How to Meditate

A simple guide to the frequently asked questions, or frequently held  thoughts about the “RIGHT” way to meditate.

Let’s start off with the foundational questions: What is meditation?

A: Meditation is witnessing your breath and thoughts. Taking the time to pause from the constant stimulus of being aware of all of the events going on, and reacting to all of the stimuli throughout your day, and just finding stillness for a period of time.

Do I have to sit?

A: No, you don’t have to. Most people do for numerous reasons. First, you are more likely to fall asleep if you are lying down. What’s wrong with falling asleep? Nothing is wrong, but being asleep makes it hard to witness the full experience of your breath because part of the brain is asleep or I guess you could think turned off. Meditation is actually turning ON the brain. Another reason we sit is because your breath flows most naturally in this posture. Actually, when I meditate the first 5 minutes is often just focusing on moving the breath into my spinal column, through my hips, and to my feet. I often revisit the movement of breath throughout my meditation when my back muscles start to feel sore, or my feet start to fall asleep.

What do I need to do to prepare for meditation?

A: Most simply, I set a timer. I make sure I am not constricted by my pants, and then I sit. I personally don’t like music or earbuds because meditation is the practice of witnessing. It is the moment to not be stimulated, but rather to rest in stillness. Music is a stimulus that alters my natural brain patterns. However, that is not to say that some people may need that aide to pause the other stimulus around them. Some people prefer to be on a yoga mat or to be outside. I just advocate that you keep it simple. Overthinking, will only hinder you more from taking the steps to just sit down and breathe.

How long, and how often should I meditate?

Start with setting a timer for 15 minutes. Close your eyes and keep your eyes rested, closed. I personally meditate 3 times a week for 30 minutes. Some individuals meditate every day. This is your practice that is your choice to take some moments for self-care. Remember that self-care is not a checklist. If it is stressing you out to need to get it done, let it wait until tomorrow, or let is just be a 15 minutes session this time instead of 30 minutes.

Can I mess up meditating?

I am going to say yes. These are mistakes that I used to make, and realized I was not meditating.
A) Turning my alarm off and lying on my back to meditate. All I did was fall back asleep.
B) While meditating, taking a picture, or journaling my thoughts.
Meditation is a practice of witnessing your thoughts. Not controlling them, holding onto them, breaking them. Just witnessing them. When you stop to write down an idea, you disrupt your body’s natural phase of relaxation and breath. Just rest. Remember these thoughts are not new. They are in YOUR mind. Meditation is helping clear the fog so these great thoughts have the space to stay and grow – and they will.

Why should I meditate? I am not religious, I am not stressed out, I don’t get what sitting down is going to do for me.

First, if you say you are not stressed out, I question what you define as stress. Are you spending hours flipping through social media, and not having time to do things productive or have motivation to take action? Do you have an array of ideas and thoughts in your heads but organizing them isn’t happening? Meditation is giving attention to your thoughts and mind’s actions. We may think that we already do this when we are out and about throughout our days, but we actually are only just being reactive. If the server says what do you want to eat, we go with our first reaction of hunger and craving, or the advertised picture. When asked “how are you doing?” our knee-jerk response is “good,” and “well,” not actually taking into account the actual events, physical pain, nightmares you had last night, person that cut you off in traffic, old-man that belittled your generation, all resulting in your mind actually feeling frustrated and confused.
Meditation takes the time to witness how your mind actually feels. Then it takes the time to accept, and move forward with your mind’s current state. Recognizing your strengths, skills, abilities, and energy to do good and make change.

What others questions, or thoughts, do you have about meditation?
If you meditate regularly, how has it impacted your daily life?

If you are looking for an aid to relax and help focus during meditation there are two essential oils I would recommend.
When I need peace, I like to diffuse or rub doTERRA Serenity on my earlobes.
When I feel down, and would like something uplifting and focusing, doTERRA Wild Orange is a great aid.

Cherish your self. Cherish today.

Sending you love, comfort, peace and encouragement to be Truly You.