Are you new to meditation and wondering how to go about it? In this article you can read about the fundamental aspects of the practice to help you attain the most benefit.
You already know, through your understanding of ‘health & lifestyle’ and ‘stress-management’ of the benefits of meditating to support wellness. The growing popularity it enjoys is well-deserved and equally well-documented with enough anecdotal and empirical evidence to support it. What’s great too is that it is free, straightforward and accessible to anyone willing to put in the time.
“For those who have an intense urge for Spirit and wisdom, it sits
– Patanjali, The Yoga Sutras
near them, waiting.”
Let’s start with the fundamental aspects of meditation.
How to Meditate
If you are beginning your practice, below is a list of considerations for your practice. It is important to consider the many variables that can support your meditation practice.
Time and Duration for Meditation Practice
Pick any time of the day when you can spare a minimum of 15 minutes. Make sure that you can adhere to this same time frame every day. According to yogic tradition, the ideal time to meditate is within the two hours before sunrise (Brahma muhurta). But you don’t need to follow this unless it is convenient. If you meditate as a part of a larger practice, ensure that it is the last activity of your routine i.e. – First do your asanas, then move on to breath work and conclude with meditation.
Place for Meditation Practice
When you are starting your meditation practice, the place should be quiet, well ventilated and tidy. All the space to help create the sense of peace and openess that you desire from your practice. For more information on how to create a sacred space for your meditation practice read DoCalm’s article How to Create a Sacred Space for Your Yoga and Meditation Practice.
Posture for Meditation Practice
You cannot be calm unless you are comfortable. Just sit in any posture that you can sustain for the duration of your practice. Here are some options to consider:
- Sit cross-legged: You can sit cross-legged on a yoga mat on the floor. This is commonly known as the ‘easy pose’ or sukhasana.
- Extended Legs: Sit on a small throne/cushion on the floor (or in bed) with your back against a wall. Keep your upper body straight but in a relaxed manner. Stretch your legs out in front of you and rest your palms on your thighs.
- Grab a chair: Do away with the misconception that you cannot meditate while sitting on a chair. Just make sure your back, neck and head are in a straight line and your thighs are parallel to the ground.
- Asana: You don’t *need* to know yoga to meditate. Nor do you need to sit in any asana or ‘specific posture’ to start your practice. However, for those interested and physically capable, you can meditate in padmasana, vajrasana, siddhasana, swastikasana or even as you lie down in savasana.
Spine Position for Meditation Practice
Straight as a spear pointed at the sky! There are many deeper implications of the role of a stacked spine in yoga and other eastern traditions. But without getting into any esoteric and erudite concepts, let us just say that an erect spine is good for the central nervous system (CNS) and blood circulation.
Hands Position for Meditation Practice
The simplest thing to do is place your hands on your thighs or knees in a sitting posture or next to you (on the floor) if you are lying down.
Open palms Meditation
Upward facing or open palms (facing the sky/ceiling) is a giving/receiving mudra where you are ‘open’ and alert to everything around you.
Palms down Meditation
Downward facing palms (palms facing thighs/floor) is grounding and anchoring, it helps silence the mind and calms you down.
Folded palms for Meditation
If you are sitting, place your left open palm under your navel and place your right open hand over it. Let the two thumbs touch each other gently. This is also known as the dhyaana mudra. Read more about the importance of palms in meditation in Do Calm’s article Your Palms Give Life to Your Meditation Practice.
Mudra for Meditation
Yoga practitioners, you can also form a mudra (yogic hand gestures) to assist energy-flow and augment your spiritual practice. You will benefit from the gyan mudra but if you have a specific purpose, you may opt for others. To learn more about Mudra’s used to support your meditation check out this article: https://yogainternational.com/article/view/2-meditation-mudras
Shoulders Position for Meditation Practice
Check on your shoulders every time you take the first deep breath during your meditation practice. Stiff shoulders = poor posture. Do not hunch forward or lean backward and keep your shoulders gently relaxed.
Eyes in Meditation Practice
Let us do a quick experiment – find an object in the room and focus on it. Now close your eyes really fast and hold for two seconds. Now open them quickly/suddenly and hold for two seconds. Repeat this a few times. Now do that same thing but as slow as you can. Did you notice a difference? Sudden or quick movements give the brain a jolt of information and light. It takes a few moments for the mind to settle down after this. This is the reason why you must always close and open your eyes very gently throughout your practice. Other than that, you can decide between the following two options:
Open Eyes Meditation
You can meditate with your eyes open in a quiet and secluded place. This is a good way to ‘view’ the stillness and absorb the beauty present in the moment, here and now. Needless to say, this may not be that effective if you are facing a desk or a door. You can direct your attention to something naturally breathtaking like a sunrise, a flower-pot or a starry sky (or full moon). If you are indoors, you can gaze at a candle/lamp placed a few feet away or focus on a picture, flowers or a meaningful symbol.
Closed Eyes Meditation
Contrary to popular belief, closing your eyes doesn’t make it ‘easier’ to concentrate. The lack of visual stimulus causes the mind to wander into the unwarranted territory or reimagining incidents from the past, contemplating anxieties, daydreaming, and replaying old conversations. If you are groggy and sleepy, closing your eyes will turn meditation into a nap. The best way to mitigate these issues is to find another stimulus to compensate. You can do this by trying to feel your breath under your nose, focusing on the expansion and contraction of your diaphragm, trying to ‘feel your feet’, by keeping count of your breath or listening to a pleasant sound. Advanced practitioners may not face these issues but beginners may take some time to get used to it.
Pick any one technique and stick with it. If you keep switching between open and close eyes initially, it can confuse you and make you feel restless.
Attire for Meditation
The only important thing is to dress comfortably. If you want to go a step further, you can dress in colors that make you feel calm and relaxed. If you want to go another step further you can read up on the chakra colors and their role in yoga. If you want to go yet another step further, you are just being finicky.
Direction for Meditation
Though a tad meticulous, according to yogic wisdom, it is recommended that a person face the east or north east when they meditate. If that is not possible, any direction but the south is considered amenable.
“When the mind falls asleep, awaken it. If it starts wandering, make it quiet. If you reach the state where there is neither sleep nor movement of the mind, stay still in that, the natural state.”
– Ramana Maharshi
Meditation can be described in many ways but the simplest way is to equate it with the art of learning to manage your mind. Today, meditation has found innumerous modern avatars and modifications across cultures in the West. It is typical to have surreal expectations about meditation as some enigmatic method to attain unspeakable bliss. But as a beginner, you may be better off considering it to be a way to anchor your flailing mind to experience an elementary state of relaxation. You will have plentiful opportunities to contemplate the symbolism and epistemology as you progress. Once you feel comfortable with your meditation practice, you can practice your meditation anywhere; at home, in nature or even in the city streets. Once you begin to find your place of calm, stillness will be easy to access anywhere.
I hope this article has addressed all the questions you may have had about how to meditate. I invite you to make meditation a regular part of your life to manage stress, improve your focus and understand/communicate with yourself. This clarity of action will lead to clarity of thought. That clarity of thought may lead to self-attainment. But once again, let us not put the cart before the horse.
But please keep one thing in mind…. It’s not what you think!
Jon Kabat-Zinn
