Learn to Meditate

Regular meditation, even for a few minutes a day, is physically and psychologically rewarding. There are many meditative techniques to choose from, but they all have one crucial element in common – concentration.

Not the sort of hard, determined concentration that we used to learn in lessons at school, but a light, relaxed form, in which you choose a point of focus and fix your attention upon it. Every time thoughts or feelings intrude, you gently steer your mind back to this point of focus. Anyone can meditate; all you need is patience and quiet determination.

• Getting Started:

Before starting a session of meditation, it is important to prepare properly.

• Choose a quiet time when you are unlikely to be interrupted. Most people prefer mornings, just after rising, but evenings just before bedtime are equally good. Decide what time is best for you and try to stick to it.

• Choose a place where you feel comfortable and calm.

• Wear loose, comfortable clothes.

• The Practice:

Once you are comfortable, mentally scan your body for muscle tension. Whenever you find an area of tension, gently let it go. Keep your back straight. Now focus your attention on your breathing. Make sure that it is coming from as low as possible. Don’t take huge breaths; just keep your breathing relaxed and natural, in a gentle, quiet rhythm. Now direct your attention to a point just below your nose – the point where you feel cool air as you breathe in and warm air as you breathe out. The sensation is subtle but clear. Keep your attention fixed on this point at all times, even between breaths.

• Keeping Focused:

When you start to meditate, you will almost certainly find that thoughts bubble up and tug you away from your point of focus. Don’t try to push them away. Pay them no special attention; just let them rise and pass across the surface of your mind. If a thought does capture your attention and takes you away from your breathing, bring your focus gently back. If you find it difficult to stay focused, it is sometimes helpful to count your breaths.

• Finding time:

Five minutes a day is good to start for beginners. As you become more practiced, you will be able to stay focused for longer. Try to get into the habit of meditating whenever you have nothing pressing to do.

• Persevering:

Some people give up meditation after a short time, protesting that their minds are so busy that they will never succeed at it. But it is precisely because our minds are so frantically busy that meditation is of such great value. The key to meditation is quiet perseverance. Even experienced mediators have ‘off’ days when they cannot still their mental chatter. Simply note these good and bad days, and continue with your practice.