What They Don't Tell Beginner Meditators Part 1: The Prana Mama Podcast

Struggling with meditation? Chances are you are better at it than you think. Join Chantelle "Shanthi" Diachina for part one of a discussion about the things nobody tells new meditators; like the first stage of meditation and why it's so hard in the beginning.

Transcript

Hi and welcome to Prana Mama.

My name is Chantel Dayashina and I will be your host.

I will be bringing you all of the things that have been helpful on my meditation and mindfulness journey as well as all the things that have helped me gain more self-knowledge.

And really I'm just paying it forward so any way I can help others in their journey,

That makes me happy.

So that's why I'm here.

Okay this week I guess I would like to start with the stages of meditation.

In particular for beginners,

I don't know that there's enough discussion around what meditation is like when you first start,

What to expect,

To know if you're doing it right or a good job or not.

And I think that's an important piece to this puzzle for you beginners out there.

I'm sure you're finding that it can be challenging to sit because you get stuck with your thoughts.

And you realize that the mind just won't calm down like it needs to.

And that can be frustrating.

And then you feel like you sat for five minutes and accomplished nothing.

Well I am here to tell you that that is perfectly normal.

And even after years of practice you will have these moments,

They won't be as numerous,

But you will still have these moments where the mind just won't calm down.

What I want to let you know is that even when this happens you are being successful.

If you sat and didn't get up out of frustration or boredom,

You are successful.

Why?

Because you are calming the nervous system.

You are being still.

How often outside of sleep are you still?

We are being bombarded with information,

With sounds and media.

All of our senses are taking in so much stimulus.

And there's actually less and less room for silence in our life and for stillness.

So when we are sitting down and we're practicing in silence,

Then we're essentially giving a break to our nervous system,

To our mind,

To our senses,

To our body.

Even though mentally you feel very active,

You are still giving your mind,

Your body mind,

Let's call it that,

A break and a chance to decompress.

That is a success.

Now what I have for you as a little nugget is one of my favorite shortcuts to calming the nervous system and one of the reasons you'll hear in my meditations,

Big emphasis on abdominal breathing,

As well as I don't use background music because in my meditations I'm really trying to help you to calm your nervous system.

So that abdominal breathing that you often hear me referring to,

The inhale for four,

Belly expands,

Exhale to a count of eight,

Belly contracts,

Which is very different from your everyday breathing,

Which tends to be shallow,

More rapid than what is ideal.

And that actually contributes to your stress response.

So when I'm asking you to do that abdominal breathing,

That abdominal breathing is actually stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system,

Which will help the body start to relax,

Which will also calm the nervous system and prepare you to be able to get into a deeper meditation.

It's one thing to pay attention to the sensation of the breath coming in and out of the nose,

But it's completely another to consciously alter your pattern of breathing.

So again,

In the beginning,

This can be agitating for people,

It can be frustrating,

But with practice it does get better.

A little bit of ancient wisdom with this.

In the Hatha Yoga of Pratapika,

It talks about how the mind and the breath are connected.

And if the breath is irregular,

Then the mind will be active and irregular.

And if the breath is calm,

The mind will be calm.

So if you feel like that sounds like a little woo woo to you,

I want you to think about when you're angry and how your breath is affected when you're angry.

Or think about when you're sad,

How your breath is affected when you're sad.

And then if you observe the breath throughout the day,

You'll see how erratic your breathing patterns really are.

We hold our breath quite often without even realizing it,

Depriving ourselves of oxygen.

But it also contributes to just an overall sense of unease and we're not even aware of it.

So that's the beauty of being able to manage your breath,

To breathe deeply,

And to calm the mind.

So breathing is absolutely paramount to well-being and certainly a great shortcut for beginner meditators.

It can be months.

It can take a while before the nervous system calms down and you can actually feel at ease when you sit down to meditate.

It does get easier.

So stick with it and I invite you to try the abdominal breathing and see how it affects your meditation practice and actually just your overall sense of calm and well-being if you practice it throughout the day.

It's just something that's just good for you.

If you are interested in learning more about breathing,

You can check out my relaxation for busy people meditation.

It's short and sweet.

It is lying down,

But you can practice it sitting up as well.

And I also will have a video up on YouTube on my Prana Mama channel that you can check out that can give you tutorials on how to practice abdominal breathing on your own.

And it's one of those things that you can practice it wherever you go.

When you're waiting in line at the grocery store,

When you're sitting in traffic,

When your children are testing your patients,

There's always times to practice that abdominal breathing.

I would love to hear your stories and comments of using abdominal breathing and maybe even where you are in your meditation practice.

And certainly if you have any questions that maybe I can help you with,

Then just leave a comment and I'd be more than happy to assist you in your journey.

Thank you so much for listening.

I really love this Insight community and I hope to continue to contribute more to it.

So on that note,

Stay close to your peace.

Namaste.

Reviews

Love your simple explanation of the power of breath work. Thank you 🙏

Thank you so much for the great advice. I have started meditating with a Spiritual mentor since February 2024, we do a little breath work and I have done a little breath work in some meditations on Insight Timer. I am going to look into going a little deeper within
it. Thank you for your advice. Namaste ❤️

Helpful tips. I'm all for calming the nervous system. Breathe. Thank you.

Thank you for your wisdom. This was very insightful and has helped me tremendously. I always worry I'm not "doing" it right and feel like it's just not working. I am determined to stick with it and not give up as I've done in the past. I'm going to try the abdominal breathing technique tonight. 🌻

Wonderful introduction and a beautiful voice, thankyou.

Thank you for this! Great tips. Your voice is so soothing and amazing… I feel like I’m meditating just by listening to your talking. Thank you♥️

💜Love your insight into ancient yogic wisdom and breath💜Will sub to your channel 💜

Thank you I am 3 months into daily meditation and it eases my dis ease of self to know it’s ok and it takes practice. Namaste 🙏🏽

I was meditating for a long time and all of a sudden stopped and can’t seem to make myself get back into it. I don’t know what’s keeping me from starting again. Your thoughts?

If Chantelle had been in the room, I would have given her a hug. I have been meditating/trying to meditate for 9 or 10 months now. Her calm voice instructing on abdominal breathing and her affirmation of my efforts helped me so much.

Loved the point you made about how breathing pattern is an indicator of your mood. Simple but effective observation. 🙌🏾

Excellent tips, simple to understand and apply

Thank you for being transparent and so attentive to the needs of beginners.

This is so helpful and encouraging. You are so right, we need to hear this in the beginning...but helpful still. I like the "nugget". Guided meditation continues to be so helpful as a calming, grounding agent for me but I want to also be able to extend that feeling through silence. Going to use your approach. Thanks again!

PS - Greenville was lucky to have you.
Holly

Very clear story and such a nice voice. Thnx and I’m gong to listen more of you. Namaste 🙏🏻🌼

Thank you for the reminder of the breathing techniques. Sometimes i go back to the beginin g to see if i miss aomething

Thank you 🙏
I look forward to hearing more of your meditations or podcasts.

Namaste 🙏

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and wisdom, it is a delight to us who forever are learning and refining our practices.
Blessings to you and I look forward to hearing more from you!

Thanks a mill for that, it took me a year to get all the white noise out my head

This was so inspirational.....just when I needed it. Thanks so much!