have time to meditate, and much more. You can even create a sort of calendar where you color in the days of the year in which you meditated to see how well you’ve been sticking to it.
Journaling can be an incredibly healing activity. You can make a sort of meditation bullet journal, with lots of artwork, colors, mixed media, different types of tape, and more. Making something aesthetically pleasing usually helps artists’ enjoyment of the activity, rather than looking at it methodically and mathematically. Not only does journaling help it feel like less of a chore (if that’s your current mindset), but it also helps immensely with forgetfulness and accountability. This can be time-consuming, but if you’re interested and have time to spare, it is well worth it for the reasons outlined above, and it doesn’t have to be extremely elaborate.
If you ever feel low or discouraged before, during, or after meditation as a beginner, remind yourself that these feelings are completely natural. It is extremely common to feel this way when beginning a new activity or hobby – these feelings don’t just apply to meditation. When this occurs, remember that the benefits far outweigh any possible struggles. Have patience, stay mindful, trust yourself – you will get there in time, and it will be well worth it.