Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 4: Planning your meditation
• Method 2 of 4: Working with mindfulness meditation
• Method 3 of 4: Relax with body scan meditation
• Method 4 of 4: Try walking meditation
• Tips

Meditation without a teacher is not easy, but many people still learn how to meditate effectively on their own. While it can be challenging, it can also be more convenient and easier for those with busy schedules. To begin with, you must carefully plan your meditation. While there are a variety of approaches to meditation that you can do on your own, mindfulness meditation, body scan meditation, and walking meditation are good choices for getting used to meditating without the guidance of a teacher.

To step

Method 1 of 4: Planning your meditation

1. Consider what you expect from the meditation. Knowing what you want with meditation is an important goal to aim for as different meditation techniques can be used to achieve different goals. Consider your motivation for meditation:
   • For example, ask yourself if you hope to understand a problem, improve your concentration, achieve a sense of calm, develop more energy, or sleep better? Are you interested in meditation as a way to overcome abuse, addiction or other difficult life situations?
2. Choose a meditation technique to achieve your goals and personality. Now that you have determined why you want to meditate, determine the specific meditation exercises that will meet your needs. While most forms of meditation relieve stress and anxiety, certain forms of meditation can provide specific benefits and better suit certain personality types.
   • Mindfulness meditation is good for people who are easily distracted and want to improve their focus and concentration.
   • If you are an active person and find it difficult to sit still, you may want to consider a meditation technique such as walking meditation, where you are allowed to move and be outside.
   • Loving meditation is often recommended for people who want to feel more compassionate and empathetic.
3. Temper your expectations. There are many books, articles, and online resources that promise amazing transformations, but it's a good idea to keep your expectations reasonable. Changing the way you think or feel through meditation can take a long time.
   • Learning to meditate takes time and practice, so don't expect to get the hang of it right away.
4. Plan your meditation time. Many people do not allow much time to meditate or choose a good time to practice it. Ideally, the best times are in the early morning or late evening, when it is usually quieter and quieter around you and you can relax properly.
   • You can choose any time when you know that your surroundings will be quiet and you can focus for a longer period of time.
   • First try to set aside 3-5 minutes for meditation, gradually building this up to about 45 minutes.
   • You may not always have the full time you want, but planning your meditation time will help you get in the right mindset to meditate.
5. Understand that you are already meditating. Many people meditate without knowing it. If you have ever relaxed with a cup of tea, while painting, or walking outside and felt relaxed, then you have had a meditative experience.
   • Comfort yourself in the knowledge that you already have some experience in meditation and can achieve even better results with more focused practice.
6. Establish ground rules. Learning to meditate is like any other form of training, and establishing guidelines or establishing ground rules will make your practice more successful. In addition to following a specific meditation technique, try to plan what to do before and after meditating.
   • It can also be helpful to plan how you will respond if your meditation is interrupted or disrupted. Achieving meditation is difficult and it can be tedious to have that state interrupted, but you can decide how you will respond and how to get back on track.
   • The same routine before and after meditation will help you quickly get into the right state of mind and experience the benefits over a longer period of time.
7. Find a good place to meditate. Choosing a place to meditate is just as important as choosing a time to meditate. You will have to choose a location that is quiet, comfortable and where you feel safe.
   • If you live in a busy house or in a noisy area with limited space or quiet, find an alternative location. You may need to borrow a guest room from a friend or relative, or reserve a study at a library. You can also meditate outside in a place such as a garden, gazebo, or other outdoor building, where you can get away from others for a while.
8. Before you start, relax. Your meditation will be more successful if you can relax for a few minutes before starting. Try some of these techniques for meditating in the right room:
   • Tense and relax your muscle groups.
   • Think of a quiet scene.
   • Listen to soft music.
   • Take a deep breath.
   • Do some stretching.
9. Continue to practice. Like any other skill, meditation is more effective if you practice it regularly. Meditation will be easier for you if you schedule regular sessions.
   • Choose a time that suits your schedule and needs - once a day, twice a day, once a week, twice a week, even once a month if you're struggling to get started.
   • Try to make meditation part of your routine so that you don't have to make a decision about whether or not to meditate. Just make it a regular part of your day.
   • It is normal for some meditation sessions to be easier than others, so don't be discouraged if you are struggling to reach a meditative state.
10. Think about your experience. Whenever you meditate, take a few minutes to reflect on your experience. Make notes about what went well and what went wrong.
    • This can help you recognize behaviors or external factors that make it more difficult to meditate. You will also learn which parts of your routine are the most effective.

Method 2 of 4: Working with mindfulness meditation

1. Sit up straight. This exercise is more effective when you are relaxed but alert. Choose a comfortable place, such as a chair, pillow, or the floor.
2. Relax your muscles. Notice any muscles that seem tense and try to relax them.
   • You often carry tension in your neck, shoulders and back, so pay attention to these areas.
3. Remind yourself why you are meditating. Recent research suggests that meditation sessions are more successful when thinking about the benefits you and your family or friends will get from them. Repeat this step during each session.
4. Watch your breathing. Take a deep breath, and think about how each breath feels. Pay close attention to where your breath enters your nose, how it fills your lungs and leaves your mouth.
   • Try to watch only your breath and not pay attention to distracting sounds, feelings, and thoughts.
   • This is an excellent beginner exercise that you can do on your own. It can also help you prepare for more advanced meditation.
5. Don't worry about dreaming away. It is completely normal for your mind to drift during this exercise, and being able to recognize when this is happening is an important step. If this happens, focus on your breathing again.
   • Learning to recognize when your mind is wandering or worrying and refocusing your attention will help deal with anxiety and stressful thoughts.
6. Try to count each breath. To increase your focus on the breath and limit wandering, you can start by counting each breath you take. Count each time you exhale.
7. Put your focus into words. Our thoughts often distract us from thinking about our breath, so try to connect your thoughts with your breath. For example, while inhaling, remember that you are breathing. When you exhale, notice that you are exhaling.
8. Think about your meditation session. By thinking about how the exercise went, you can improve your technique. Think about what you liked or disliked about the session.
   • It may be helpful to keep a meditation book or diary that you can refer to.
   • If there are specific thoughts that keep coming in, write them down.

