How to Meditate: 10 Important Tips
1. Posture
Whether you sit on a chair or cross-legged on the floor, make sure
that your spine is upright with head up. If you are slumped your mind
will drift. Mind and body are intertwined. If your body is
well-balanced, your mind will also be in balance. To straighten up,
imagine that your head is touching the sky.
2. Eyes
Try and keep you eyes open. Open eyes allow you to be more present.
Just lower your eyes and let your gaze be soft. If you close your eyes
you will be more likely to drift away on thoughts and stories. However,
it’s important to do what is comfortable for you. Some people find
closing their eyes much more effective. It’s good to experiment and see
what feels best for you.
2. Focus
In ordinary consciousness we are hardly ever present. For example,
sometimes we drive the car on autopilot while being preoccupied with
thoughts. Suddenly we arrive at our destination and don’t remember
anything about the drive!
So, meditation is a wonderful way of waking up to our life. Otherwise
we miss most of our experiences because we are somewhere else in our
mind! Let’s take a look at what focus is. In ordinary life, we tend to
equate focus with concentration. That’s like using the mind like a
concentrated beam of light. But in meditation, that kind of mind isn’t
helpful. It’s too sharp and edgy. To focus in meditation means to pay
soft attention to whatever you place in the centre of awareness. I
suggest using the breath as a focus. It’s like a natural door that
connects ‘inside’ and ‘outside’. Zen Master Toni Packer says:
3. The breath
Paying attention to the breath is a great way to anchor yourself in the present moment.
Notice your breath streaming in and out. There’s no need to regulate the breath – just let it be natural.
4. Counting you breath
If you are having difficulties settling, you can try counting the
breath – which is an ancient meditation practice. On your outbreath,
silently count “one”, then “two”, and up to “four”. Then return to
“one”. Whenever you notice your thoughts have strayed far away or you
find yourself counting “thirtythree”, simply return to “one”. In this
way, “one” is like coming home to the present moment. It’s good to
return without a backward glance.
5. Thoughts
When you notice thoughts, gently let them go by returning yous focus
to the breath. Don’t try and stop thoughts; this will just make you feel
agitated. Imagine that they are unwelcome visitors at your door:
acknowledge their presence and politely ask them to leave. Then shine
the soft light of your attention on your breath.
6. Emotions
It’s difficult to settle into meditation if you are struggling with
strong emotions. This is because some emotions tend to breed stories in
the mind. Especially anger, shame and fear create stories that repeat
over and over in the mind. Anger and shame make us keep looking at past
events of the past. Fear looks at the future with stories that start
with, “What if…”
The way to deal with strong emotions in meditation is to focus on the
body feelings that accompany the emotion. For example, this could be
the tight band of fear around the chest or the hot roiling of anger in
the belly. Let go of the stories and refocus on your body. In this way
you are honouring your emotions but not becoming entangled in stories.some times To control yours emotions it's going difficult. That's time Leave it all just watch clam.
7. Silence
Silence is healing. I know that there are is a lot of ‘meditation
music’ around, but nothing beats simple silence. Otherwise the music or
sounds on the tape just drown out the chatter in your mind. When we sit
in silence we actually get to experience what our mind is doing. There
is steadiness and calmness that comes from sitting in silence. In time
outer and inner silence meet and you come to rest in the moment.
8. Length
Start with 10 minutes and only sit longer if you feel that that is
too short. Don’t force yourself to meditate longer if you are not ready
to do that. In time you might like to extend your meditation to 25
minutes. That’s a length that allows you to settle your mind without
causing too much stress on your body. Most importantly, shrug off any
‘shoulds’. Some people enjoy sitting for an hour at a time. Others find
that they can’t sit longer than 10 minutes. Do what feels right for you
9. Place
You can create a special place to sit. You can even make a
shrine or an altar that you can face when you sit in meditation. You
might like to place a candle on your altar and objects that have meaning
to you. Outdoor Nature place also good.not possible you can sit in yours room Tell also your family don't disturb some time.one more tip is group meditation is so powerful. ask yours family we can do group meditation.
10. Enjoyment
Most of all it’s important to enjoy meditation. You might like to try
sitting with a hint of a smile. Be kind to yourself. Start sitting just
a little each day. It’s helpful to establish a daily habit Happy day.
