Beginning Meditation

If your body is not prepared properly, your mind will be easily distracted, preventing you from achieving your desired results.  It is very important that your physical body is comfortable and properly aligned for your meditation.  How do I prepare my body, you may ask?  There are many ways in which this preparation is accomplished.  Some of these preparations are directly related to how you sit during your meditation, while others are more related to lifestyle factors like how and when you eat, sleep and stretch. 

When you begin, you will find that just getting your body comfortably while you sit will be an exciting challenge.  Here we offer some very simple advice that will help make your experience more fulfilling.  As you continue your practice, you will find that there are more subtle obstacles that pull your mind here and there.  These more subtle distractions are dealt with by maintaining a consistent practice, by using your body's physiology to your advantage and by following the steps and advice of those who have mastered the science of meditation.

We will first talk about some simple things that you can do to your surroundings and to your body.  These simple things will give you a great start and will not be too time consuming or expensive.

Beginning Guidelines

Where you choose to meditate should be a quiet, calm, clean and easygoing environment.  This space should not be uncomfortable in any way.  The important thing is that there are no distractions.  By distractions we mean obvious things like having a TV on or having a pet cat in the room to touch you or meow.  We also mean those less obvious things like trying to meditate on your bed.  You do not want to practice meditation on your bed because the mind will associate bed with sleep and make your mind drowsy during meditation.  You have a habit of falling asleep on your bed; other habits and activities can be associated with areas of your house as well.  If you try to be calm and still in a room where activities need to be done, this pulls on the mind as well.  This is why we urge you to meditate in a clean space.  In other words, if you meditate right in front of the desk where your monthly bills are sitting, waiting for you, this task will pull you out of your meditation more easily.  Instead of thinking of your breath you will think about that car payment.

There are some other simple things to do to your place of meditation to make the entire experience more pleasant and satisfactory. 

•     Make sure you have either turned off your telephone or unplugged it. 
•     You will also want to turn off any televisions or radios to prevent distractions, don't just mute them, turn them off. 
•     The hum of your computer fan and other white noise factors can also be reduced. 
•     Turn off the lights or at least allow the room to be dim. 

When you choose to practice meditation is also important.  It can be any time of the day as long as it is the same time every day.  Most people will find the best times to practice are when the world is just waking up or just going to bed.  At these times there will be less distractions for you.  By sitting during a peaceful time every day your body will relax easier and your mind will be less filled with distractions.

Other simple timing factors to take into account are that you should not meditate just after you eat.  The body requires a lot of energy to digest your food and you don't want to be drowsy during meditation.  If you are very hungry your body will distract you with calls for food as well. 

After finding a place and time of day to meditate you can then begin to practice. 

How you go about your practice is entirely up to the amount of time you devote to it.  You will want to start off with a time that you can easily handle; around 10-20 minutes.  There are a lot of everyday things that you can use to help you in your practice by tweaking them slightly.  Here we are going to focus on those things that are most important for everyone.  We will put them into a general timeline for your convenience as well.

Before you sit

Drink 3-5 Oz. of water to provide lubrication to your internal organs.  If possible, make this water room temperature.  Ice water may taste better, but it is not as gentle on your body.  We are looking to slip into a calm and quiet state before our meditation, not to shock our bodies with cold water.

Make sure to empty your bladder and your bowels before beginning.  This is part of the cleansing process but it also helps to take pressure off of your bodily systems, quieting your body all the more.

You will want to cleanse the body.  Meditation is easiest when the body is clean.  You will want to take a shower or wash your face, hands, and feet.  One other cleanse that we highly recommend involves the sinuses and the nose.  The (nasal wash) is a very important aid in your breathing and relaxation practices.  This simple exercise clears away the unwanted mucus in the nostrils allowing a free flow of air as well as increasing your sensation of air as it flows into and out of the nose.

Stretching is important so you are able to sit comfortably while meditating.  In the morning you will find you are a bit stiff from sleep.  After work you will find stretching will help let the tension of your slip away.  You can do a few stretches before beginning.  Don't know what stretches to do?  Just keep in mind that you don't need to break yourself to get results.  Simply allow the muscles to relax and lengthen.  Hatha Yoga was developed to make the body supple so one could sit and meditate, which is why it is great for everyone, including beginners.  There are many great resources online that teach yoga poses and stretching in general.  We suggest starting your search here, at www.yimag.com.  When you first begin meditating you should plan on spending 5 to 10 minutes stretching before you sit.