Method 3 of 4: Relax with body scan meditation

1. Prepare yourself. To perform a full body scan meditation, you need to set aside about 30 minutes. Choose a comfortable spot and lie flat.
   • Make sure your phone, computer, and television are turned off so you can focus on the meditation.
   • Your bed or a yoga mat are good to lie on to perform this exercise.
   • It can also help you relax if you dim the lights and take off your shoes. Some people also find it helpful to close their eyes.
2. Identify areas of your body that seem tense. Before you officially begin the scan, pay attention to the areas of your body that seem tense or painful. When you know which areas these are, try to relax your muscles or to keep them less tight.
   • Retaining tension in these areas prevents complete relaxation and you will benefit less from the body scan.
3. Start a mental scan of your body. Pretend you're checking the different parts of your body, paying attention to how those parts feel. Focus on one part at a time.
   • For example, if you start with your foot, pay attention to how different parts of the foot touch the mat, your bed, or the floor. Do certain parts of your foot feel different from the rest? If you wear shoes or socks, think about how they feel against your feet.
   • Many people find it helpful to start with their toes and work your way up to their heads. You can also start with your head and work towards your toes.
4. Continue the scan. When you are done reflecting on one body part, move on to another body part. Work your way up to the top of your head.
   • Don't feel rushed or worry about the time. You don't have to spend a certain amount of time on each body part. Just give yourself long enough to feel every part of your body.
5. Remove distractions. It can be challenging to block out distractions such as negative thoughts, the noise of traffic, or a radio in another room, but don't let them interfere with your meditation.
   • Let negative thoughts and distractions fade from the world around you. If you are distracted during the body scan, don't feel down. Knowing when you are being distracted is a good part of the exercise as it will help you avoid it in the future.
   • The scan has nothing to do with an assessment of your body. Instead, you observe how everything feels and works.
6. Focus on connections between body parts. After you scan each body part, try to be aware of how your joints are connected. Notice how these connections feel.
7. Pay attention to how your skin feels. As the last part of the scan, you think about how your skin feels.
   • Are certain parts cooler or warmer than others? Can you feel textures other than clothes, sheets or the mat?
8. Think about your meditation. Now that you have fully scanned your body, try recording your experience in a notebook or journal.
   • Do you feel less pain or tension in certain places?
   • What worked well in the exercise? Which parts of the body scan seemed less effective? Were there times when you felt distracted? What distracted you? How could you avoid these distractions in the future?
9. Repeat the exercise as needed. Repeat this exercise as many times as you want to relax your body. The more regularly you perform a body scan, the easier it will be to stay focused and get the most benefit from it.

Method 4 of 4: Try walking meditation

1. Start by standing. It may sound crazy, but the first part of this exercise is to get up and pay attention to how you feel. Pay attention to the shift in your weight, what you feel in your legs and feet, and how your clothes feel.
   • This step makes you more aware of everything your body needs to do to be able to stand and move.
2. Start walking. You may be used to walking quickly from your car to the office, or sprinting to the bus stop with your kids, but now you need to maintain a slower, more comfortable pace.
   • You don't have to move in slow motion, just think about how you would walk without a specific destination in mind.
   • This is a good practice for people who have trouble sitting still or become restless from other meditation techniques.
3. Think about your feet. Now that you have started walking, think about what your feet feel. Pay attention to how your heels hit the ground, as well as the balls of each foot when taking off.
   • You will also notice how your socks and shoes feel the way they hit your feet.
4. Focus your attention on different parts of your body. Focus on different parts of your body, such as your legs, calves, ankles, hips, and spine, and think about how these parts feel as you walk.
   • When you think about each body part, try to emphasize its movement to emphasize what it does. For example, try swinging your hips a little more.
   • Think about how your different body parts connect and what these places feel like.
5. Focus inward. After paying attention to your body parts, you can focus on your feelings and thoughts. Without fixating on a specific thought, you just pay attention to what you think or feel.
6. Compare your mental and physical feelings. The goal here is to be aware of how your body and mind are feeling at the same time. Try to achieve a state of balance so that you are no more focused on one aspect than the other.
7. Come to a stop. Just as you started this exercise with standing, you will end it in the same way. You don't have to stop suddenly, just try to slow down and stand still.
   • Notice again how it feels to stand instead of moving.
8. Make the exercise your own. You can personalize the exercise to maximize the benefits. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
   • Try to do this exercise with any physical activity, such as running, cycling, or skating.
   • Think of a positive affirmation, an intriguing statement, or a Buddhist principle as you do the exercise.
   • Dedicate as much (or little) time as you can for meditation. What's helpful about this exercise is that you can easily find time to do it. Do it while walking the dog, pushing a stroller, or walking to work. If you are doing this for the first time, give yourself about 20 minutes and choose a quiet place, such as a park or garden.

Tips

• Keep practicing, and don't expect it to be of immediate benefit.
• Once you are confident and used to what you have been practicing, try other methods.
• Start a meditation journal so you can reflect on your experiences.