10 Meditation Tips For Absolute Beginners

If you're new to meditation, this talk is for you! I cover 10 pieces of advice in just 10 minutes that will help you remove mindset blocks regarding meditation and help you gain clarity on how you can make meditation work better for you. So, welcome to your new practice! Please feel free to share your insights in the comments as well. In abundant love & gratitude.
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Transcript

Hi,

And thanks for joining me today.

Today I'm going to be giving you a quick talk on some of my tips for beginner meditators.

So let's just get right into it.

My first tip is to know that meditation will be challenging at first.

I hear this a lot,

And people get discouraged because they think that they're doing it wrong.

Meditation is inherently uncomfortable at first,

Because we're not used to just sitting with ourselves and experiencing what is.

So we think that we're doing it wrong and that it's challenging.

But when we continue the practice,

It becomes easier.

Expect the discomfort and lean into it,

Knowing that on the other side,

Everything will work out,

You will feel better and you will understand what meditation is and how it can serve you.

Second on the list,

Think of meditation like fitness training,

But for the brain.

So the longer you stick with meditation,

The better and more fulfilling it will become.

Just like if you were to pick up a weight,

At first you might only be able to lift two or three pounds,

But eventually you can curl 10,

15,

20.

The longer you stay with it,

The better you become at it.

And then secondly,

I also want you to think of meditation like fitness training,

Because it is more about consistency than duration.

So if you think about when you go to the gym,

You go to the gym every day,

Maybe say for half an hour,

And you don't come back from the gym immediately with six pack abs or feeling super toned or lose all the weight instantly.

As a matter of fact,

When you come back from the gym,

You can almost definitely guarantee that you're not going to see any results immediately.

But over time,

You will notice the changes happening in your body slowly but surely.

The brain and the mind is the same exact way.

We have to be consistent with it over time,

Really almost daily,

If we're going to be thorough with our practice to allow our brain to actually change.

So our brain isn't necessarily growing in size and the way our muscles might,

But it is physically changing.

We're making new neural connections,

We're reducing the size of our amygdala,

Which is where our fear center is,

We are truly enhancing our brain,

But we can't actually see it happening.

So you have to have faith that those changes are actually taking place.

And to go along with that,

A lot of people want to dive right into meditation because they have heard how incredible it is.

But the thing is,

Just like going to the gym,

You don't want to go to the gym for four hours at a time on day one,

You're going to hurt yourself,

It's going to be uncomfortable,

You're going to get fatigued,

Discouraged.

Meditation is the same way.

There's no need to try to start out with an hour long practice.

All you need is a few minutes,

You know,

Only five minutes even to start every day.

My third tip is to set the intention to forgive yourself.

So a lot of times when we start meditating,

We feel like we're messing up because we're thinking and our mind is wandering and we think about our to do list and maybe some drama in our life,

Something like this.

But this is completely normal.

There really is no messing up in meditation.

So when you catch yourself beating yourself up for saying,

Oh,

Shoot,

I was thinking,

A thought just ran through my head.

That is exactly the moment that meditation is working for you.

When you realize,

Wow,

I was thinking and you come back to that awareness,

Come back to your breath.

That is meditation.

That is exactly what you're supposed to do.

So don't be mad at yourself,

Just forgive yourself.

Set the intention to go into meditation with love and self acceptance.

My fourth point,

Which is very related to the third,

Is that there is no good and no bad in meditation.

There just is.

This is a fundamental point of meditation.

A lot of times we put judgment on this meditation is working,

Therefore it's good and I feel really calm and still there for it's good or you go to meditation and you sit down and your mind's really chattery.

And you think it's not working.

This is a bad meditation.

Meditation is about showing up and being present.

All you have to do is be aware.

Even if you are distracted,

And you are thinking,

That is just what it is.

There is no good and there is no bad.

Non duality,

Right?

This is something that we all need to work on.

And it's a tough one to get at first,

But it truly is fundamental to what meditation is.

And then fifth on my list is start out with a guide and do it for just a few minutes a day.

But do it at least a few days a week,

Right?

So meditation is about presence.

It's about mindfulness.

And a lot of times we don't know where to start,

Whether it's just with breath work or physical awareness or visualization.

We just don't know.

So I always recommend to start out with a guided meditation.

There are so many incredible practices here on insight timer.

So I would really recommend doing short guided meditations every single day.

Next on my list is if you think you can't do it,

Start off by just telling yourself that you're going to sit still for just a few minutes without any distractions.

You don't have to try so hard to be the Buddha,

Right?

So there's a lot of people that say I try meditation and I just can't do it.

My mind won't shut up and my brain doesn't turn off it just my brain just does not work like that.

Right?

Like they just say I can't do it.

It's just not meant for me.

This isn't true.

Because meditation really is a skill.

It's something that you have to lean into.

Just like I said in the beginning here,

It will be a challenge at first,

But everybody can do it.

So if you think that you can't and that your mind won't shut up and you're not getting out of it what you should be,

Just tell yourself,

I'm just going to go sit down and be still.

You don't have to try to do anything in meditation.

You don't have to try to have a successful manifestation or some type of insightful breakthrough.

Just sit still,

Put your phone away and just be and then maybe your timer goes off or whatever it is,

Then you're done for the day and you can try again the next day.

And eventually you'll show up and you'll say,

Oh,

I'm here.

I might as well do it.

Right?

Or you'll find some type of inspiration to get you on the path you want to be on.

Right?

But you don't have to be so harsh with yourself at first.

Next on my list is go somewhere quiet and be by yourself or where you won't feel self-conscious.

So this one is interesting because a lot of times we think that we can be completely at ease in a space where maybe our partner is,

Or maybe it's outside and it's in a park.

But I have found personally that when you meditate,

You need to feel completely safe,

Especially at first.

And you can get better at it.

Right?

But if you go to say a public park to meditate,

You might constantly be thinking,

I wonder if somebody is walking by,

I wonder if somebody is looking at me right.

Or I wonder what my partner is thinking or if they're waiting for me.

Right?

So I find that this can bring in a lot of those um,

Like unnecessary feelings of not being safe or calm.

Right?

Because in meditation,

Ultimately we would love to calm down the nervous system and get into our inner selves.

Next on the list is use meditations that have background music,

Especially solfeggio frequencies or nature sounds such as ocean waves.

I find that this really helps the brain get into better brainwave states and it helps keep your senses something to focus on.

A lot of times when we first start out,

Having something to listen to can really guide us,

Not just the voice,

But also the background music.

Music is also really powerful for eliciting emotion and positive emotions can really help us get into beneficial and benevolent states.

Next on my list is find a meditation style or meditation teacher that you like.

So there are so many amazing meditations on insight timer and if you can just find one type of meditation or one meditation teacher that you like,

Just stick with that and you can play the same meditation recording every day if you want to.

There's no wrong way to go about your practice and we don't have to try to do everything at once.

Any improvement is an incredible improvement.

Any action is better than no action.

And then finally on my list of tips is try practicing in different positions,

Particularly sitting up in that,

You know,

Stereotypical Buddha style and lying down.

A lot of times lying down isn't preferred if you know that you're going to be prone to falling asleep.

However,

If you suffer from lower back pain,

This is a really good option for you to prop up your legs or just release some tension there.

And if you try sitting up,

You can also try different mudras with your hands,

Really work on spinal alignment and tweaking yourself there.

So it's really a good idea to find what is most comfortable for you,

Especially when you're starting.

And those are my 10 tips for beginners for meditation.

So I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you have a lovely rest of your day.

Namaste.

Reviews

EXACTLY what I needed to hear to keep me walking down the meditation path. Much gratitude 🙏