How To Meditate - An Introduction For The Beginner

The best advice I have for anyone who has been thinking about meditation, is to stop thinking about it and simply just start.

And know that NO-ONE can meditate when they first start.

In this guided explanation and an introductory meditation, you'll discover what meditation is, and why it is important, and be guided through a very simple breathing technique to show you how to meditate.

Transcript

Welcome. I'm doing today's session because meditation is like mostly the game changer because the thing is with meditation, What it does is it helps us to become aware of our thoughts and to become the observer of our thoughts without necessarily thinking about them or placing any emotional attachment to them. So what happens is that we, The way it works is that we have like our mindset essentially is the way we think and the way we believe and we have a belief system which creates the thoughts for us and these thoughts, What we think, Makes us feel a certain way. So we can have a thought that makes us feel happy or we can have a thought that makes us feel sad or we can have a thought that makes us feel angry or annoyed or frustrated or where we feel like we're stuck in the past and we might be feeling guilt or shame or anger about something that's happened in the past or we could be having a future thought which is making us feel anxiety or stress. We could be having a conversation with somebody in our head that is actually creating an emotional feeling within us. Like I know I used to struggle sometimes. I would have an imaginary conversation with somebody in my head and then I would be angry with that person before I saw them because I'd already anticipated what they were going to say, I knew what they were thinking and I knew what they were going to do and I'd kind of constructed this whole dialogue with another person in my head when they weren't when they weren't even there. Like completely made up in my head and I'm sure you can probably relate to that. So what we want to do when we meditate is that we want to become aware of what we're thinking and become aware of what we might be feeling but without going into it, Without attaching to it, Without thinking about it, Without buying into that negative emotion. That we just become aware of it and you go, Oh that's interesting, That's that thought, Let me just let that thought be. Because what happens when we are listening and engaging with our thoughts, We're not in the present moment because our thoughts are just almost a dead energy if you will. They're not actually anything real, They're just something that's going through our mind. We have an opportunity to choose whether or not we're going to engage with that. So when you're meditating it's like you become the watcher or the observer of your thoughts. So you can actually just sit there quietly, Focus on stilling your mind and you become aware of thoughts just moving through your head and you might be aware of emotions and you might be aware of I'm having a thought and then that thought's actually leading to another thought and then before you know it you're kind of somewhere and you're just like how did I even get here? And there was a whole lot of thoughts and then you just got to bring yourself back to the present moment, To your breath and just let the thoughts be. So that's really essentially all meditation is. It's allowing you to focus on your breath, Become aware of yourself, Become the watcher or the observer of what's going on internally for you without having to buy into it or engage with it or believe in it and to just practice being still and present within yourself in this present moment now. So what we're going to do in today's meditation is I'm going to just talk you through the practice or the process of meditation so that you can understand what it is, What is happening within you and how you can bring yourself back to this present moment, To the breath, To the here and now. We're not engaging with our thoughts, It's not stopping our thoughts, It's about stopping our thoughts from controlling us. It's about stopping ourselves being identifying solely with our thoughts because remember our thoughts are just a thought and in our mindset, As a mindset piece that we're doing here in this program, We can actually become aware of our belief systems, We can change our belief systems, We can program ourselves, Our subconscious mind, Our conscious mind to think better thoughts. So they're changeable, They're not necessarily real. If something can be changed, It doesn't make it real, It's not the truth. So the truth never changes. So if we can change our thoughts, Then that means our thoughts are not necessarily real and why are we then talking to them, Believing them, Engaging with them, Following them. And as you can practice meditation more and more, You become more practiced at it and it becomes easier to still your mind and it becomes easier to just go into the breath, Into that kind of the space, The void, The stillness within. When we first start meditating, It is almost impossible. So when you first start to meditate, You are going to think you can't meditate, You're going to fall asleep, Your mind is going to absolutely go crazy and it's almost going to be unbearable to listen to it. But what you've got to understand is that is what your mind is doing all the time. You're just not aware of it. So when you stop just for a minute and pause and the mind just goes crazy, That's what your mind's doing all the time. And its job, Remember, Is to keep you safe. So its job is to keep you aware, Out of danger. But there's nothing to be protected from, There's nothing that's