{"id":48,"date":"2015-03-03T19:20:34","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T19:20:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.20-minutevacation.com\/20mv-blog\/?p=48"},"modified":"2015-03-22T21:10:51","modified_gmt":"2015-03-22T21:10:51","slug":"meditation-for-beginners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.20-minutevacation.com\/20mv-blog\/meditation-for-beginners\/","title":{"rendered":"Meditation for Beginners — Start With the Breath"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Meditation<\/a><\/p>\n

Meditation is not as esoteric as you might think. It\u2019s just sitting quietly and watching your mind without getting carried away by your thoughts — many of which are anxious, fearful, and self critical. If we get a rest from this swarm of anxious thoughts — we can begin to relax.<\/p>\n

Beginning — How Should I Sit?<\/h3>\n

Sit in an upright position. Maybe you can sit in full lotus, or another recommended cross legged posture. By all means do so. But if you can’t, just sit in a chair. That’s what I do because my legs just can’t manage anything else. Sit\u00a0forward on the \u00a0seat, not touching the back rest, feet flat on the floor, body upright. Keep your eyes open in soft focus, looking down at about a 45 degree angle. Rest your hands, palms down, on your knees. Here is a site which shows all the possible ways to sit in meditation<\/a> from beginners to the most advanced.<\/p>\n

You could just sit like this for five minutes, no technique, just you sitting alone in a room doing nothing. But many beginners\u00a0would have a difficult time doing this. This is single tasking in the extreme. It’s fishing without the boat, the rippling water and the wonderful scenery. Just you, your chair and a quiet room. The mind has a tendency to roam.<\/p>\n

Breath Counting<\/h3>\n

So as beginners\u00a0it’s good to have\u00a0some training wheels to keep our mind from veering out of control.\u00a0The most convenient aid is the breath.When I went to the San Francisco Zen Center for the first time I received Zazen (meditation) instruction. My teacher taught me to count my breaths to give me an anchor for my Zazen. He said you\u00a0need an anchor because if you try to just sit and watch your thoughts (the most advanced practice), they\u2019ll run rampant and you\u2019ll end up captured by your thinking instead of settling into\u00a0the present moment of each breath.<\/p>\n

Our breath is with us 24 hours a day for our entire life. There\u2019s nothing more basic and necessary for us. So here we have a ready made meditation aid. That\u2019s why counting the breath is usually the first step in many meditation systems. Here\u2019s how I was told to do it.<\/p>\n

Take a few deep breaths and then settle in,\u00a0and slowly count each exhalation: one\u2026two\u2026three\u2026four\u2026five. You should fully exhale so each inhalation comes\u00a0naturally. If you lose the count, go back and start with one. When you get to ten, start over at one. This is all you need to do.<\/p>\n

Try to relentlessly lock your attention onto each number of your counting. Visualize each number. If you lose the count, don\u2019t criticize yourself. Just begin again at one. Using this technique, your breathing becomes orderly and your mind becomes orderly as well. This is meditation 101.<\/p>\n

After doing it for a few weeks\u00a0you may have times when the breath counting starts to become easier. When it’s just you and your breath, your vision narrows, your breath is calm, the room seems quieter. “I’m starting to get it!”\u00a0And as soon as you say that to yourself — the feeling is gone and it’s back to the beginning again. But on the days when it comes easy — and\u00a0the days when it’s all you can do to just stay seated and finish your time — just do your allotted time without evaluating how it’s going. Meditation takes practice, and the practice is the goal. \u00a0That’s the beauty of it. You can’t fail.<\/p>\n

At some point\u00a0you might be able to take off the training wheels and just sit and watch your thoughts without getting caught up in them. But start with breath counting and see how it goes.<\/p>\n

Meditation for Beginners — A few\u00a0tips:<\/h3>\n
    \n
  • Start with just five minutes a day. Do it every day and at some point you will naturally want to increase the time.<\/li>\n
  • There is not good or bad meditation.\u00a0You are just sitting down and watching your breath. The process is the goal. Imagine yourself\u00a0in the Paleolithic era, sitting at night, staring into\u00a0the campfire. No electricity, no devices, no television, no goal. Just the fire, the stars overhead and your thoughts, your breath, your body.<\/li>\n
  • Keep your meditation practice to yourself at first. Some people will not be supportive.And worse, you might find\u00a0yourself listening to someone\u2019s war stories about their 7-day silent meditation retreat,\u00a0when you’re struggling with five minutes a day. You don’t need that.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Meditation is not as esoteric as you might think. It\u2019s just sitting quietly and watching your mind without getting carried away by your thoughts — many of which are anxious, fearful, and self critical. If we get a rest from this swarm of anxious thoughts — we can begin to relax. Beginning — How Should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMeditation for Beginners -- Start With the Breath<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Meditation for beginners -- simply sit quietly, watching your thoughts without getting carried away by them. 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