Meditation for beginners: advice from a beginner

Meditation for beginners: advice from a beginner

If you think meditation is just for hippies or new-age spiritualists, bear with me for a minute while I try to change your mind. I am a busy executive, writer, wife, and grandmother who has personally discovered the real-world benefits of meditation in my daily life.

But I’m not just asking you to take my word for it, thousands of studies have shown the positive impact that meditating has on our health and well-being.

Why meditate?

  1. To sleep better. Meditation has been shown to improve REM sleep and increase levels of melatonin.
  2. To reduce stress and anxiety and increase happiness. Focusing on all the terrible things that might happen to us—or what people think of us—takes us out of the present moment and causes stress. A Harvard study found that mind-wandering, which often means drifting to these negative thoughts, was linked to unhappiness. Meditation improves mindfulness.
  3. To lose weight. Researchers at UC San Francisco studied a group of women to see if meditating could prevent overeating. The scientists didn’t prescribe any diet, but instead taught mindful eating, and had participants meditate for 30 minutes a day. Cortisol and abdominal fat were both reduced in the test group.
  4. To reduce pain. After four days of mindfulness-based training, participants in one study reported less pain intensity and unpleasantness, and their MRIs showed reductions in pain-induced cerebral blood flow during meditation sessions.
  5. To improve success. A study from Harvard Medical School demonstrated that meditation causes changes in brain waves that actually improve the brain’s functionality. Did you know that these 10 outrageously successful people (including Rupert Murdoch, Bill Ford, and Oprah Winfrey) contribute their success in part to meditation practice?

So hopefully, you are now convinced that meditation is beneficial, but you might be doubting your ability to be successful at it. I know I used to say, “My mind is just too busy to meditate.” Turns out that was precisely the reason I needed to learn.

I’m going to share with you the three meditations I’ve found the easiest to start with. If you want to learn from professionals, there are many resources available (just Google it), but here are my layperson descriptions.

How to meditate?

I recommend that you start with five-minute sessions, gradually adding more time every couple of days. Set a timer, so you aren’t tempted to keep peeking at the clock. In the beginning, time may feel as if it is passing very slowly. I also suggest using a gentle non-jarring sound, if you have the luxury of setting your ringtone.

Mindful breathing: 

  1. Get in a comfortable position, sitting or lying down. Close your eyes and consciously relax your body.
  2. Focus on your breathing. Don’t try to change it, just tune into it. Breathe in, breathe out. In the beginning, I found it helpful to lie down and place a hand on my stomach.
  3. Be gentle with your wandering mind. Your thoughts will wander. Don’t be hard on yourself. That’s normal; you’re not doing it wrong. Just acknowledge the thought, and gently direct your attention back to your breathing. It may help to repeat “Inhale, exhale” or “breathe in, breathe out.”
  4. Slowly open your eyes and bring your awareness to the space around you.

Gratitude meditation:

  1. Get in a comfortable position, sitting or lying down. Close your eyes and consciously relax your body.
  2. Focus on your breathing for several cycles. Breathe in, breathe out.
  3. Begin listing things for which you are grateful, starting each sentence with “Thank you.” For example: “Thank you for my strong, healthy body. Thank you for my grandchildren and the joy they bring into my life. Thank you for the beauty in the world and eyes to see it with. Thank you for my safe comfortable home. Thank you for this day and the experiences I will have.” Just let the blessings flow into your mind.
  4. Bring your focus back to your breath for several cycles. Breathe in, breathe out.
  5. Slowly open your eyes and bring your awareness to the space around you.

Loving kindness:

  1. Get in a comfortable position, sitting or lying down. Close your eyes and consciously relax your body.
  2. Focus on your breathing for several cycles. Move your focus to your chest, your heart center.
  3. Visualize yourself, soften your heart, and say, “May you be well, May you be happy. May you feel at ease.” Repeat that for several breathing cycles.
  4. Move your focus to someone you naturally and easily love. Repeat, “May you be well. May you be happy. May you feel at ease.”
  5. From there, move to a neutral person, someone that you don’t particularly like or dislike. Allow yourself to feel kindness towards that person and wish them well. “May you be well. May you be happy. May you feel at ease.”
  6. Next move on to someone with whom you have difficulties and repeat the well wishes. If you find it hard to sincerely wish them well, adjust the phrases: “To the best of my ability, I wish that you be well.” If you find ill will rising, return to the person you love until the feelings of loving kindness return. Return to the difficult person and try again.
  7. From there, radiate loving kindness to all living beings, repeating “May we all be well. May we all be happy. May we all feel at ease.”
  8. Bring your focus back to your breathing for several cycles. Breathe in, breathe out.
  9. Slowly open your eyes and bring your awareness to the space around you.

Do any of those meditations speak to you? Even if you’re still feeling a little skeptical, I encourage you to try it. Start with a simple 5-minute mindful breathing meditation. Stick with it for at least two weeks and see what you think. If you aren’t sold, you can always stop, and at least you can say you tried. But if you get even one of the benefits that studies have demonstrated come from regular meditation, it will be well worth your time and effort. I’d love to hear of your experience.

***Your turn***

Do you meditate regularly? If so, do you have a specific meditation practice?

What benefits have you noticed since starting meditation?

If you haven’t meditated before, are you willing to give it a try? Why or why not?

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12 Comments

    1. You’re welcome, Cindy. I’d love to hear what you think after a couple of weeks. I still have some days when it feels like effort to sit still for 10 minutes. Other days, I feel completely relaxed. However any one day goes, though, I definitely have noticed a difference in my general disposition.

  1. Definitely trying the mindful and gratitude meditation later when I am home just to relax myself after doing some hard work..

    Thanks for the tips.
    Nhick

  2. Hi, Christie – I honestly did comment on this post previously, but my message must have been lost in the blogosphere (or is hiding in spam somewhere).
    My recent hike on the Camino Trail was very meditative and has encouraged me to find out more about mindfulness and meditation. Your post offered great information and motivation. Thanks so much for sharing this!

  3. I do Mindful and Gratitude meditation daily, Christie. I do it during my yoga sessions, when I walk, and before sleep. Aside from the benefits that you mentioned, I enjoy the focus on breathing and quiet awareness.

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