When you are through stretching you will find it valuable to do a relaxation practice.  This relaxation should not last longer then 15 minutes.  Be sure to tell your mind to stay awake, your mind might want to drift off into sleep, especially at first, before you establish a routine.  Relaxation practices are done from a lying down position. This relaxation practice can be as simple as listening to a relaxation tape or song.  You can also bring your attention to each joint and ask the muscles to relax, waiting for a full breath before moving to the next.  While all relaxation is valuable, we recommend a practice called 61 points.

Sitting

The actual act of sitting still in proper posture has a great deal of importance to the quality of your meditation.  It keeps your body from strain and exertion in a multitude of ways.  In short, the most important step for keeping the body free from physical discomfort and thus allowing the mind to progress on its inward journey is a proper sitting posture.  This is indeed why we chose to name ourselves Seat for Your Soul. It is also why we strongly urge everyone serious about reconnecting with themselves through meditation to gather the necessary tools and information to make the inward journey as painless and swift as possible.

The important bits....

There are a variety of sitting positions used for meditation and contemplation.  They all have one important thing in common. They keep your spine straight and provide stability for you to sit comfortably for long periods of time.  

Each posture works because of the way your body rests in it. Appropriate postures keep your head, neck and trunk straight.    By keeping your spine straight you allow the bones to hold the weight of your body. In this way and in other subtle ways you reduce the unconscious effort your muscles put forth keeping you upright. Less strain means a longer more comfortable meditation.

The biggest question for determining which posture is right for you is, "How flexible are your hips?"

Different Postures

For the least flexible, or for those without proper tools, simply sitting on a regular chair will work. Sit with your bottom on the first 2/3rds of the chair so that you are not leaning against the back and try to allow your arms to rest away from the armrests.  Keep your feet planted flat on the floor about shoulder width apart.  If possible, try to use a chair that is perfect for your height.  Test this by seeing if a pencil placed on your mid-thigh rolls off of your leg.( link to pencil test)  If it doesn't then there is the least amount of strain on your pelvis and leg muscles.  Pick the chair that provides the least strain for you available.

Next comes a posture popularized by Japanese culture called seiza.  This style of meditation posture consists of a person getting onto both knees with toes straight back and then placing a bench or cushion under the bottom before sitting with head, neck and trunk straight.  This style is great for ageing hips and knees.

The rest of the options are variations of cross legged and sitting postures.  Sitting with both knees off to one side is an option, as is sitting with one knee crossed and the other upright with the foot flat on the floor. In both of these postures keep your hips well elevated by sitting on a meditation seat or on a pile of firm pillows and blankets.  This will remove tension in your lower back. 

Sitting cross legged provides a very comfortable and stable position from which to meditate.  It not only provides you with a tripod like base for stability, it allows you to sit in a position most people are already comfortable with.  With your hips elevated by a cushion as described above you remove tension in your low back and in the muscles that flex your hips.  Allow your arms to rest comfortably on your thighs or in your lap.

Keep in mind that you don't have to be able to twist yourself into a pretzel to practice meditation.  People who meditate consistently tend to make a gentle transition towards a more health conscious lifestyle.  Part of this is a tendency is to make your bodies more limber and fit through stretches, diet and exercise.  For those just starting out, don't worry about which posture you can or can't twist into.  The important thing is the mental and emotional changes that come from meditation, regardless of which posture you use.

Going Inside

Breathing practices are vital for a deep meditation.  Breathing practices help calm the nervous system and the mind so one can sit with fewer internal distractions.  The science of yoga has developed many sophisticated breathing practices for this very purpose.  For beginners we recommend taking 25 diaphragm breaths.  Make each breath smooth without pauses or jerks.  Make it so there is no pause between the inhale and exhale.  Make each inhalation the same length as the exhalation.  Throughout our web site you will find references to the breath and to other breathing practices.  When first starting out, know that you will find them very helpful when the time comes to make them a part of your daily practice.

After your breathing practice you are then ready to sit for meditation or contemplation postures on your meditation seat in your calm surroundings.  If you need more support when sitting try two meditation seats or a mat under the meditation seats.  The amount of time you will remain meditating is however long you have at that time.  If sitting becomes uncomfortable at any time, you need to stop. Now it's time to meditate!