How to Meditate on Mindfulness

Mindfulness meditation is a great way to increase focus, reduce stress, and stimulate creativity. ^{[1] X Research Resources} Learning how to meditate takes time and practice, but you can also learn it on your own. You can also incorporate mindfulness methods into your daily life, like when eating, or performing other daily tasks.

Table of Contents

Select Environment

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Choose place. Think of a place where you won’t be disturbed or distracted. It can be a quiet place indoors or under a tree outside. Choose a quiet place where you can get away from your daily activities.

If you’re doing a meditation practice, consider creating a dedicated space for meditation. You can place inspirational or calming objects on a special table, like flowers or beautiful landscape paintings. Add candles to soften the light.

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Be comfortable. You may be immobile for several minutes, and for this reason comfort is important. Pay attention to the temperature in the room to make sure it’s consistent. You may need a blanket around or nearby because your body temperature may drop. Place some pillows or cushions near you to make sitting more comfortable.

Wear comfortable clothes that won’t irritate or distract you.

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Set time. You may need to start meditating for 5-10 minutes and gradually increase it thereafter. Do not meditate for an hour as this may seem a bit too much. Instead, choose to meditate for short periods of time to focus, and if you want, increase the time.

Try setting a timer so you don’t have to check the time during meditation. ^{[2] X Research Source} Just be sure to set the “end of meditation” timer to a soothing sound and not a shrill or whistle. Try to find an alarm clock that has a soothing chime or a soothing piano sound.

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Try different poses. While many people meditate in the full lotus position (legs crossed), there is not just one way to meditate. You can sit on the floor or in a chair, stand, walk, or lie down. Try different positions, with or without cushions or pillows, and find what feels most natural to you. There is no “wrong” way to meditate.

While lying down is a pretty comfortable position, but make sure you don’t fall asleep! This is quite common at the beginning of meditation and then drifting into dreamland.

Start Meditation

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Pure mind. It can take a while to calm your mind and start getting rid of all the things that go on in life. Especially if you’ve had a stressful day, you may find yourself thinking about things that already happened or things that need to happen in the future. You may feel your emotions are moving. All of these are normal. Notice that your mind is dancing, and let it dance for a while before settling down.

Remember that everything is fine if you feel a little strange about meditation. Just take a moment to identify the emotion you are having and then shift your focus to the physical posture. Try to make yourself as comfortable as possible. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

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Deep breath. Bring awareness to your breath, paying attention to inhaling and exhaling with each breath. ^{[4] X Source of Study} Feel each breath flowing in and out of your body, filling your lungs and then exiting through your throat and mouth. Start taking long, deep breaths. Deep breathing helps to stabilize and relax the mind and body. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Breath-watching is itself a meditation exercise. You can practice watching your breath during meditation.

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Realize that you are not thinking by yourself. When meditating, remind yourself that you can control the thoughts and feelings you have. ^{[6] X Trusted Source Greater Good Magazine Go to Source} When you notice unwanted thoughts or feelings, release them and decide not to focus on them.

This insight can be helpful in realizing that you can change negative thoughts and that you can forget them.
Don’t blame yourself when you pay attention to your train of thought. Practice letting go of mental experiences without judgment.

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Back to breathing. Anytime you feel distracted by noise, thoughts, or whatever, return to your breathing in and out. Anytime you have unpleasant thoughts or feelings, return to focusing on breathing.

As you focus on breathing, focus on neutrality as well. If thoughts come to you while you’re focusing on your breathing, make sure you’re maintaining a practice of not judging your thoughts, including how you’re meditating. Judging yourself will hinder your meditation. Understand that it is normal for people to be distracted or have thoughts from their daily lives.
Remember that meditation is not a performance. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

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Focus on the present. One of the purposes of mindfulness exercises is to help you focus on the present moment. It’s easy for your mind and emotions to turn to the future or to the past, but your body is always in the present. This is why many mindfulness exercises are body manipulation. If you find your mind often drifting, return to your body, especially your breathing. Try to focus only on the present moment. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

Practicing Mindfulness Methods

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Eat mindfully. Mindful eating can even help you lose weight by helping you slow down and really enjoy your food. ^{[9] X Trusted Source Greater Good Magazine Go to Source} You can practice mindful eating with a piece of fruit, such as an apple.

Take the apple and look at it, observe the shape, the structure, or maybe whatever is written on it.
Feel the apple in your hand, or maybe away from your lips.
Bring it closer to your face and smell it. Notice if your body reacts, like salivating or increasing your desire to taste it.
Finally, take a bite of an apple, paying attention to how it tastes, how it feels, and whether it tastes good to chew.

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Practice mindfulness. You can also meditate while walking. Try walking and as you walk, notice how it feels as you walk, how the muscles move, contract, and stretch. Slow down so you can focus on the movement and feeling of your feet as they touch and leave the ground. ^{[10] X Trusted Source Greater Good Magazine Go to Source}

Practicing mindfulness with bare feet can enhance the experience and help you feel many sensations such as the texture and temperature of the ground.

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Focus on feeling. You can do sensory mindfulness meditation if you are experiencing pain or you want to tune into your body. This skill can help you reduce pain and tension in your body. Pick a body part and focus on it, both internally and externally. Is the feeling pleasant, unpleasant, or normal? You might note this “I feel good now” or “There is pain here”. Observe how the mind and body interact with these emotions.

A similar method involving both centralized body bases is the first body scan; that is, scanning the body from the top to check for sensations and then moving on to another part of the body, or monitoring the flow of energy. ^{[11] X Trusted Source Greater Good Magazine Go to Source}
Instead of ignoring what’s around you, harmonize them with each of your senses. Open your eyes and absorb everything around you, paying attention to every movement, color, or object near you. Pay attention to each scent in the air. Pay attention to sounds, be it the hum of electrical appliances, vehicles outside the window, or birdsong. ^{[12] X Trusted Source Greater Good Magazine Go to Source}

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Turn daily activities into meditation. Anything can be meditative if you do it mindfully. You can focus on brushing your teeth by tasting the toothpaste, feeling the bristles of the brush, and feeling the movement of your hands. Bathe mindfully and pay attention to all the ways you take care of yourself in the shower. Even driving to work can meditate: pay attention to how you feel in the car, how your body adapts to the seat, and monitor the thoughts and emotions you’re experiencing while driving, and desired or undesirable results.

Whenever you practice mindfulness, remember that the most important thing is in the present moment. Return to your breath and observe your thoughts and feelings without monitoring or judging them.

Advice

Listen to soft music, nature sounds, or “white noise” to help you practice mindfulness meditation, especially when you’re getting started.
Develop step by step; Don’t try to be too conscious, just see what you see and add what you know. Let them pass as they change. You can improve your cognitive output with practice.
This practice can be combined with mindfulness of the body in all postures, for the best experience and opportunity to learn these frames of reference.

Steps

Select Environment

Start Meditation

Practicing Mindfulness Methods

Advice

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