Where to start meditation for beginners at home? Most people who begin to practice meditation make this process very difficult. In fact, meditation is a very simple practice, but incredibly effective. People who start meditating change and grow very quickly. A core appears inside, a support that gives a feeling of confidence and calm. Of course, this also has a positive effect on health and in all other areas of life.

This article is written based on frequently asked questions from newbies. Many people want to meditate every day to see how the mind works and how it interferes with our lives. But most people quit after a couple of attempts. But meditation really gives you calm confidence and strength to achieve what you want. It just takes more patience and persistence to form the habit of meditating every day. I analyzed what most often worries my readers and wrote these meditation lessons for beginners at home. So, let's go.

Proper meditation for beginners

If you're completely new to meditation and just want to learn how to practice meditation as a beginner at home, you don't need to follow the strict advice that was written for Buddhist monks. Just like you don't need to follow the training schedule of an Olympic ski champion if you just want to enjoy the occasional ski holiday on the weekends.

Moreover, these tips can only harm you. It is unlikely that you will have the patience to sit every day for 3 months getting used to the lotus position with a straight back and not getting any result except internal struggle and damaged nerves.

Meditation can be practiced in everything, in any daily activities. The only thing you need to do for this is to keep your attention on what is happening at the moment, without going into thoughts about the past and future.

If it seems to you that nothing interesting is happening at the moment, then observe your breathing or the sensations in your body. Unlike thoughts, the breath and body are always in the present moment.

Meditation Poses for Beginners

When I first started getting into meditation, I read several beginner books and encountered meditation several times in yoga classes. All training materials began with advice on how to sit correctly and how to prepare a place for meditation.

Usually everyone is taught to sit in a cross-legged position with their back straight. This is, of course, very good if you have been doing yoga every day for 5 years before. But if you, like me at that time, do not have the flexibility of a gymnast, then there is no point in even trying to achieve peaceful states in such a position. Your back and joints will ache very soon, if, of course, you can sit in the lotus position at all.

This posture will only harm your meditation. For an untrained person, holding the body motionless in the lotus position requires physical activity. And an increase in physical activity leads to an increase in mental activity, while in meditation we, on the contrary, strive to reduce the activity of the mind.

Therefore, I strongly advise you to put aside all questions related to body position while learning the state of meditation.

Meditation is a state of inner silence and peace. The body should be in a relaxed, calm and motionless state. In whatever position you can remain in a motionless, relaxed state for a long time, meditate in that position.

This advice is often met with resistance, and even resentment, especially among yoga instructors. They give dozens of reasons why it is important to sit in the lotus position with a straight back. But don't worry too much about it. If you are serious about learning the art of meditation, you will still have plenty of time to practice the correct posture. But I am still sure that at least the first month you need to deal exclusively with comprehending internal states, discarding everything unnecessary. And then you can think about improving your practice.

When the body is comfortable, the desired mental experience is easily achieved, especially if you know how to use the nature of the mind to your advantage.

Meditation practice for beginners

Summarizing all of the above, you can create small instructions that will help beginners meditate at home.

• Sit in a way that suits you and where you feel comfortable. As if you were going to watch TV for half an hour or sit on the phone.
• Decide in advance how long you will meditate. You can set a timer with a soft and quiet signal.
• Place a watch or phone nearby so that during meditation you can see how much time is left until the end of the meditation. Feel free to glance at your watch as often as you like. Every time you think, “I wonder how long I've been meditating,” satisfy your curiosity instead of fighting your desire.
• Close your eyes and observe everything that happens inside you, resisting nothing and accepting everything as it is. Everything that happens during meditation is what should happen. Just be aware that this is happening.
• Then start observing your breathing. To make it easier, first concentrate your consciousness only on the inhalation, and release control as you exhale. Repeat to yourself: “inhale - concentration, exhale - relaxation. Inhale – concentration, exhale – relaxation.”
• Even if you concentrate your mind on one object, for example, on your breathing, thoughts will still continue to swirl in the periphery of your consciousness. This is fine. Mental relaxation and a state of meditation will still be achieved, thoughts will not interfere with this.
• When attention is distracted and you forget, this is also a normal part of the meditation process and is not a mistake. Calmly return your attention to your breathing and continue.
• After finishing the meditation, sit quietly for a couple more minutes. Just tell yourself: “meditation is over” and continue sitting, gradually returning to your normal state of consciousness.

That's probably all. This easy approach to meditation is the best way to learn to meditate at home. Once you have learned to concentrate on breathing for at least 20 minutes, and achieve deep mental relaxation as a result of such mental concentration, move on to more traditional methods of meditation.

