A Beginner's Guide to Meditation - Start where you are....

There’s a reason that most meditation practices start with focusing on the breath. There are of course many meditation styles and traditions, and the starting point for many, many of those traditions is to practice focusing on the breath. Why? Because, firstly, the breath is the best and most reliable way to come into the moment. If you are paying attention to THIS breath in THIS moment, you aren’t thinking about the past or thinking about the future — you are experiencing this moment in the now. Secondly, the breath is with us all the time. We don’t have to limit what we think of as meditation to a temple, altar, or even a special cushion. We can pause at any moment and focus on the breath. You can even do it right now. Are you sitting or standing? Can you feel the weight of your feet on the floor or your butt in your seat right now and observe ONE breath. One inhale and one exhale. (i knew you could do it) Now try three breaths. Go on now… you’re meditating!

Meditation isn’t ‘zoning out’ nor is it in any way the process of blanking the mind or stopping the thoughts. Meditation is more about being present with exactly what IS happening in any moment. Is the mind a little lethargic right now vs busy, is the mind really fixated on one thought or sensation in particular, what are the particular qualities of the mind that i notice? One of the benefits of having a regular practice, like a daily practice is that one can see quite directly that the mind changes every day, like the weather. And we can remind ourself of this truth whenever we feel stuck in a particular state of mind.

For this reason (and other reasons too!) it can be very helpful to keep a meditation journal, especially in the early stages of developing a meditation practice. Sometimes my journal entry would be a note on how my hip started hurting and i should try a different seat, or it might be more about the content of the thoughts that were coming up, or about feeling very restless that morning. Slowly, my seat started feeling more comfortable , I was able to sit a little longer, I was able to focus and get steady…. It all started with the intention to focus on one inhale and one exhale.

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