Easy Meditation Techniques
That Will Get You Started!

If you get in the habit of practicing meditation you can change the tendency of your mind to be lost in a stream of unnecessary and sometimes harmful thoughts.

If you want to get control over your emotions and your life in general, you have to learn to be in touch with your thoughts.

Below, you will find 4 easy mediation techniques that you can practice without much complication anytime, anywhere.

Turn them into regular habits. You can never begin to understand the amount of power you will have over your life when you understand that you are not your thoughts, and that you can truly choose what to believe and what not to believe.

The Ongoing Meditation…

If you try to keep your mind still for 5 minutes and observe your own thoughts you will realize how difficult this is at first. However, there are many easy meditation techniques that don’t require much “science” and are perfect to practice as an ongoing exercise throughout your day.

Here they are:

1. Being Present

You can start by focusing in one ordinary activity such as eating, brushing your teeth, washing your hands or showering. Be fully focused in the activity with as much attention as you can. When your mind starts to wander off, immediately bring it back to the activity.

Just witness the arising and fading away of your thoughts. Let them pass like clouds. Do not engage in them. Do not judge them either. Just let them pass and bring back you attention to your current activity.

Another “trick” to help you be present in the moment, is to ask yourself whenever you are in the middle of any activity:

- Are the thoughts I am thinking right now relevant to the activity I am performing?

You will immediately realize that your mind is way lost in thoughts that are not relevant at all to this moment. I practice this self-enquiry often and it works great!

2. Breathing meditation

To begin your practice, choose a quiet place and start by directing your attention to your breathing. You can either close your eyes or keep them open.

Start to empty your mind of all thought and concentrate just on your breathing.

As you inhale, mentally count 1, as you exhale mentally count 2, keep counting your breaths until you reach 10. Then, you can repeat the process counting backwards. When you are done counting, you will already feel a deep sense of relaxation, stay there… Keep your attention on your breathing.

If you mind starts to wander, gently return it to your breathing.

Do this for as long as you feel comfortable.

At some point when you are more comfortable with this practice, you can use this type of meditation anywhere. Especially, when you are feeling anxious or restless.

The breathing meditation is also very helpful to calm yourself when you are in the middle of a challenging situation. Just take few deep breaths and give some space to your mind. This means that instead of reacting out of fear you will be the space that allows pure consciousness (intelligence) to act.

The idea is that you include these meditation techniques in your daily routines as much as you can.

3. Inner Body Meditation

The inner body meditation is a powerful practice that Eckhart Tolle explains in his book "The Power of Now".

First of all, find a quiet place and time where you know you won’t be distracted. Sit on a chair, but don’t lean back if possible. Keeping your back straight will keep you alert.

Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths. Place you attention in the inner energy field of your body. Just feel the body from within.

It may be difficult to feel the whole body at first, but you can start by feeling your hands. Concentrate on the inner energy of your hands, the aliveness inside your hands. With your eyes closed, pretend that you are trying to guess the exact position of your hands. It will take a few minutes before you start to feel anything… Can you feel a tingling sensation?

When you become comfortable with that sensation, then you can start spreading it out to the rest of your body.

Do not try to interpret or put into words any of the sensations you may be experiencing, just FEEL them... The more attention you give to that feeling the stronger the sensation of your inner body will become.

When you get comfortable with this exercise, you’ll be able to keep your eyes open. You will also be able to practice it anywhere, any time.

4. Non-Labeling Meditation

Another wonderful practice is to take a walk (in nature if possible) and look at your surroundings in a meditative state. This means, without labeling them mentally.

Pay attention to the shapes around you, the colors, the sounds, the smells, etc. This will help to "calm down" your thoughts.

Don’t analyze or judge anything. Just feel their aliveness without turning them into a mental concept. (e.g. Oh! that is an Oak Tree from the Lithocarpus family ... You just labeled a tree and withheld it from its life!)

Simple things are an excuse for celebration when you watch them without labeling them.

When you turn everything into a mental concept the world becomes dead… When you don’t label things you are able to feel their presence and that presence connects you with your own presence, the realm of pure consciousness, oneness, Life... This is your essence and it underlies everything around you.

Practice this kind of meditation anywhere. It doesn’t have to be only in nature. You can apply it to any ordinary activity.

Become the Master, Not the Servant of Your Mind

These easy meditation techniques are great starters. Practice any of these techniques, and you will notice an huge improvement in the way you deal with your emotions.

If you have never practiced meditation before you will be amazed at the sense of peace that meditation will bring you. If you are looking for more advanced techniques please see these Mediation techniques (part II) They are a little bit more advanced.


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