Meditation lessons for beginners

Lesson 1 - Sit in meditation for 2 minutes every day

It seems ridiculously easy to sit for just 2 minutes. It seems to us that the harder the action, the greater the benefit from it. Meditation can be compared to physical training. Often, in a fit of enthusiasm, we want to do as much as possible, do squats a hundred times a day, and as a result we only have enough for two workouts. What if you take your time and do 2 squats a day for the first week? Just to form a habit and then gradually increase the difficulty?

Same with meditation. Start with 2 minutes a day for the first week. If all goes well, add another 2 minutes and meditate for the second week for 4 minutes.

At this pace, by the second month of practice, the duration of daily meditation will already be 10 minutes. And that's great! But start small.

Lesson 2: Make Meditation First Thing Every Morning

It is easy to say, “I will meditate every day.” And then forget about it.

Set a reminder on your phone for the time you get up. And place a note “meditation!” in a visible place. Tie meditation to an existing habit. For example, always practice after brushing your teeth. Soon you will feel uncomfortable if you don’t immediately sit down to meditate after brushing your teeth. This means that a habit has formed.

Lesson 3 - Don't get caught up in perfectionism

Don't get caught up in perfectionism. Most people who start meditating worry about where to sit, how to sit, what pillow to use... This is all good, but it's more important to just start. Start by sitting on a chair or couch or bed. If you feel more comfortable on the floor, just sit cross-legged. In any case, at the beginning it is only for 2 minutes, so just sit, without really thinking about whether you are meditating correctly. Later you will gradually improve your practice, but for now just sit comfortably in a quiet place.

Lesson 4 - Monitor how you feel

As you gradually get into the practice of meditation, simply scan how you feel. How does your body feel? Is your mind busy, tired or preoccupied with problems?

Lesson 5 - Count your exhalations

Now that you are settled, begin to observe your breathing. Focus on your inhalation as the air enters through your nose and into your lungs. Then watch the exhalation. At the end of the exhalation, count: one. And so on until 10, then start again from one.

Lesson 6 - Come back when you're distracted

Your mind will wander. The probability of this happening at the beginning is 100%. And that's completely normal. No problem at all. When you notice that you are distracted, calmly, with a soft smile, return your attention to your breathing. And start counting from one again. You may feel some disappointment, but know that this is normal. This is practice and you will be distracted frequently for a while.

Lesson 7. Develop self-love

When distracted from meditation, out of habit, we can become angry at our thoughts and criticize ourselves. It is better to gradually move away from this. When you notice thoughts and feelings arising during meditation, treat them kindly. See them as friends, not enemies. It's part of you, be kind to yourself.

Lesson 8 - Don't Worry That You're Meditating Wrong

You will feel like you are doing something wrong. Don't worry, there is no perfect way to meditate. Meditation is always different for each person. Just be happy that you're doing it.

Lesson 9 - Don't worry about stopping your self-talk

Many people think that meditation is about stopping the internal dialogue and clearing the mind of all thoughts. This is wrong. Sometimes this may happen, but that is not the purpose of meditation. If you have thoughts, that's okay. Everyone has them. Our mind is a factory of thoughts, and we cannot just shut it down. Instead, simply try to focus your attention, bringing it back to the object of meditation whenever it begins to wander.

Lesson 10 - It's okay to be distracted

When you have distracted thoughts and feelings, try to stay with them for a while. Yes, I know that above I said that you need to return your attention to your breathing. But after you've already practiced this for about a week, you can also try just staying with the thoughts and feelings that arise. As a rule, we always try to avoid unpleasant feelings and thoughts, such as anxiety, irritation, disappointment. But it is surprisingly useful sometimes not to avoid them, but to stay and be with them for a while. Just be with these feelings and look at them with curiosity.

Lesson 11 - Know yourself

The practice of meditation is not just about focusing your attention, it is about learning how your mind works. What's going on inside? By watching your mind wander, become frustrated, and avoid difficult feelings, you can begin to understand yourself.

Lesson 12 - Make friends with yourself

When you begin to know yourself, do so without criticism. You meet your best friend. Smile and give yourself love.

Lesson 13 - Practice Body Scanning

When you have some success in concentrating on your breathing, try another exercise. Take a thorough scan of your entire body. Focus your attention on one part of the body, feel the sensations in that part of the body, tension or relaxation. Move your attention throughout your body, starting with your toes and slowly moving up to the top of your head.

Lesson 14 - Focus on Lights and Sounds

Again, after you have practiced observing your breath for at least a week, you can move on to other objects to observe. For example, the light around you. Just sit with your eyes open, look at one point and pay attention to the light in the room you are in. On another day, simply focus your attention on the sounds around you.

Lesson 15 - You can meditate anywhere

If you travel or work a lot, you can meditate anywhere, even in the office. In the park, on a trip, or while you're walking somewhere. Sitting meditation is a good practice to start with. But gradually awareness moves into everyday activities, and then simple walking can become meditation.

Lesson 16 - Use audio meditations

You can try meditating with audio instructions if that helps you. Many people find them very useful.