in any danger, It's all in our mind. And that's not to say there's not things outside that are dangerous, But most of the stuff we are scared of or that stops us or slows us down or we sabotage around is not real, They're just thoughts in our head. So if we can become aware of the thoughts in our head as just thoughts in our head, Then they lose their power and we are then in a position to create better thinking thoughts, Better feeling thoughts. We become more able to, Rather than have that negative emotional attachment to a thought, We can start to be more empowered in the way we think and have a positive emotional attachment to it. And then that positive thought, That positive feeling, That positive emotion is going to create a positive action, Which is going to then help us create and manifest the life that we want to be living. But if we're having a negative thought with a negative feeling around it, That's going to then determine a negative action, Which is going to have a negative consequence for us. It's actually like the formula for this is so simple, But the key, The path, The pathway into this is meditation. There isn't another way. So if you can't become aware of the thoughts that you think and the belief systems that you have going on, And you aren't able to kind of separate yourself from that and become aware of yourself as that not being yourself, That's just something that's kind of happening in your mind, But you get you, The true you gets to choose whether or not you're going to engage with that and to be more considered and intentional about what you actually do think. Meditation is the key to do that. And so what I want you to do is just sit or lie comfortably. So just with your feet flat on the ground, Or if you're lying just reasonably flat, So don't have too many pillows up behind your head. If you're sitting in a chair, Just make sure you're back straight, You're not slouching over too much. So the idea is that we want to be like straight. So there's a flow of energy that's sort of coming in through our crown chakra, Through our chakra system, And our feet are grounded to the floor. Or if we're lying on a bed, Then we're obviously grounded through the back of our body. It's really important when you're meditating that your body is comfortable, So that you are wearing clothes that are comfortable, You're in an environment that's not too hot, Not too cold, It's not too windy, Whatever. There's not flies buzzing around and that sort of thing. I mean, That's an advanced practice when you are not bothered by those things anymore. So just set yourself up for success. Where you are comfortable, You're not going to be disturbed. So turn off your phone, Turn off the notifications. You might want to let somebody, If you're in the house, Just, You know, I'm just going to be doing meditation for 10 minutes if you don't mind disturbing me. So just prepare your environment. Your mind will do absolutely everything within its power to stop you from being still. It doesn't want you to be still. It doesn't want you to not listen to it. That's its job, Remember? That's the ego's job. So our job is to just go, Okay, Ego, I know you're there. I know you're there. That's fine. I'm just not going to engage with you for the next 10 minutes. So it's like we have to train our mind not to bother us because we're just not engaging with it. And it's like any muscle, Anything that you're doing is going to, You're going to become stronger at it. So you can, As you become more practiced, You go, Oh, That's interesting. I've got an itch there. I'll just going to let that be, Or I'm just going to scratch it. And then I'm not going to think about it anymore. So the practice, It's not about, It's called a practice. Like it's a meditation practice. So it's about practicing, Being aware. It's about practicing, Not engaging. And the more you do that, The better, The easier it becomes and the better you become at it and the quicker you're going to sink into that space. But the really important thing to recognize about meditation, It's not just the 10 or 15 minutes that you're meditating that is valuable. Obviously that is. What it helps do is that then that sense of peace and calm and stillness within starts to transcend out into other aspects of your day and your life. So you find yourself naturally becoming calmer. You find yourself not responding to things in quite the same way. You catch your thoughts before they kind of go off on a tangent, Or you have other practices, For example, Affirmations or something like that, That you can talk to yourself instead of, Because you're more aware of your thoughts. Your mind's not just going off with no direction and no filtering or no management. So if you've got to scratch, Scratch it, Don't scratch it, But just recognize that's your body's way, Your mind's way of stopping you from meditating. And you're just saying, Oh, That's fine. I've got to scratch, But I'm just going to keep going for another five minutes here. That's all. Like it's just a constant bringing yourself back to the breath, Bringing yourself back to the present moment. So you want to have your body in a comfortable position, Either seated or lying down, Or you can sit up straight. So you want to have your hands resting loosely. If you're sitting loosely in your lap, Or if you're lying down gently by your side. So we want the energy to be flowing freely through your body. And then you just close your eyes and you just focus on your breath. And you see how everything just went still then. And just focus on your breath. So what you want to be doing really is breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth, And in through your