Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years as a tool to improve self-understanding, support health and well-being, and reduce stress and anxiety. Here is a simple set of instructions to start your meditation practice:
- Set aside a quiet location in your home, or any other calming, soothing place for your meditation area.
- Set a regular time for your meditation. Aim for 10 minutes a day.
- Sit on a comfortable cushion or chair.
- Ideally, you want to sit upright, making sure your spine is straight and your body is relaxed. However, in the beginning, simply try your best, and know that you will gradually improve.
- Slowly relax the big and small muscles in your whole body, starting from the muscles in your head and neck, arms and hands, upper back and lower back, the chest and abdominal, pelvis area, down to legs and feet.
- Now take seven deep breaths as follows: Slowly inhale, fill up your lungs; hold your breath for two to three seconds; then slowly exhale completely.
- Now close your eyes, and start the meditation while your spine is straight (as straight as possible), and your body is relaxed.
- Breathe in the way you naturally breathe and allow your attention to be only on the inhale and exhale, in the area of your upper lip, below your nostrils.
- Allow yourself to be attentive and don't try to control or force your breathing. Gently push back any thought that comes to your mind and come back to this area again without judging yourself.
As you gradually become calmer, move your attention to the top of your head, and slowly revisit all the muscles that you have already relaxed—from head to feet. Focus on each area, sense the sensation of the specific muscle; count to four, and then move your attention to the next limb. Once you covered the whole body, repeat the process again. At the end of your meditation, take a few more deep breaths, and allow yourself to enjoy the rejuvenation, calmness for a few minutes before you do anything else.