Beginner’s Guide to Mindfulness Meditation
Dana Svoboda leads the ‘Yoga Nidra Relaxation’ workshop in our online course, the Fertility Pack and has also recorded 4 beautiful meditations (with the option to listen with or without background music) for each phase of your cycle - which you’ll get access to when you purchase the pack!
In this article, Dana shares her tips on how to get started with mindfulness meditation…
How to set yourself up for a joyful meditation journey
When someone asks me “What’s something I can do to improve my life?”, my answer most often is “Meditate everyday, for the rest of your life”. Mindfulness has become increasingly popular around the world. You’ll find mindfulness being implemented just about everywhere: in schools and universities, prisons, Fortune 500 companies, celebrities swear by it - it works. While it may seem like a fad, it’s not going anywhere.
There’s ever-growing hype about mindfulness in our modern world but, mindfulness isn’t a new concept. Mindfulness has its roots with Buddhism, dating as far back the fifth century BC. Anything that’s been going on for that long is surely worth exploring if it means a more balanced and joyful life.
What is Mindfulness?
“The awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally”. - Jon Kabat-Zinn
In other words, it’s about focusing on being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment.
Sounds simple enough, right? It is! Yet, regularly practicing mindfulness can greatly improve your quality of life and sense of wellbeing.
Why practice mindfulness meditation?
Ongoing scientific research is continuously uncovering the wonders of mindfulness. Studies have shown that practicing mindfulness, even for just a few weeks, can bring many benefits on a physical, psychological, and social level.
Physically, mindfulness can help to relieve stress and tension, lower blood pressure, reduce and help manage chronic pain and improve sleep.
Psychologically, another major benefit of mindfulness is that it improves emotion regulation. The ability to move through challenges and the difficult emotions associated with those experiences gives us more personal power and freedom as we are less reactive and more responsive — moving from compulsion to choice.
Socially, mindfulness enhances emotional intelligence (EQ) and helps us to foster better relationships. We experience greater awareness of ourselves and others. Along with better emotion regulation, our capacity to form richer and more rewarding relationships increases.
Foundational understandings
Firstly, let’s debunk some common misconceptions like: Meditation is about “stopping thoughts” or just “calming your mind”. A calmer mind might come as a result of practicing, but it’s not really the point.
The aim is to observe yourself and your experience without judgement. In other words, whether your mind is restless or calm, whether you feel happy or frustrated, whether the space you’re in is quiet or noisy, try to practice witnessing all of it without labelling it as ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
Another misconception that many beginners have is that they need to get “good at meditating”. Try taking any sense of striving and measuring yourself out of the equation as it cancels out the space of ‘non-judging’ and adds unnecessary pressure on yourself.
There is no “Meditation Olympics”. The idea is to practice ‘being’ not ‘doing’. Meditation makes you more present and the more present you become the better your life becomes.
The Practice
Sit comfortably in a space where you won’t be disturbed.
Close your eyes or soften your gaze on one spot.
Breathe naturally as you allow sounds in your environment to come and go.
Focus your attention on your breath and how the body moves with each inhalation and exhalation. Notice the movement of your body as you breathe. Observe your chest, shoulders, rib cage, and belly. Simply focus your attention on your breath without controlling its pace or intensity. If your mind wanders, return your focus back to your breath.
How to build a strong practice: start small
New meditation practitioners tend to put a lot of pressure on themselves which has them giving up before they gain momentum with this life-changing practice.
A daily ten minute practice can feel very daunting to someone who is just starting out, so my recommendation is to start with just one minute a day. When you feel comfortable with one minute add another minute. Continue the process for as long as you need until to get to ten minutes.
You will likely be enjoying the benefits so much that you may want to explore mediating for longer than ten minutes. If ten minutes is all you can spare in your day however, you will still reap wonderful benefits.
Remember, you have the rest of your life to practice, so be gentle with yourself and go gradually.
Don’t find time, make time for it.
Try to do it at the same time each day — any time that works for you.
Commit to 30 days daily practice before deciding if it’s for you.
See it as less of an exercise or chore and more as a gift to yourself
Even when we know that something is good for us, getting into the habit of it can be challenging so be sure to acknowledge and thank yourself along your journey — it truly is an amazing gift to yourself and you deserve it.
By Dana Svoboda - Holistic Coach/Yoga Teacher/Professional Enjoyer