How To Start Meditating | 5 Steps For Beginners

Meditation has so many benefits to our mental health. It allows for time to clear your head, helps you to reconnect to your body, and encourages you to become more mindful. But it’s a tricky practice to get the hang of and definitely requires some dedication and time.

There are a few things you can do though, as a beginner, to start getting acquainted with meditation, and ways that you can start to really enjoy it and develop your meditation abilities.

1. Sit (or lay down) comfortably

Find whatever position is most comfortable for you. That could be sitting cross legged on the floor, classic meditation style, or it could be lying down on your bed. Making sure you’re comfortable is going to be the number one way to help your mind get into the zone of meditation.

Being distracted by a dead leg, or a sore back, is only going to interrupt your practice.

So get comfy.

2. Build your time up

Start with 5 minutes of meditation, set a timer so that you know you’re not committing to more than 5. Then, once you’ve completed a few 5 minutes sessions, start going for 10 minutes. This build up can be as quick or as long as you need it to be.

If you start with 5 minutes and realise you really love the Zen life, move up to 10 minutes straight away in your next session. But if you find it a little trickier to get into the zone, keep your sessions short and sweet at 5 minutes for as long as you need.

3. Listen to music

Some may say this is sacrilege. However, if you have a busy mind that struggles with pure silence for too long, starting your sessions with some music is a great way to get into meditation.

Preferably music without lyrics so that your head remains in the moment, and make sure the volume isn't too loud so that you can still listen to your breath over it. Background music like this can also be a huge source of comfort, and that is key in meditation. Try our rest day playlist for some chilled vibes.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0aXylbFhSm8UAiAfW0bAn8

4. Use your breath

Once you’ve started meditating, it’s easy for your mind to begin to wander. Thinking about what you’re going to have for dinner later or that embarrassing thing you said at work today.

Whenever these thoughts disrupt your meditation, use your breath to centre yourself back. Start focusing on your breath and how you control it. This will bring your mind back to your body, and make sure you’re grounded.

5. Make it a habit

The easiest way to make sure you do something regularly is to make it a habit. Once you make meditation part of your daily routine, it becomes just another part of your day, like brushing your teeth, you’ll always make sure it gets done. It becomes part of your day that you can’t go without.

Take Home Message

Meditation has countless benefits for so many things, including controlling stress and anxiety.

It’s important to start small with meditation as it can seem a little daunting at first, so begin with short sessions, integrating music into your practice at first, and using your breath as a tool to ground your thoughts.

Using all of these tips, you’ll be a meditation master in no time.