How to Meditate Properly at Home for Beginners

At first glance, meditation may not seem like an easy task. After all, during practice, it’s important not only to keep balance but also to free the mind from negative thoughts, which is sometimes difficult to do, even during positive times, for example, when winning at 22Bet Senegal or getting a job promotion. However, experienced masters say that meditation doesn’t need strict regulation, and you can meditate in any pose and at any time.

What Is Meditation?

Meditation is a practice that originated in ancient times and is still popular today. It helps achieve a state of deep relaxation, awareness, and concentration and improves overall well-being. What is the right way to meditate?

There are many different techniques, and they all have a common goal: to make the mind clear and calm. Moreover, meditation promotes self-awareness, compassion, and other positive personal qualities.

One experiment conducted by Harvard University scientists found that regular meditation practice for eight weeks leads to positive changes in brain structure and function. Magnetic resonance imaging results showed that subjects who practiced meditation had increased gray matter density in areas of the brain associated with attention, perception, emotion, and self-control.

These changes correlated with a decrease in the severity of symptoms of depression and anxiety in the participants of the experiment. As a result of regular meditation practice, a person improves his or her mental health, increases resistance to stress, and develops self-regulation and emotional control skills.

Goals of Meditation

How to learn how to meditate properly? Meditation can take different forms and have different goals, depending on the tradition to which it belongs. However, all types of meditation have something in common:

• Self-understanding. Meditation helps you become more aware of yourself, your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It allows us to uncover the hidden motives that drive our lives and gain clarity in our decision-making. Through meditation, we can organize our reasoning, learn to focus, and think more intentionally.
• Finding peace. Meditation helps calm the mind and curb wandering thoughts. Focusing on a single object or image leads to fewer distractions and true peace. When we are balanced and our thoughts are in order, our lives become more harmonious.
• Awareness. Meditation develops mindfulness, the ability to be present in the present moment without distraction from the past or future. Awareness allows us to experience the world around us more deeply, to see the beauty in ordinary things, and to feel connected to all things.
• Turning off thoughts. Through meditation, we can learn to disconnect from our thoughts and fall into a state of deep silence. This happens when our mind is completely focused on a single object or image. Disconnecting allows us to free ourselves from habitual mental patterns and move beyond limited thinking.
• Enlightenment and liberation. When the mind is completely purified of all obscuring factors, an individual attains enlightenment, a state of perfect wisdom and compassion. An individual who has attained enlightenment sees the world as it is, without the distortions caused by his own mind. He realizes that all phenomena are interrelated and that all living beings suffer. Suffering arises from attachment to impermanent things such as material objects, power, and fame.

The Main Types of Meditation Are

Contemplative Meditation and Visualization

Contemplative meditation is about learning to focus on the object of contemplation and being fully present in the moment. The object of contemplation can be various phenomena and things: nature (e.g., a tree, a flower, water), art, symbols, or even your own breath. During contemplative meditation, one should concentrate fully on the object of contemplation and let go of all thoughts and emotions that come into one’s head. It requires practice and regular practice.

Visualization is a technique that uses the power of imagination to create positive images and experiences. It is used both in conjunction with contemplative meditation and on its own.

During visualization, you imagine achieving a certain goal, overcoming difficulties, or a positive outcome of a situation. Visualization helps to strengthen self-confidence, increase motivation, and set yourself up for success.

Breathing Meditation

This is one of the easiest and most accessible ways. What is the right way to meditate? You just need to sit or lie down in a comfortable position and focus on your breathing. Watch the air going in and out of your lungs, feel the movement of your body as you inhale and exhale. Breathing meditation helps calm the mind and relax the muscles.

Dynamic Meditation

This is a more active form of exercise that involves movement. Dynamic meditation is done with both closed and open eyes, depending on preference. The movements can be anything from walking, running, dancing, or even just shaking your head. Dynamic meditation helps release energy and relieve stress.

Sound Meditation

This is an ancient practice that uses music, sounds, or vibrations to achieve a state of deep relaxation and awareness. Sound vibrations are believed to affect the molecular structure of water, which makes up most of the human body, causing changes in consciousness and emotional state.

There are different types of sound meditation:

• Meditation with singing bowls reduces stress, improves sleep, and increases concentration. Singing bowls are metal musical instruments that produce harmonious sounds when struck or rubbed.
• Meditating with a gong clears the mind, helps achieve deep relaxation, and expands consciousness. A gong is a large metal disk that produces a deep, vibrating sound when struck.
• Gong meditation helps calm the mind, focus on the breath, and achieve a state of awareness.
• Saying meditative sounds such as “om” or “aum” helps focus on the present moment and achieve a state of inner peace.
• Chanting mantras purifies the mind, helps achieve spiritual awakening, and improves overall well-being.
• Sound meditation is practiced both in a group and independently. Recorded music is used for independent practice.

Progressive Relaxation and Body Scanning

This method was developed by the American scientist and physician Edmund Jacobson. It’s based on the fact that relaxing the muscles helps bring the nervous system into a calm state as well.

How is the technique performed?

1. Sit or lie down in a comfortable position.
2. Close your eyes and take several deep breaths in and out.
3. Begin to scan your body from head to toe, paying attention to any areas of tension.
4. When you find an area of tension, hold on to it for a few seconds and then consciously relax it.
5. Continue scanning your body and relaxing tense areas until you feel that all parts and organs are completely relaxed.

How to Learn to Meditate

There are many different ways to meditate, and each person can find the one that suits them best. So what is meditation, and how to meditate properly?

Define Your Goal

To do this, you need to figure out what you want to achieve as a result of the practice. For example:

• Relaxation and stress relief.
• Increased concentration and attention.
• Setting you up for the day or quality sleep.
• developing compassion and kindness.
• Understanding yourself and your emotions.
• Spiritual growth and development of consciousness.

The format of the practice, its duration, and the most appropriate time depends on the purpose of the meditation.

Determine the Method of Meditation

Meditation is practiced either alone or in a couple or group. The choice, again, depends on the purpose of the practice and your preferences.

The group format makes it easier to incorporate meditations into life. First, a clear intention is already formed at this stage: you need to find a group and a place, get there, and organize yourself. Secondly, the example of other people and the enthusiasm of the group will inspire you to start meditating.

On the other hand, for many people, meditation is a rather intimate process, and it can be difficult to tune in when surrounded by strangers. Moreover, it’s difficult to find a comfortable meditation position in a group because of the presence of other participants. Also, people who don’t know how to meditate or who are noisy can be disturbing.

Make Meditation a Regular Practice

Meditation requires a systematic approach. Only by doing meditative exercises on a regular basis can you form a sustainable habit and make significant changes in mindfulness and behavior. Start small. Even 5-10 minutes of meditation will bring tangible benefits. If possible, gradually lengthen the duration of practice to 30-60 minutes a day.