Lesson 17 - Meditate with Friends

I like to meditate alone, but you can try it with friends, your wife, or your husband. Or simply make a commitment with a friend to meditate every morning, check in with each other, and support each other.

Lesson 18 - Find a Community

Even better is to find a community of people who meditate and join them. Or find an online group and communicate with them, ask questions, get support, support others.

Lesson 19 - Don't look at the clock while meditating

When the meditation time increases to at least 10 minutes, it will be tempting to open your eyes and look at the clock during practice. How much more is left? I decided for myself that it was better not to do this for two reasons. If there is still a lot of time left, you will feel frustrated and ruin your practice. And if there is little time left, you will scold yourself for not holding back and interrupting the meditation just before the end.

Lesson 20 – Smile after practice

When you finish 2 minutes of meditation, smile. Thank yourself for taking the time to get to know yourself and make friends with yourself. This is an amazing 2 minutes of your life.

Meditation is not always easy or pleasant. But this activity brings truly enormous benefits. I am sure that these meditation lessons for beginners will be useful to you, and the practice of meditation will become firmly established in your life.

See you later!

Your Rinat Zinatullin

Learning to meditate and stopping internal dialogue is one of the key things in meditation practice. Why does internal dialogue occur at all? Human consciousness can be divided into two functional parts.

The basic part receives all the impressions in a single complex. She is responsible for interest and pleasure. And also for “experiencing yourself.”

The later part creates complex meanings, sets tasks, and monitors their implementation. This part can be called the commander. She is always trying to control something. She also deals with complex analytics.

Interior dialogue- a concept in psychology, a process of continuous internal communication between a person and himself, intrapersonal autocommunication.

Internal dialogue is a tool of the command and analytical part.

You can see that it highlights tasks and assigns importance to them. His questions:

Am I well educated, how is my business going, does my spouse and child meet the requirements, what is more worthy of my attention at the moment, what should I focus more of my efforts on during the day, month, year?

The work of the command part of consciousness in arranging significance is very costly. A person has many dominants in his consciousness, and the “commander” constantly needs to strengthen one relative to the other. And the more strong dominants there are, the more effort is needed - they grow like a snowball.

We can say that a person has two types of attention:

“simple” attention to real external objects and internal sensations.

“complex attention”, which takes a person out of reality into the world of abstract ideas.

For meditation need to Necessarily learn to relax "difficult attention" so that it doesn't work too hard. In fact, this is one of the main reasons for people's interest in meditation.

Teaching meditation basic task

Therefore, the first basic task of meditation is the ability to completely leave the mode in which consciousness tends to produce effort. To get out of overcontrol, you need to practically stop all control.

Therefore, the practice mode of effort and discipline will not do. But this is now taught in many modern near-meditative courses - through concentration. But concentration strengthens the command mode of consciousness, while meditation should lead away from it.

Nine images characterize the same number of stages of meditation. In an allegorical and visual form, changes in the state of mind and consciousness of the one who began the difficult path to comprehending the Truth are reflected: a monk whose hands hold a lasso and a hook, a monkey and an elephant.

Play of colors, black and white images- This is a step-by-step path to peace and deliverance from delusions that close the mind. The lasso is a symbol of mindfulness and awareness, the hook is a symbol of vigilance, the elephant is consciousness, which is colored black at the beginning of the path, and the monkey is a symbol of a wandering mind.

Tibetan ancient thangka teaching meditation

Algorithm for exiting force mode:

1.We turn our attention to simple sensations, where there are no complex meanings that require strong expenditure - in experiencing the body, the work of the respiratory and peripheral muscles, observing external objects and sounds.

2. Important do not load these sensations with new complex meanings – “chakras” and so on. Any semantic load will interfere with learning to stop the internal.

3. So that the consciousness does not get bored and does not search for meaning, it needs to be given something. Need to learn to enjoy what you ALREADY have. Those. you need to learn to treat simple impressions with natural interest so that their perception brings pleasure.

EXAMPLE

WITH look at your hand and feel it, perceive at least some real sensations; if there are few of them, first do self-massage or exercises.

But you DON'T TRY change the sensations of the hand with attention. You perceive what is, and treat these sensations with interest and try to get satisfaction from them. Then you take the other hand, then the legs, etc.

Sensations from the body travel along the nerves to the brain. But once upon a time, consciousness created a filter that reduced attention to these sensations, so that as many resources as possible could be directed to the analysis of social and other activities.

Within a few weeks of practicing meditation according to the described principle, a person begins to notice much more sensations in his body, and WITHOUT any effort.

In my experience, a few months of this type of training is much more effective in increasing awareness of the body than years of intense concentration training. And a person likes these heightened sensations.

