Begin a Practice of Mindful Meditation

While many people think of meditation as something you might do with a teacher, it can be as straightforward as paying attention to your breath while sitting in your car or on the train, or while sitting at the coffee shop or in your office, or while walking or showering. Steal away 2 minutes in your day and reap the hefty benefits of this simple practice.

Why Meditate?

  • It relieves stress and helps you to relax.
  • When you practice mindfulness, you can carry it out to everyday life.
  • Meditation helps you to savor life, change habits, live simply and slowly, and be present in everything you do.
  • Meditation has been shown to have mental benefits, such as improved focus, happiness, memory, self-control, academic performance and more.
  • Some research on meditation has indicated that it may have other health benefits, including improved metabolism, heart rate, respiration, blood pressure and more.

Some of the best benefits of meditation are hard to define. You begin to understand yourself better, for example, and form a self-awareness level you’ve never had before. Most simply, sitting for just a few minutes of meditation is an oasis of calm and relaxation that we rarely find in our lives these days. And that, in itself, is enough.

How to Meditate Daily

There are lots and lots of ways to meditate. But our concern is not to find a perfect form of meditation; it is to form the daily habit of meditation. And so our method will be as simple as possible.

1. Commit to just two minutes a day. Start simply if you want the habit to stick. You can do it for five minutes if you feel good about it, but all you’re committing to is two minutes each day.

2. Pick a time and trigger. Not an exact time of day, but a general time, like in the morning when you wake up or during your lunch hour. The trigger should be something you already do regularly, like drink your first cup of coffee, brush your teeth, have lunch, or arrive home from work.

3. Find a quiet spot. Sometimes early morning is best, before others in your house might be awake and making lots of noise. Others might find a spot in a park or on the beach or some other soothing setting. It really doesn’t matter where as long as you can sit without being bothered for a few minutes. A few people walking by your park bench is fine.

4. Sit comfortably. Don’t fuss too much about how you sit, what you wear, what you sit on, etc. I personally like to sit on a pillow on the floor, with my back leaning against a wall, because I’m very inflexible. Others who can sit cross-legged comfortably might do that instead. Still others can sit on a chair or couch if sitting on the floor is uncomfortable. Zen practitioners often use a zafu, a round cushion filled with kapok or buckwheat. Don’t go out and buy one if you don’t already have one. Any cushion or pillow will do, and some people can sit on a bare floor comfortably.

5. Start with just two minutes. This is really important. Most people will think they can meditate for 15-30 minutes, and they can. But this is not a test of how strong you are at staying in meditation; we are trying to form a longer-lasting habit. And to do that, we want to start with just two minutes. You’ll find it much easier to start this way, and forming a habit with a small start like this is a method much more likely to succeed. You can expand to 5-7 minutes if you can do it for 7 straight days, then 10 minutes if you can do it for 14 straight days, then 15 minutes if you can stick to it for 21 straight days, and 20 if you can do a full month.

6. Focus on your breath. As you breathe in, follow your breath in through your nostrils, then into your throat, then into your lungs and belly. Sit straight, keep your eyes open but looking at the ground with a soft focus. If you want to close your eyes, that’s fine. As you breathe out, follow your breath out back into the world. If it helps, count one breath in, two breaths out, three breaths in, four breaths out. When you get to 10, start over. If you lose track, start over. If you find your mind wandering (and you will), just pay attention to your mind wandering, then bring it gently back to your breath.

Repeat this process for the few minutes you meditate. You won’t be very good at it at first most likely, but you’ll get better with practice.

Expanding Your Practice

  • Sitting and paying attention to your breath is really mindfulness practice. It is a way to train yourself to focus your attention. Once you’ve practiced a bit while sitting in a quiet space, you can expand your mindfulness practice:
  • When you feel stress, take a minute to pay attention to your breath, and return your mind to the present moment.
  • Try taking a walk, and instead of thinking about things you need to do later, pay attention to your breath, your body’s sensations, and the things around you.
  • When you eat, just eat, and focus your attention on the food, on your feelings as you eat, and on the sensations.
  • Try a mindful tea ritual, where you focus your attention on your movements as you prepare the tea, on the tea as you smell and taste it, and on your breath as you go through the ritual.
  • Wash your dishes and sweep your floor mindfully.

That’s it. It is a very simple practice, but you want to do it for two minutes every day, after the same trigger each day. Do this for a month and you’ll have a daily meditation habit.

Adapted with permission from Leo Babauta @ ZenHabits

4 thoughts on “Begin a Practice of Mindful Meditation”

  1. This reminds me of the words SUMMA IRU-to simple words that means “just be.” Meditation is a way to find that stillness.

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  2. Good to know there is a two-minute way to start to meditate. It’s hard as a busy parent to even consider taking 20 to 30 minutes out of an already hectic schedule. Thanks for the practical tips.

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  3. I disagree I think we are our thouhgts. Though they are separate we become only what we think. For example if you think you are a good artist they you are. Or if you think that you will never get sick you won’t. Couple of real life examples are Anna Nicole who thought that she would die young, or Michael Jackson who thought that those kids would be his undoing.

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  4. I even meditate while I am in the shower! It is just a method of relaxing your mind and clearing your thoughts which will be a healthy practice to improve our daily living. All of your tips are great! I hope to read more from you! Thanks!

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