Meditation Guide: 5 Tips If You’re New To Meditation

If you’re new to meditation, it’s normal to experience a few challenges on your road to making it part of your wellness routine. While meditation is an excellent way to create moments of calm in the busiest of schedules it’s also common to experience some frustration or even boredom in the beginning. However, with a little discipline, commitment and patience, the benefits are well-worth the initial resistance you may experience. Ready to unlock improved feelings of wellbeing, stress reduction, improved attention span and a sense of calm?

Read on to discover our top 5 meditation tips for beginners to make this effective mindfulness practice part of your daily wellness routine. 

Set Yourself Up For Success

To begin with, create a simple plan that you can stick to. We recommend practicing first thing in the morning for two reasons; one you’ll actually tick it off your to-do list before the demands of the day interfere and two; you’ll start the day feeling more focussed and refreshed.

Find a comfortable spot where you won’t be disturbed - be it in your bedroom, on your yoga mat or the sofa and turn your phone onto do not disturb mode. Forget the idea you need to sit crossed legged; find what works for you. It may be laying down on the floor with an eye pillow, on a yoga bolster or kneeling - the position isn’t important, but feeling comfortable in your own body is. Turn your meditation practice into a morning ritual - light a candle, incense or put a meditation playlist to set the scene - you can find lots on our Spotify page.

Experiment With Different Styles

When it comes to meditation, there are lots of available styles and practices - so don’t be afraid to experiment to find what suits you. From walking, mantra, guided or sound - each can help you reach a state of calm awareness in slightly different ways. Begin with something short and work your way up in duration as you get more comfortable. Throughout January - we’ll be sharing a series of mini meditations as part of our month of micro rituals series. For beginners, listening to a short audio is a great place to start. 

Getting Comfortable With Discomfort

The idea of meditation for many of us can be uncomfortable. Learning to slow down and be still with ourselves isn’t something we often have time and space to do in busy modern life, but that’s the reason it's so beneficial. When we slow down to pause, thoughts or emotions may come to the surface that you didn’t even realise were present. Over time and with experience the mind learns to recognise emotions and thoughts that crop up but gets used to not getting caught up in negative thought loops. And that’s why we call it a practice, because each time we sit down we practice the skill — one that can be translate over into other areas of our lives. 

Drop The Expectations

Aim to make your meditation practice a judgment-free zone - both of yourself and the practice itself. Resist this urge to analyse if your session was ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Instead, the next time you meditate, take a minute at the end to notice if you feel any micro differences from when you began — perhaps you’re more aware of an emotion or feeling present or perhaps you’re holding a little less tension in your shoulders, or sitting taller or with more ease. Mediation isn’t something we shouldn’t expect to master; rather, it’s a life-long practice we are constantly discovering day by day.

Make it Routine

To really reap the benefits of your meditation practice, make it routine. Little and often is better than one long session once every couple of months. Remember, your meditation practice doesn’t have to be long in duration to be beneficial. Try and practice at the same time each day to build it into your routine - but be realistic. Start with short manageable sessions that you're more likely to commit too.