Meditation training and vision adjustment

It's the same with vision. We notice an object in our field of vision that is at least slightly interesting to us, then another, and after a few sessions we come to the conclusion that it is interesting and pleasant for us to look at ANY object, and the process of looking itself is interesting.

So, competent meditation practice For relaxation excessive effort and control should not be usedtormented through control. It shouldn't be a discipline.

The practitioner must create a situation of reduced control but high intensity experiences that are interesting and enjoyable. But at the same time, so that there is no external change in impressions - they are the same all the time.

As a result, internal dialogue, as a function of creating complex meanings and control, subsides. And learn to look for greater and greater depth in simple sensations.

This is a resource state that you need to learn to dive into quickly.

Having mastered this state, a person gains the ability to move between it and the state of an active commander.

The state of increased experience of life impressions and a decrease in excessive attentional tension penetrates into everyday life.

This increases the efficiency of intellectual activity. In an experienced “meditator,” the consciousness gets used to reducing the excessive intensity of the dominants, and therefore, if it is necessary to do difficult work, the intensity of the dominants can be increased much more gently than most people do.

Brain resources are saved and the efficiency of consciousness increases.

As a result, a person gains the ability to both reduce effort to almost zero and easily engage in any activity.

In this article I will talk about how to meditate correctly, I’ll give an example of a specific meditation that you can start doing today, and I’ll tell you about the correct position in which your body should be during the session. Meditation is an effective relaxation and concentration exercise that clears your mind of thoughts and worries, calms you down and clears your thinking. Regular meditation practice improves your mood, teaches you to relax and not react to stress, helps you fight bad habits, strengthens your character, improves your concentration, memory, etc. Most importantly, meditation develops in you a healthy critical ability, the ability to look at things around you and also at yourself, soberly and impartially, and rids your perception of the veil of illusions!

Purpose of Meditation

There is no magic or magic in meditation. This is just a certain exercise, training, nothing more. The goal of meditation is not “opening the third eye” or “comprehending the absolute.” The goal of meditation is a healthy body and a healthy mind, calmness, harmony, balance, etc. Everything that is so lacking in our busy times.

Meditation is not as difficult as it seems. Moreover, I am sure that most of you have already practiced meditation of some kind, and you are even able to appreciate its effects! Surprised? How many of you, when you started counting sheep: one sheep, two sheep...n sheep, until you fell asleep? At the same time, one could imagine the curly-haired sheep themselves jumping over the fence, for example. It helped someone. Why do you think? Because you kept their attention on one thing, thereby stopping to think about something else. All worries and thoughts left your mind!

And the very monotony of this process calmed you down and you fell asleep! You see, no tricks, everything is extremely simple. Meditation is based on a similar principle, although this is a very crude and simplified comparison. You concentrate on your breathing, on an image or on a mantra, thereby calming your mind. But there is no doubt that the effect of meditation is much broader and deeper than the effect that appears when counting sheep. This practice can give you incomparably more.

Many articles in the domestic segment of the Internet on this issue are overloaded with all sorts of esoteric terminology: “chakras,” “energies,” “vibrations.”

I believe that such articles do not entirely play into the hands of the spread of this, undoubtedly useful and effective practice in our country, since all these terms can cause bewilderment and skepticism among the average person. All this smacks of some kind of sectarianism, behind which it is impossible to discern the very essence of meditation. Well, in fact, why do you need to “open the lower chakra” when in fact you just want to learn to control your emotions, not succumb to momentary impulses and mood changes, or?

I look at meditation completely differently. For me, this is not a religion, not a secret teaching, but a completely applied, so to speak, discipline that has helped me a lot in life, ordinary, earthly life, and not transcendental cosmic-spiritual life. She helped me cope with my character flaws, addictions, and weaknesses. She allowed me to more fully realize my potential, put me on the path of self-development, and if it weren’t for her, this site would not exist. I'm sure it can help you too. Anyone can learn meditation. There's nothing complicated about it. And even if you don’t succeed, it will still have its effect. So let's get started. If you want to start meditating, then first:

Make time for meditation

I would recommend meditating twice a day. 15-20 minutes in the morning and the same amount of time in the evening. In the morning, meditation will put your mind in order, give you a boost of energy, prepare you for the start of the day, and in the evening it will relieve stress and fatigue, and relieve you of annoying thoughts and worries. Try not to miss a single session. Let meditation become a daily habit.

I am sure that everyone can allocate 30-40 minutes a day. Many people complain about not having enough time and this fact can be used as an excuse for not taking care of themselves, for example, not spending time playing sports or not meditating. Understand that you are not meditating for anyone, but, first of all, for yourself. This is an action that is aimed at achieving personal happiness and harmony. And this harmony does not cost that much. Just 40 minutes of your precious time! Is this a big fee?