nose, And out through your mouth, And in through your nose, And out through your mouth. And already, You'll be able to feel your body, Your physical body, Just everything's slowing down. And it can happen so quickly. Just focus on being present, Your body's comfortable, You're breathing deeply. You're just here listening to my voice. Just focusing on your breath in and out. And you'll be aware that there's thoughts, And they just pop into your mind. Or you might, They might sort of just be coming one really quickly after another. You're like, Wow, It is so busy here in my head. I'm just going to bring myself back to the breath. All I need to do right now, Just for the next few moments, Few minutes, Just be here with my breath, Recognizing the thoughts are going to be there. I'm not here to stop the thoughts. I'm not here to control the thoughts. I'm not here to think about the thoughts. I'm not here to judge the thoughts. I'm not here to control the thoughts. I'm not here to judge the thoughts or engage with the thoughts. I'm just paying the thoughts no mind. It's like they can just sort of, It's like almost watching clouds go by. Just be aware that they're above you. They're not with you. They're not part of you. They're just part of something that's happening in your mind. And you just don't have to engage with them for the moment. You can come back to them later. They'll still be there. It's not saying that you don't need to think about them. Maybe later if you want to, You can, But now's not the time. Now's just the time. Those thoughts come in about what you need to be doing or what's coming up or this is going to happen or I need to do this. Just go, That's okay. I'm just going to let that go for the moment. I don't need to think about that right now. It's not important right now. What's important right now is that I just focus myself here on my breath in and out. Be aware of my body. Be aware of where there might be some points in my body that feel a little bit stressed and I can, Or a bit of pain or something and I can just breathe into that, But I don't need to think about it. Just be aware of my body, But I'm not thinking about my body. I'm just focusing on my breath, Bringing myself back. There isn't a right or wrong. I can't get this wrong. I know that everyone can meditate. It's just a practice and I'm just here practicing, So I'm just going to forget about what I'm thinking about and I'm going to bring myself back to the thought and bring myself back to my breath, Allowing myself just to be fully present here. The thoughts are calm. My head can be very busy. That's okay. I'm just going to let it go for the moment and just bring myself back to the breath and I'm just going to stay here. I'm going to keep bringing myself back. I'm not going to get frustrated with myself. I'm not going to get annoyed with myself. I'm not going to feel angry with myself. I'm just going to keep bringing myself back. I'm just learning how to do this. This is something I'm brand new at. I know it's difficult when you first start meditating. I've been told that it's okay. It's called the monkey mind for a reason. It jumps from here, It jumps to there. There's no sense to it. There's no logic to it. It's just crazy jumping around from point to point. I just don't need to engage in that. I can just give myself a rest from that for the next couple of minutes. Things that I've got, You know, I'm doing this thing wrong, I'm doing that thing wrong. I feel so much negative emotion about something. I'm just going to stop with that for the moment. I'm just going to bring myself back to the breath. I can sort it out later. I can deal with it later. It's just not for now. Those thoughts are going to come in. That's their job. I don't need to engage with them. My job is to just let those thoughts be. Become aware of them, Observe them, Watch them, See them go. Just let them float on past. Just keep bringing myself back to my breath. I can do this at any point during the day. I don't need to be in a specific time or place to meditate. I can just close my eyes at any point in the day and just focus on my breath. Feel myself sink down within. It's like you are aware of yourself in your body without being your thoughts. You can do this at any time of the day, Anywhere you are. You just close your eyes. Take three long, Slow, Deep breaths in and out. Focus on the stillness within like the pause between the thoughts. There's a void between each thought. Catch yourself. Don't go into them. Don't engage with them. Don't follow them. Don't talk to them. Don't let them talk to you. Just let them be. And that is meditation. That's all it is. I think we think it's some esoteric, Complicated thing that we can't do, But honestly meditation is just about being aware that you have thoughts and that you don't need to engage with them. You don't need to believe them. You don't need to listen to them. You don't need to have a conversation with them. You don't need your thoughts. You don't need to allow your thoughts to control how you're feeling or the actions that you take. Just need to be aware that you have thoughts. They come from a belief system. As you begin to work through this program, Changing your belief system, You're going to change your thoughts. It's going to determine that you feel better as you work through the practices of forgiveness and gratitude and acceptance and all of those other things. The thoughts that you have are going to stop controlling you to the degree that they have been up until this point in time. And that, My friends, Is meditation. So when you're ready, You can just open your eyes, Shake your body out, And bring yourself back into the room.