There are many types of meditation and countless ways that you can meditate

Meditation has a huge number or benefits which can include reducing stress or anxiety, better sleep, improved focus and creativity, pain management, better mental and emotional health, to name a few.

Despite all of its benefits, people often resist trying it or doing it on a regular basis. I often hear people say things like, “Meditation is hard.” or “I can’t meditate because my brain is too busy.”

Part of the problem with meditation is that many people don’t understand:

1. how simple it can be to meditate, and

2. there is no wrong way to meditate.

When thinking about meditation, the picture of a person sitting in lotus position (cross legged) with eyes closed and finger and thumb touching while the hands rest on the knees often comes to mind. This is a popular pose but it is only one of countless positions to meditate in.

You can meditate while sitting, lying down, standing, or walking. You can focus on your breath or focus on a particular word, or a set of words.

You can do it at any time of day or night. There is never a wrong way to meditate if it makes you feel better while you are doing it.

The basic guidelines to help you get started with a meditation practice:

• Find a relatively quiet space, and sit, stand or lie down in a comfortable position. The only downside to lying down during meditation is that it’s pretty easy to fall asleep, which is fine if that’s your goal.

• Close your eyes and start to focus on your breathing, taking slow, deep breaths in and out. Notice how many seconds it takes to breathe in and how many seconds to breathe out. Focus on this count for a little while until your thoughts start to wander.

• Notice the thoughts that come into your mind as you’re trying to focus on your breath. Imagine they are clouds passing through a massive blue sky (your mind).

  Our thoughts, like clouds, will always come and go and sometimes our mind will feel very busy (like a super cloudy day) and other times the “clouds” will come and quickly pass through the “sky”

• Try not to judge the thoughts that come into your mind. Just let them be and come back to your breath.

  Part of the point of meditation is to help us to accept whatever is happening in our lives with equanimity. If we can stop judging our thoughts / ourselves, it’s much easier to stop judging others or stress about things that may happen in the future.

• Let yourself sit for as long or short as you want and notice how you feel when you allow yourself to relax into your deep breathing.

The guidelines above are more focussed on a sitting meditation. You can also do walking meditation, which is much easier to do in nature, but not essential.

You still start out by focussing on your breath, but also notice your body moving through space. Let yourself take in the beauty of nature and be present with wherever your are.

Thoughts will come into your mind and again, let them pass like clouds in a sky by coming back to the present moment. Don’t judge your thoughts or yourself. Just do your best to keep coming back to the present moment, enjoying the health of your body and your surrounding.

The biggest part of meditation that people seem to struggle with is that they never stop thinking and / or it’s too hard to focus on the breath. In the beginning of anything that’s new, there’s a little bit of a learning curve to get better.

The more you meditate, the better you get at it. It is pleasant to have times when your mind is quiet but that’s not exactly the goal.

The goal is to be present as much as possible and to allow whatever happens in your meditation without judging it, which can be a little bit challenging because many of us are very judgemental, especially towards ourselves.

The good news is that every time you meditate, you are literally changing your brain and the energy in your body.

As corny as it sounds, the journey really is the destination. Enlightenment is not some place we strive to reach. It’s any time we can be completely present and fully accept whatever the moment brings. That’s what truly feels good.

Action Steps:

• Take a few minutes today to stop and focus on being in the present moment while breathing deeply. Let yourself do this in whatever way your body want (e.g. walking, sitting, etc.)

• Enjoy the serenity that even a couple of minute of practice can bring into your life and expand upon that over time.