In the same way, playing sports is aimed at strengthening your health, which is more important than anything else, which everyone constantly forgets about and is chasing the implementation of immediate, short-term goals, rather than global goals, sacrificing strategy in favor of tactics. But that's the best case scenario. Most often, these 40 minutes, which could be spent with great benefit, will be spent doing some nonsense. That is why you cannot sacrifice this in favor of something else, less significant.

But you can start with 15 minutes a day if you are a beginner. It is not difficult. I recommend subscribing my free 5 day meditation course, with which you can master a simple meditation technique and avoid common mistakes.

The topic of this article is not sports. But, since I’m talking about this, I’ll allow myself this comparison: if physical exercise is the health of your body, then meditation is the health of your mind. Many people underestimate it until they start doing it themselves (it happened to me too, I’m generally a materialist and it was quite difficult for me to start doing something that I associated with religion and some kind of shamanism, but personal problems forced me to try, which I am very happy about now).

If you have only urgent matters, then it is better to sleep less and meditate at the same time: since 20 minutes of meditation, according to my personal feelings, replaces the same amount of sleep time, or even much more, as you rest and relax. If you have very, very little time and you also don’t sleep much, or it’s very difficult for you to sit idle for 20 minutes in the beginning, then you can try. This is a special technique taught by one of the famous masters of this practice. But I would still recommend meditating for at least 15 minutes for an adult and 5-10 minutes for a child.

Select a location

Of course, it is better to meditate in a homely and quiet environment. Nothing should distract you. Some people do not recommend practicing in the same room where you sleep. Because in this case, there is a greater chance that you will fall asleep during the session due to the fact that your brain is accustomed to the fact that you fall asleep in this room.

But if you do not have the opportunity to choose another room for practice, then there will be nothing wrong with meditating in the bedroom. This is not critical, believe me. If for some reason you cannot find a suitable environment for meditation, then this is not a reason to give up the practice. When I first started meditating, I lived in the Moscow region and had to take the train to work every day. I practiced along the way and, despite many distractions, I managed to somehow relax.

Even meditation in the middle of a noisy crowd can have some effect, so don’t neglect it, even if you don’t have a quiet place where you can be alone with yourself. Such a place is, of course, desirable, but not absolutely necessary.

Take the correct posture

It is not necessary to sit in the lotus position. The main thing is that your back is straight and you feel comfortable. The back should not be tilted forward or backward. The spine should form a right angle with the surface on which you are sitting. In other words, it should fit perpendicularly into your pelvis. You can sit on a chair, preferably not leaning on its back. A straight back position is necessary to make it easier for you to breathe and for air to pass through your lungs better. It is also required to maintain awareness. After all, meditation is a balance on the verge of relaxation and internal tone. Meditation is not only a relaxation technique, as many people think. It is also a method of observing your mind, a way of developing awareness. And these things require maintaining attention and concentration. A straight back helps with this. If you sit up straight, you are less likely to fall asleep during meditation. (This is why I do not recommend meditating while lying down)

What to do if your back gets very tense?

During the straight back pose, muscles that are not usually used in life can be used. Therefore, your back may become tense. It's a matter of training. I recommend that you first sit on a chair with your back straight and do not lean your back on the back of the chair. It is better to tolerate mild discomfort without focusing on it. As soon as it becomes difficult to endure, gently move back and lean your back against the back of the chair, without disturbing the straight position of the spine.

With each new practice session, you will sit longer and longer with your back straight, without leaning it against anything, as your muscles will strengthen over time.

Relax your body

Close your eyes. Try to completely relax your body. Direct your attention to tense areas of the body. If you can't do this, it's okay, leave everything as it is.

Bring your attention to your breath or mantra

Close your eyes. Bring your attention to your breath or mantra. When you notice that you have started to think about something, just calmly return your attention to the starting point(mantra, breathing). Avoid trying to interpret thoughts, emotions, sensations, desires that arise inside. Perceive these things without getting involved in them.

The paragraph above practically contains comprehensive instructions on meditation for those who have just begun to practice it. I tried to formulate as clearly as possible the essence of what I understand by meditation without any unnecessary things, so as not to complicate anything and to convey the meaning of meditation as much as possible to those who know nothing about it.

But, this instruction needs clarification.

While you are watching your breath, you cannot think about anything at the same time (try it). Therefore, when you return your attention to your breathing, the thoughts will go away on their own. But sometimes, having achieved good concentration on the breath (mantra), you will be able to observe thoughts from the outside, how they come and go, how they float past you like clouds. And it will seem to you that you are not a participant in this process, you remain on the sidelines.

But this does not happen right away. This is the next stage of concentration, which you can achieve when you achieve good concentration. In the beginning, you will most likely be constantly distracted by thoughts, and this is normal. As soon as you notice this, simply return your attention to your breathing. That's all you need to do, develop concentration.

It can be difficult to get rid of thoughts because the brain is used to constantly thinking. Getting rid of thoughts is not the goal of meditation, as many people think. Your task is simply to calmly observe your breathing or concentrate on the mantra.

