With so many approaches on how to meditate, it’s time for you to learn a simple process that works even if you are a beginner. There are so many distractions and stressors in everyone’s life these days, and meditation is perhaps the most effective way to deal with all of it. I’ve personally used this “how to meditate” method for 40 years and I continue to benefit from it and I know you will as well.
You will need to set aside 15-20 minutes but if you can do 30 minutes or more that could also be helpful.
I also have a video with much of this information as well as a guided process at this link: Learn to Meditate.
6 Phases of How to Meditate
Select a place where you can be comfortable and not disturbed or distracted by people, animals or phones.
Phase 1 of How to Meditate: Preparation
You’ll want to spend a few minutes just in this phase of your session, as sometimes it takes a little time to quiet the mind from the distractions of the day, and turn your focus to your spiritual work.
To effectively learn how to meditate you’ll want to relax physically, emotionally, and mentally. You’ll do this by letting go of anything distracting.
Physically: To remove physical distractions you want to be comfortable. Find a comfortable position which you can hold for the duration of your practice. It is more advisable to be sitting rather than lying down so you don’t drift off. Meditation is not an endurance trial. Yes, you can scratch your nose if it itches, and reposition yourself if you are uncomfortable.
Mentally: The media we are exposed to these days relentlessly stirs up worrisome thoughts and troubles. Once you’ve been exposed to this type of information you can find your mind fixating on things you can do little about resolving, but that doesn’t stop the mind from processing the input and grinding away on it.
Most people experience mental activity in the form of repeating thoughts and inner voices. There are a number of ways to reduce this activity, but a simple way is to accompany your breathing with a soothing visual image such as a quiet and restful natural setting near some calm water.
Emotionally: Your emotions are your reactions to things happening in your life or people around you. People often say or do things that are upsetting and to successfully learn how to meditate you’ll want to settle those feelings. Here are some ways to do that…
Generally, some form of controlled breathing is helpful at this point. For instance, measured breathing works well to settle your energies. Here’s how to do that:
Inhale and exhale to the same slow count from one to five. Actually, any form of slow connected breaths will bring you into the state of greater mental stillness from which greater clarity will emerge. Do this for 2-3 minutes.
Grounding
The next thing to do that will help you experience how to meditate is to ground yourself in a very specific way that I have found to be very effective. Grounding helps you to settle your energies and quiet your mind.
Grounding is an active process to do at the beginning of a meditation to settle your mind and calm your energy down.
The way I suggest you ground yourself is by directing your attention to form a connection from the base of your spine to the center of the earth. This works far better than imaging little roots coming out the bottom of your feet, which is what many people do.
It is not necessary to actually “see” this connection in your mind’s eye even though I use the term “visualize” it. Many people simply hold an intention and conceptualize the image.
The image that I find that works most effectively for this is to imagine you are sitting on a tree stump (the color of wood) three feet in diameter and the trunk of the tree and it’s roots go deeply into the earth all the way to the center of the Earth. It is important to keep the diameter of your grounding connection the same all the way to the center of the earth.
Your first chakra happens to be located at the base of your spine and it’s energies move downward into the column of energy you have created with your intention and it has a wonderful stabilizing effect on your whole being.
You will find that when you are well grounded that your thinking and memory improve, you are more focused, you feel more stable, you have more ownership of your space and are therefore not as affected by others.
This form of grounding does two other important things. It helps to keep you in the present moment, and it gives you a way to release anything distracting. Here’s what I mean: It is natural to collect subtle-energy and thoughts from other people, organizations, and places you have been. These subtle energies have effects on your feelings, thoughts, and reactions.
Think of your grounding connection functions something like a drain in a shower or bathtub; it gives what you are washing off and releasing a place to go. You can imagine what a shower would be like if there were no drain. Now imagine that you have no outlet for the energies that you have accumulated. If they have no easy escape, they will condense and settle into your tissue, organs and systems of your body or stay resident in your aura and energy system.
Once you establish good grounding declare your intention that it stay in place at all times. You will find it helps you all through the day. In fact, if you turn your attention to it a few times throughout the day you will always be in a grounded state. Then when you are in your meditation practice it will only take a few seconds for you to turn your attention to your grounding and hold the intention that it remove and clear from you any energy that isn’t yours or which doesn’t fully support you.
This simple grounding process which only takes a few seconds a day can be of immense value to you both in meditation and every day life
Phase 2 of How to Meditate – Center Your Awareness in Your Heart
The second phase of your practice on how to meditate is to center yourself in a place where you can have more clarity and begin your connections with your True Self. Everyone’s consciousness has a point of focus. If you pay attention to yourself right now and tune into your inner space you can become aware of where your awareness is focused. It is usually focused on an area that is holding your attention.
For instance, if you have a pain in your shoulder, you are likely to find your awareness at least partially focused somewhere near your shoulder. If your mind is active it is probably somewhere in or around your head. In some cases it can even be in front of your head in which case you are likely to feel a little spacey, unfocused, or forgetful.
If you are feeling stressed or tense it may be in your abdomen near your solar plexus. You’ve no doubt heard the expression, “What does your gut tell you that you should do about a situation?” When you are tuned into your gut, you will find your awareness focused somewhere around your abdomen.
