Meditation for Beginners: How to Start and Keep Going

What meditation actually is

Meditation is the practice of placing attention on one thing, noticing when it has wandered, and bringing it back. That is the whole method. Everything else, the posture, the incense, the apps, is support.

It is not emptying the mind, and it is not a state of bliss you either reach or fail to reach. A session in which your attention drifts fifty times and you bring it back fifty times is a full session, not a failed one.

In the yoga tradition, meditation, or dhyana, is described as a later stage of practice that follows posture, breath regulation and the steadying of attention. The practical meaning for a beginner is simple: a settled body and a steady breath make sitting far easier, which is why meditation is usually taught after some movement and breathing rather than cold.

What the research shows

The claims made for meditation run well ahead of the evidence, so it helps to know what has actually been found. The summaries here come from the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.

For anxiety and depression, a 2018 analysis covering 142 groups of participants and more than 12,000 people with diagnosed conditions found that mindfulness-based approaches were better than no treatment and worked as well as established therapies.

For sleep, a 2019 analysis of 18 studies with 1,654 participants found that mindfulness meditation improved sleep quality more than education-based programmes.

These are meaningful findings, and modest ones. Meditation is a useful tool for stress, mood and sleep. It is not a replacement for medical care, and the same body is explicit that it should not be used to postpone seeing a doctor about a health problem.

It is not pleasant for everyone

This is rarely mentioned, and it should be. A 2020 review of 83 studies involving 6,703 participants found that about 8 percent of people reported a negative effect from meditation, most often anxiety or low mood.

For most people, the worst that happens is boredom or restlessness. But sitting quietly with your own thoughts can bring difficult ones to the surface, particularly after a bereavement, during depression or with a history of trauma.

If meditation makes you feel worse, shorten the session, keep your eyes open, switch to a moving or guided practice, or stop. If you have a mental health condition, speak to your doctor or therapist before taking up long silent sits. Pushing through is not the brave option here.

How to sit

Comfort matters more than tradition. If your knees or hips complain in a cross-legged position, you will spend the session thinking about your knees.

• A chair is fine: feet flat, back away from the backrest if comfortable
• On the floor, sit on a firm cushion or folded blanket so the hips are higher than the knees
• Keep the spine upright but not rigid, and the chin level
• Rest the hands on the thighs or in the lap
• Close the eyes, or lower the gaze to a point on the floor
• Lying down works for relaxation practices, though sleep usually wins

Your first practice: counting the breath

Set a timer for five minutes so that you are not tempted to check the clock.

Breathe through the nose at a natural pace. Count each exhale silently: one, two, three, up to ten, then begin again at one.

At some point you will find yourself planning dinner or replaying a conversation. Note that it happened, without commentary, and start again from one. Losing count is not the mistake. It is the moment the practice is actually working, because noticing is the skill you are building.

When the timer sounds, sit for a few breaths before getting up. That is the entire practice, and it is enough for the first two weeks.

Five techniques to try

Try one for two weeks before judging it. Switching technique daily is a common way of avoiding the uncomfortable part, which is staying with one thing.

There is no best method. The right one is the one you find yourself willing to repeat. Skip candle gazing if you have an eye condition or a history of seizures.

How long, and when

Five minutes a day for the first fortnight. Then ten. Regular short sessions do more than occasional long ones, and twenty minutes is a perfectly good long-term practice.

Attach it to something you already do: after brushing your teeth, after your morning yoga, before the first cup of tea. A fixed trigger is more reliable than waiting to feel like it.

Early morning suits most people because the house is quiet and the day has not yet made its demands. Late evening works for those using it to wind down, though it is also when you are most likely to nod off.

What to do with a busy mind

Everyone believes their mind is unusually restless. It is not. A wandering mind is the normal condition, and you are simply seeing it clearly for the first time.

• Restlessness: shorten the session rather than forcing it, or do some movement first
• Sleepiness: sit more upright, open the eyes, or practise at a different time
• Boredom: expected, and usually a sign you have stopped being entertained, which is the point
• Physical discomfort: adjust your position. Stillness is not a test of endurance
• Strong emotion: open your eyes, feel your feet on the floor, and end the session if you need to
• Judging yourself: notice that as one more thought, and return to the breath

Do you need an app or a recording?

Guided recordings are a reasonable way to begin, because a voice gives the mind something to follow. Their weakness is variety: with a different session every day it is easy to keep sampling and never settle into a practice.

If you use one, pick a single short recording and repeat it for a fortnight. Then try sitting without it for the last two minutes, and lengthen that silent stretch gradually.

Meditation, pranayama and relaxation are different things

The three are often taught together and regularly confused. Pranayama is deliberate control of the breath: you change its length, rhythm or route. Relaxation, as in Shavasana, is the release of physical effort. Meditation is the training of attention, with the breath left to itself.

They support each other. A few minutes of slow breathing settles the body enough to sit, and sitting is easier after movement. A typical class sequence of postures, then breathing, then stillness is arranged that way on purpose.

Common mistakes in the first month

Almost everyone makes at least three of these.

• Starting with thirty minutes and giving up within a week
• Waiting for a quiet mind before counting the session as successful
• Practising only when stressed, rather than daily
• Changing technique every few days
• Sitting in pain because a cross-legged position looks correct
• Checking the clock, which is what the timer is for
• Expecting a result within days

What changes, and when

The early changes are small and easy to miss. People commonly describe a slightly longer pause before reacting, falling asleep a little more easily, and noticing tension in the shoulders or jaw before it becomes a headache.

These tend to appear after three to four weeks of daily practice, not after three or four sessions. Deeper changes in how you relate to stress take months, and they are gradual enough that others often notice before you do.

It does not make problems disappear. What it can do is give you a little more room between an event and your response to it.

Keeping it going after the first month

The second month is where most practices end. The novelty has gone, nothing dramatic has happened, and five minutes starts to feel like five minutes you could spend on something else.

Two things help. Keep the session short enough that skipping it would feel silly, and keep a simple record: a tick on a calendar is enough. A visible run of days is a stronger motivator than any intention.

If you miss a few days, restart at five minutes rather than trying to make up the time. The practice has no arrears.

Learning in a class

Meditation can be learnt alone, and guidance still helps. An instructor keeps time, offers a technique suited to you and answers the questions that arise in the second week, when the practice feels like nothing is happening.

Practising in a group also makes it easier to stay seated. Most people sit longer and more steadily in a room with others than they manage at home.

At Daksh Yogalay, the Meditation and Pranayama class teaches short guided practices you can repeat at home, with chairs and props used freely. The studio is on Hoshangabad Road, Bhopal, and the first class is free.