A modern person receives a lot of information every day: meetings, affairs, worries, the Internet, new impressions. And his brain does not always have time to process this information in a fast paced life. But during meditation, the brain is not busy with anything, so it begins to “digest” this information and because of this, those thoughts and emotions come to you that you did not devote enough time to during the day. There is nothing wrong with these thoughts coming.

There is no need to mentally scold yourself for not being able to relax or get rid of thoughts. There is no need to try to greatly influence how meditation goes. You simply calmly observe what is happening without interfering with it. Let everything take its course: good thoughts don’t come, but good thoughts come too.

Take the position of a detached observer: do not make any judgments about your thoughts. You should not compare how you feel to how you felt during another meditation or how you think you should feel. Stay in the present moment! If your attention is distracted, then calmly, without any thoughts, transfer it back to the starting point.
In general, there is no need to think: “I need to stop my thoughts,” “I need to relax,” “I can’t do it.”

If you follow these guidelines during practice, then there will be no “right” or “wrong” experiences for you in the state of meditation. Everything that happens to you will be “right”, simply because it happens and nothing else can happen. Meditation is the existing order of things, accepting your inner world as it is.

(Everyone can remember their fruitless attempts to fall asleep. If you try to force yourself to sleep and constantly think about it (“I need to sleep”, “I can’t sleep - how terrible”), then you will not succeed. But if you just relax and let go of the desire to fall asleep as soon as possible, then after some time you will fall asleep peacefully. The same thing happens during meditation. Let go of your desires to dive deeper into meditation, get rid of thoughts, and achieve some special state. happens the way it happens.)

Of course, meditation cannot be completely compared to sleep. During it, there is still a small bit of effort. This is returning attention to the starting point. But this is effort without effort. That is, it is very light. But at the same time, it should have a gentle insistence, constantly reminding you that your attention has wandered to the side. You should not relax to the point where you leave absolutely everything to chance. A small part of you must try to maintain awareness and control of attention.

It is a very delicate balance between action and inaction, effort and lack of will, little control and no control. This is difficult to explain in words. But if you try to meditate, you will understand what I am talking about.

Now, due to the large number of comments and questions, I would like to once again dwell on one thing. Even if you cannot stop the so-called “internal dialogue” and you constantly think about something during meditation, this does not mean that it is in vain! All the same, the positive effect of meditation reflects on you, leave everything as it is, do not try to conform to any ideas about meditation. Can't clear your mind of thoughts? It's OK!

You can only say that meditation has failed if you haven't meditated at all!

Your goal is to notice when your attention begins to wander, not to get rid of thoughts.

Therefore, people who constantly think about something during practice benefit from it: they become more collected and better control their thoughts and desires, as they learn to keep attention on themselves. “I’m thinking again, I’m nervous, I’m angry, I’m worried - it’s time to stop.” If previously these feelings seemed to pass you by, then practice will help you to always be aware of them, and this is a very important skill. With practice, you will learn to be mindful at any moment in your life, not just during meditation. Your attention will stop constantly jumping from thought to thought, and your mind will become calmer. But not all at once! Don't worry if you can't concentrate!

What should you concentrate on during meditation?

• Concentrate on breathing: you either simply follow your breath, direct your inner gaze to this natural aspect of your life, feel how the air passes through your lungs and how it comes out back. There is no need to try to control your breathing. Just watch him. It should be natural. During meditation, your breathing may become very slow and you will feel as if you are barely breathing. Don't let this scare you. This is fine.
• Read the mantra mentally to yourself: you say to yourself the repeated words of a prayer in Sanskrit. I personally meditate this way (Update 03/17/2014 - now I meditate by concentrating on breathing. I think this method is better than concentrating on a mantra. I’ll write why below). For me personally, a mantra is not a sacred text, it is simply a repeated phrase that helps me stay focused and relax. You can read about it at the link. It is not necessary to read exactly the Indian mantra, you can use the prayer in any language.
• Visualization techniques: you imagine different images: both abstract ones, like multi-colored fire (), and quite concrete ones, for example, you can place yourself in an imaginary environment (), within which you will feel peace and tranquility.

If you don't know which of these types of practices to use, then read my article, or meditate, concentrating on your breathing, as I do. I think it doesn't really matter which meditation you choose, since each of them is based on the same principle.

Although I believe that during meditation there should be as little information in your head as possible to give you the opportunity to observe. The mantra and the picture that you visualize are also information. Although Sanskrit words help you concentrate, they distract you a little from your observation and keep your mind occupied with information.

That's why I prefer to concentrate on breathing.

What does it mean to concentrate on breathing?