Another area where your attention can usually be found is in your chest or heart area. Some people carry grief, sadness, emotional pain, love or compassion in the chest area.
Your chest area has an important value in how to meditate because your Higher Self and spiritual connection is most easily accessed through the heart center. So for our purposes here, put your attention on your heart center in the upper center part of your chest and reverently say to yourself, “I ask the peaceful presence of love and light to emerge in my heart.”
Sit quietly with that for a minute or so to allow yourself to connect with the words and the inner presence. You can repeat that request several times and each time deepening your connections with what the words represent. You may not notice anything other than feeling more relaxed and peaceful, and that is good if you do.
Phase 3 of How to Meditate – Connect with your Higher Self
As you learn how to meditate you may just feel a quietness come over you, but in time there will be more of a felt presence that emerges. To help you with this repeat some statements in a mantra like process.
Some suggestions are: “I feel my Soul. I feel Divine love in my heart. I am peaceful.” Or, you can repeat a name of God such as, “Yahweh, Allah, Alleluia, I Am that I Am, Amma, Baba, Adonai, or simply I am love.”
The idea is to repeat something that helps you feel like you are making an inner connection with your peaceful inner essence. Repeat your mantra softly to yourself while moving your lips and be silent for about 15-30 seconds between each time you repeat the mantra.
As you repeat these statements for several minutes you will find yourself connecting more and more deeply each time you repeat the words. You will sink more deeply into your experience of discovering your true nature which is an expression of infinite love and light.
Attuning Deeper to Inner Guidance
Intend to deepen the connection each time. After a number of minutes you may notice that a shift takes place within you. This can take anywhere from a few minutes to 30 minutes or more. In the beginning weeks of meditating you may not feel all that differently, but if you stay with the practice you will eventually feel supported, comforted, and spiritually awake. At this point compare how you are feeling with what you were feeling in the past before you started a meditation practice.
The meditation itself will guide you in where and how to explore next. You will be taught from within. Once you feel you have reached a nice state for the meditation through the repetition then practice sitting in peaceful stillness and attune yourself to the subtle impulses that arise. Be willing to stay out of judgment to allow the new awarenesses to arise.
Be Patient and Understanding with Yourself
Meditation is an ever-improving skill the more you do it. In time, you will find that you are in tune with your inner spiritual connection nearly all the time. It can become a continuous inner communion and walking with your divine connection throughout your day. You will begin to feel a harmony and congruity as you align yourself with your inner guidance, and you will feel “off-track” when you are not.
Step-by-step the controlling mind relinquishes control as it realizes you are guided through an inner direction that brings a healing to the parts of you that have lived in fear, struggle, and suffering.
In the early stages of this practice you may not be seeing, feeling or hearing much of anything and assume you are either doing it wrong, or there is something wrong with you that prevents you from success. Neither of these conclusions are true.
Going into judgment about yourself, becoming impatient with yourself or other self-doubts that arise will only keep you from deepening into how to meditate. Continue with your daily practice, for no matter how long it takes to open your receptivity, you will succeed if you persist, and the rewards are well worth everything you put into your practice.
Phase 4 of How to Meditate – Integration
The fourth phase of the practice on how to meditate is integrating your experience before you begin to bring yourself back into your normal day-to-day world. In this phase you relax your mind, let go of any questions and become still.
Sense and feel the peacefulness and expansion. You will want to rest in this phase for at least 5 minutes, or probably longer. Give yourself permission to fully surrender yourself and merge into your deepest truth. You may rest in this phase for a little while or a long while depending on what feels appropriate.
Phase 5 of How to Meditate – Gratitude
The fifth phase is to express gratitude for your session regardless of your perception of your meditation’s nature or quality. Gratitude is a form of surrender that opens you a little more each time you express and feel it. Say to yourself, “I an grateful for all I have received today from my meditation. I bless my life with love and light.”
Phase 6 of How to Meditate – Reconnect
Very gradually reconnect your awareness to you five senses and begin to notice what you are sensing. Notice sounds, feelings, and sensations.
Take several deep breaths before opening your eyes and savor the air and notice the feelings in your body. Relish the way you feel as you begin to stretch your body.
Be mindful of not contracting or tensing at the thought of returning to your normal day. Hold the intention to maintain the peaceful space from your meditation.
As you return to your normal activities you may think you are losing what you experienced in the meditation, but know that your awareness has stretched from where it was to a new experience of yourself and your spiritual connections.
I have a 9-hour audio program titled Meditation Mastery that answers hundreds of questions and guides you through meditations. Here is the link: Meditation Mastery Course
As the day goes on you may find that you “pop” in and out of the awareness gained in the meditation. This indicates that you are, in fact, changing. Notice how the new insights live in the back of your mind throughout the day and give you a fresh experience of whatever is before you.
The more you meditate and connect with the inner you, the more you realize that your outer perceptions have been limiting and confining you, and the inner truths of love and light begin to emerge from within you. Your awareness gradually awakens to reveal your inner core essence of love, light, and beauty.
I’ve created a short free video to help you eliminate negative distractions and take you further than what I have described in this article on how to meditate. You can access the free video here: The Secret of Letting Go. https://www.letgosecret.com/
