Meditation is the art of focusing your attention. Your conscious mind is dimmed or turned off and your subconscious mind gets a chance to take you to your natural state, which is that of a spiritual being in a physical body. Meditation beginners cannot immediately go to a deep meditative state. Learning to achieve that requires sustained practice. However, meditation techniques for beginners can be learned in a short time and you can begin to feel the benefits right away.

The benefits of meditation are many and well worth the effort. Regular meditation is a strong healing process (from stress, and is physically and emotionally refreshing) and positively alters how you see yourself and your life. Beginners to meditation need to give some thought and effort to developing peaceful practice conditions and creating a space for meditation that enhances the process and calms the mind and body.

Creating a Space for Meditation

When meditating you want to be able to maintain controlled focus while being calm and relaxed.  Your meditation room or space should reflect and support this endeavor.

Tropical Décor

Bring the outdoors indoors

Tropical décor, for example Balinese interior design, is ideal for a calm and peaceful meditation space, and a home in general. The overarching principle of tropical decor is to bring the outdoors, into the home itself. By bring nature indoors you create a relaxing environment. An abundance of indoor plants, the use of wooden furniture, water features, and stone décor (bowls, statues, coffee tables) creates a tropical décor scheme, one that is ideal for meditating within.

The Use Of Color

Color is known to affect mental states and moods so the walls should be painted with colors that relax and please you.  Orange is a happy and social color but can be overwhelming in an entire room. Accent colors in pillows and rugs or mats can incorporate this color in manageable amounts.  Red can energize and also exhaust, so use it sparingly. Yellow promotes clear thinking and makes an excellent focal point for a meditation room.  A medallion of a yellow sun on the wall or a wall of yellow works well. Green is calming and energizing simultaneously, just like the outdoors it emulates.  Include live plants, green pillows or cushions or a window overlooking a garden or yard if green refreshes you. Blue is restful, peaceful and considered by some to be a spiritual color.  That is why so many people paint their bedrooms blue. Studies also indicate that blue environments actually help reduce blood pressure.  Purple is rich and comforting and thought to promote intuition, but an entire room of purple can be overpowering.  A lighter shade of purple such as indigo would be calming. Your personal color scheme should contribute to the goal of everything in the space working together to support meditation.

Extending Your Meditation Space

Though the focus should be on one area of the home where you will be beginning to practice meditation, creating a relaxing and calm ‘meditation space’ does not need to be limited to the area you are meditating. De-cluttering other areas in the home, bringing the outdoors indoors in all rooms including the bathroom, will ensure that your calmness will remain with you throughout the house. Then there is always creating a Zen-like working environment, a place that is calm and enables you to be highly focused.

Beginning To Meditate – The 3 Techniques

Start your adventure in learning to meditate by setting a special time for this practice daily. Time is valuable and everyone’s days are busy, but begin by carving out ten to thirty minutes of quality, solitary meditation time for the inner you.  Even if you have to arise earlier than you usually do each morning, you’ll be able to feel the benefits throughout your day.

Start with the 3 simple medication techniques for beginners and remember that mastery of technique is not the goal.  Relaxation and rejuvenation are the goals. The expert at anything was once a beginner so enjoy learning the process and becoming aware of the changes you will notice in yourself and your attitude.

Breathing, visualization and focus are the three meditation techniques that should be practiced when starting meditation.

Breathing

Start with focusing on your breathing.  Just start breathing normally, in and out, in and out. When you have a consistent and calm breathing rate, continue breathing in and out 100 times.  Your mind may start to wander in the beginning. As soon as you realize that your focus is shifting, try to redirect it back on your breathing.

Visualization

Next practice the technique of following your breath.  Notice how it enters your body through your nose, into your lungs and then is exhaled. Focus on the physical sensations of each stage.  Notice if you breathe through your upper chest or diaphragm. Build up to fifteen minutes of this exercise and build up to breathing with you diaphragm. When breathing with your diaphragm your chest should not be expanding up and down but instead your stomach will. This helps with deeper and less restricted breathing.

The idea is not to empty the mind of all thought. Random thoughts will pop up so acknowledge them then go back to concentrating on your breathing.

Focus

The flame meditation, as the name implies, uses a candle as a focus point. Start your meditation with your eyes closed and focused on your breathing. Open your eyes and look at the flame. Stare at the flame and take deep and slow breaths. After a while close your eyes and visualize the flame. When the image disappears because you are thinking about something else, gently bring your focus back to the flame. After 15-20 minutes open your eyes and stretch your body.

Being focused on only one object helps draw you deeper and deeper into a total focus.  The Heart Of The Rose is a variation of the flame exercise and is one that is from ancient times. It is described by Robin Sharma in his book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari:

“All that you need to perform this exercise is a fresh rose and a silent place. Natural surroundings are best, but a quiet room will also do nicely. Start to stare at the center of the rose, its heart. A rose is very much like life; you will meet thorns along the way but if you have faith and believe in your dreams you will eventually move beyond the thorns into the glory of the flower. Keep staring at the rose. Notice its color, texture, and design. Savor its fragrance and think only about this wonderful object in front of you. At first, other thoughts will start entering your mind, distracting you from the heart of the rose. This is the mark of an untrained mind. But you need not worry, improvement will come quickly. Simply return your attention to the object of your focus. Soon your mind will grow strong and disciplined.”

“This ritual must be performed daily for it to be effective. For the first few days, you will find it difficult to spend even five minutes in this exercise. Most of us live at such a frenetic pace that true stillness and silence is something foreign and uncomfortable. Persist and spend longer and longer periods savoring the heart of the rose. After a week or two you should be able to perform the technique for twenty minutes without your mind wandering onto other subjects. Remember, either you control your mind or it controls you.”

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma

(A highly recommended book for people looking to begin meditation)

Moving Forward

Those are the three meditation techniques for beginners. As you practice the breathing, visualization and focus exercises, you’ll be able to do them for longer periods of time. The ability to perform the three techniques will follow you into your daily life as you’ll be calmer and more focused on what you choose to do. There are then more advanced meditation techniques to take on. You can even combine meditation with exercise in the form of yoga.

Yoga Meditation

After these basic beginning meditation techniques, you can begin to incorporate many more.  Simple yoga meditation techniques are another opportunity for meditation beginners.  Simple yoga meditation techniques use breathing and meditation. Yoga adds the component of exercise in form of different poses. Yoga positions and movements help you focus on different parts of your body and provide renewal through the mind-body connection.

The mind, body and soul all benefit from developing the meditation skills of breathing, visualization and focus. In a short amount of time you’ll be able to see the benefits of a calmer and focused mind. Enjoy the journey.