Due to the large number of questions, I want to clarify this point. Concentrating on breathing means focusing your attention on the sensations in the body associated with breathing: the opening and closing of the lungs, the movement of the diaphragm, the expansion and contraction of the abdomen, the movement of air in the nostril area. Concentrating on breathing does NOT mean imagining how the air saturates your cells with oxygen, visualizing how it is distributed through the channels, etc. Your task is to observe what is, your sensations in the body, without adding anything to it!

The next question is, what exactly should we focus on? On the sensations in the stomach or in the nostrils? Or should the sensations be observed throughout the entire duration of the air movement from the nostrils to the stomach? All these methods are correct. Experiment with the technique and see if concentrating on which part of your breath helps you focus better, relax, and achieve awareness and clarity (as opposed to drowsiness). The general advice is this: if your main problem is the mind, which is constantly distracted during practice, then concentrate on the abdominal area. Observe how it rises and falls, what sensations are present between inhalation and exhalation. Some teachers believe that observing these sensations “grounds” your mind. But if your problem is more of drowsiness, lethargy during practice, then it is better for you to concentrate on the sensations in the nostrils. Watch how the air passes through the nostrils, what sensations are present between the upper lip and nostrils, how the temperature of the air when inhaling and the air when exhaling differs. Also, if drowsiness does not go away, you can open your eyes a little. But these types of concentration may work differently for different people, so check for yourself which works best for you.

And, of course, I remind you that you should not control your breathing. I know this is very difficult to do, since breathing is something that is very easy to control. But with practice it will start to work out. Just watch your breath, leave it as it is.

In conclusion, I would like to give some important advice to those who want to start meditating.

• Don't expect instant results! The effect of meditation does not come immediately. It took me six months to feel a tangible effect from the practice, but for you it may take less time. No one can become a guru in a few sessions. Effective meditation requires patience and habit. Don’t start classes if something doesn’t work out for you or if you haven’t achieved the expected effect. Of course, it takes time to achieve anything tangible. But, nevertheless, some aspects of the effect of meditation may become noticeable immediately. But this varies from person to person: it’s different for everyone. Don't be discouraged if you don't feel anything and keep meditating! Practice won't bring much results if you don't work on yourself. Meditation is, in a sense, a tool that helps you work on yourself. Practice should not be viewed only as a panacea. Don't think that the effect will come to you immediately if you meditate. Analyze yourself, apply the skills acquired during practice to life, remain mindful, try to understand what meditation has taught you, and then the result will not be long in coming.
• During the session, you should not strain or go out of your way to stop thinking. You shouldn't constantly think about not thinking. Don't get hung up on the fact that you are succeeding at something. Calm down. Let everything go by itself.
• It's better not to meditate before bed. Try to meditate at least a few hours before going to bed. Meditation gives you a boost of vigor and strength, after which it can be difficult to fall asleep.
• Notice how much better you feel on the days you meditate. Over time, you will notice that your mood becomes more elevated after meditation, you find it easier to concentrate, and you are generally more relaxed and confident. Compare this to days when you don't meditate. This will come with practice and will motivate you to continue practicing.
• It is better not to fall asleep during the session. To do this, you need to keep your back straight. But even if you fall asleep, there will be nothing terrible about it. According to the Himalayan meditation teacher, even sleeping during a session will be beneficial for you in terms of the meditative effect.
• You should not eat heavily before or immediately after the session. This is because during and after meditation your metabolism slows down, preventing you from digesting food. Also, during practice, the processes of digesting food will interfere with your concentration. And if you are hungry, then before meditating, you can eat something light so that thoughts about food do not distract you.
• It might get worse at first. If you suffer from depression or other mental illnesses, such as panic attacks (), and decide to use meditation as an exercise that will help you overcome these conditions, then know that this is indeed a very effective technique for getting out of depression, dealing with nervousness (), etc. .d.
  Thanks to meditation, I got rid of panic attacks, anxiety, sensitivity and bad mood. But it is known that these ailments can get worse over time. This happened to me. But it's not scary. The deterioration of the condition was short-lived. And, after some time, everything completely went away. Someone says that a bad state at first may be due to the fact that negativity comes out. Whether this is true or not, I don’t know, but the fact remains clear and don’t let it scare you. Forewarned is forearmed.
• Be aware of the side effects of the practice! Read the article.

Now, perhaps, that's all. Finally, I wish you success. I hope this article helped you understand how to meditate correctly, and contributed to your engaging in this beneficial practice in all respects. Don't delay and start today.

Update 09/06/2013. Dear readers, from this day on I will stop responding to comments from the series: “I’ve been meditating for a month and I can’t concentrate, what am I doing wrong?” or “When will meditation work? am I doing everything right?”

The point of meditation is not to turn off thoughts. Thoughts will appear and disappear - this is normal!

Meditation is not just a process during which by some miracle your body is restored and your mind calms down. This also happens. But meditation is also conscious work on oneself. You learn to control your thoughts and experiences, observe them from the outside, without getting involved in them. And it’s normal that another thought or emotion distracts you from the mantra or observation of the breath. Your task at this time is to gently shift your attention back.

And the more often you are distracted by thoughts, the more often you notice it and the more often you take your attention away from them, the better you get at doing this in real life. The less you identify with your emotions, the better you become at stopping them. Therefore, from a certain point of view, thoughts during meditation are even good.

During meditation, relax; you don’t need to react in any way (with annoyance, or the thought that it’s not working out) to the appearance of thoughts. Just calmly and calmly concentrate on the mantra or breathing. Thoughts come - well, let them.

School of Meditation at Moscow University of Yoga
Meditation is the path to awakening consciousness. The path to liberation from the hustle and bustle of the mind.

What is known about meditation.

Meditation is called the art of awareness, being in silence, observing the nature of your mind. Staying in silence, going inside yourself and observing everything that happens in your consciousness. As a result, we acquire a transcendental state, a state beyond the limits of the everyday mind, a state beyond personal perception.

Historically, many outstanding personalities from Alexander the Great to Nikola Tesla sought answers to the questions of the universe through meditation. In the modern world, to increase the possibilities and efficiency of life, meditation is practiced by many professions from athletes to astronauts.

Even if we remove the Higher goals and new possibilities of consciousness that the correct practice of meditation provides, meditation is the best way to relieve chronic stress and develop stress resistance!

For your safe and effective training, the meditation school has developed a special educational and practical course: .

This method involves the use of complementary techniques to quickly calm an active mind and provide maximum healing benefits.

After completing this course at a meditation school, you will learn all the necessary theory (from philosophy to physiological aspects), master practical methods and gain basic skills for further independent practice.

Meditation and the original practice of yoga

What do we know about the practice of meditation and why is it practiced by millions of people around the world?

Meditation is a set of techniques in yoga and other disciplines of human development, the essence of which is to bring consciousness into a clear and focused state.

Meditation is the highest yoga method for self-realization. In the East, yoga is understood and practiced through meditation or dhyana. In the West, yoga has become associated with the practice of body positions (asanas), which has led to confusion and substitution of concepts. And asana, as a part of hatha yoga, through gaining stability of consciousness, in which the mind is less distracted by physical sensations, only helps to plunge into a meditative state.

Meditation is often referred to as witnessing, sitting in silence and observing the mind, sometimes with sustained concentration. Simply sitting in silence, going inside yourself and observing everything that happens in your mind. A state beyond the everyday mind. A state of no-mind.

But what is the mind that needs to be curbed or transcended?

As one Meditation Master said: “The mind is the most complex and unknown phenomenon on Earth, which shapes human reality.” Meditation allows us to learn to contemplate our mind and awaken awareness. And the more we become aware, leaving the power of the mind, the more freedom and happiness we gain!

The mind is often identified with the ego. But this is not entirely correct, because... Looking more holistically at the structure of the human psyche (these issues are discussed in more detail in the lecture: “The Nature of Mind”), the ego is only one of many parts of the mind! Therefore, identifying the mind and the ego is approximately the same as identifying yoga and asana.

Today, meditation is one of the most effective and thousands of years-tested practices aimed at calming the mind, achieving a state of inner silence and tranquility.

Literature on meditation can be found in this section of our website. Literature on meditation allows you to gain theoretical knowledge of the basics of meditation, but we recommend that you take the learning process under the guidance of an experienced teacher.
Teaching the basics of meditation. Moscow school of meditation.
Yoga University provides meditation training for beginners. Experienced yoga teachers will allow you to open a new world - a world of clear, calm consciousness and psychological peace!

Meditation is considered a spiritual practice because it awakens the mind from the darkness of ignorance.

Regular meditation practice develops new abilities, including creative ones, and leads to spiritual growth. Many ailments disappear when the body is brought into a balanced state. It is not uncommon for the practice of meditation to be used for applied purposes. For example, intelligence services use meditation to train the nervous system to maintain a stable state of mind in stressful situations. Business people use meditation methods to more effectively solve their problems, and simply to unload the psyche. Therefore, meditation has ceased to be the lot of ascetics to achieve spiritual perfection and began to help modern people to solve pressing problems and maintain mental health.

Learning to meditate on your own is quite difficult. The mind of a modern person, especially those living in a large city, is quite restless and achieving a state of inner silence can be quite difficult. Here it is important to understand the basic principles, obstacles and choose the most suitable method of entering meditation, according to your psychological characteristics. It is this approach that will give long-term results and lead to the desired goal.

At the Moscow University of Yoga, meditation training takes place in 2 formats:

1. Training in a group of 7-15 people (3 MODULAR MEDITATION COURSE)

2. Personal one-on-one training with a teacher
You can express your desire to learn yoga meditation practices by submitting an application MEDITATION TRAINING