When it comes to meditation, how do you go about doing it? When practicing mindfulness meditation, we practice paying attention to our breath and noticing when our thoughts stray from this focus.

Mindfulness and attentiveness are strengthened via regular repetition of this breath-centered technique. Paying attention to our breath teaches us to intentionally and nonjudgmentally anchor ourselves in the here and now, which is where we are meant to be.

At first glance, it seems that practicing mindfulness is a straightforward concept. Indeed, it's a well-known practice.

While meditating for the first time, meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg saw how easily one's thoughts might be sidetracked by other concerns. "I wondered, "OK, how many breaths before my mind begins to wander?" — 800. And to my utter shock, it just took one breath for me to vanish," Salzberg recalls.

We are often overwhelmed by everyday life and its frantic rush. Finding inner peace and refocusing in permanent chaos is not easy. Discover the keys to a successful first meditation session.

Meditate? We often tell ourselves - and wrongly - that we don't have time. And yet, the regular practice of meditation can help us be better in our lives.

Daily life tends to grab us and put us in "automatic pilot" mode: we carry out the tasks that we have to do, we take the dog out, we prepare dinner… all this under constant stress . Meditation makes it possible to stop this frantic race which puts “outside of oneself” in order to refocus and be present to what is there, right now, now. There are different types of meditation.

The one that interests us here is mindfulness meditation. She is not religious and has no particular spirituality. It is for everyone.

Why Learn to Meditate?

A selection of benefits that are associated with meditating.

While meditation isn’t a cure-all, it can certainly provide some much-needed space in your life. Sometimes, that’s all we need to make better choices for ourselves, our families, and our communities.

And the most important tools you can bring with you to your meditation practice are a little patience, some kindness for yourself, and a comfortable place to sit.

When we meditate, we inject far-reaching and long-lasting benefits into our lives. And bonus: you don’t need any extra gear or an expensive membership.

What is meditation for?

Meditation is the basis of spiritual development in order to gain a better understanding of oneself and the unseen things around us.

Meditation allows us to get rid of negativity, improve our spiritual balance, perfect our intuition, find answers to spiritual or personal questions and improve our connection with the universe or with our energy.

Furthermore, most seers, psychics, magnetizers and Reiki masters make use of meditation on a daily basis, in order to generate and maintain their own flow of energy and also to further strengthen their extra-sensory abilities.

Benefits of meditation

There are many benefits of meditation, all of which are scientifically proven.

Meditation can help:

·       Lower blood pressure

·       Reduce anxiety

·       Decrease the pain

·       Relieve symptoms of depression

·       Improve sleep

There is no doubt that meditation practitioners are convinced of the benefits of meditating in their life, whether it is occasional or regular.

In order to get the best results from your meditation exercises, it is important to start with a good foundation.

The different types of meditation

There are nine popular types of meditation practice:

·       Mindfulness meditation

·       Spiritual meditation

·       Targeted meditation

·       Moving meditation

·       Mantra meditation

·       Transcendental meditation

·       Progressive relaxation

·       Benevolent meditation

·       Visualization meditation

o   Mindfulness meditation

In mindfulness meditation, attention is paid to thoughts as they pass through your mind. The idea is to welcome thoughts, not to judge them and therefore not to get involved with them.

o   Spiritual meditation

It is similar to prayer, in the sense that you reflect on the silence around you and seek a deeper connection with your God or your Universe.

o   Focused meditation

Focused meditation involves concentration using one of the five senses.

For example, it's about focusing on something internal or external to you. For example, you can use your breathing to concentrate or on birdsong why not. Then you go into meditation.

Furthermore, for ordinary people, meditation refers to the lotus position or pronouncing the "Om"…. but meditation can also be done through movement! For example, a walk in the forest, gardening or the practice of qi gong is forms of meditation.

o   Mantra meditation

In Hinduism and Buddhism, mantra is a holy syllable, word, sound or phrase blessed with spiritual power. To meditate with a mantra, we just utilize the word, for example, which we repeat again loudly or in a quiet voice. The popular "Om" is a sort of mantra meditation.

After chanting the mantra for a while, you will be more alert and in tune with your surroundings. It allows you to experience deeper levels of consciousness.

o   Transcendental meditation

Transcendental meditation is a popular type of meditation that goes in the same direction as the practice of positivism. This practice has been the subject of numerous studies in the scientific community. It is a question of using, like the mantra, a phrase or a personal sound and of repeating it.

o   Progressive relaxation

Also known as body sweep meditation, progressive relaxation is a practice aimed at reducing tension in the body and promoting relaxation.

Often times, this form of meditation involves slowly tightening and relaxing one muscle group at a time throughout the body.

o   Benevolent meditation

Benevolent meditation also called love meditation is practiced to strengthen feelings of compassion, kindness, and acceptance towards oneself and others.

This usually involves opening the mind to receive love from others and then sending series of intentions through thought, prayer, or visualization to a person or group of people, or even to entities like animals, mother earth….

o   Visualization meditation

Visualization meditation is a technique focused on improving feelings of relaxation, peace, and calm by visualizing positive scenes or images.

With this practice, it is important to imagine the scene vividly and use the five senses to add as much detail as possible.

Another form of visualization meditation involves imagining yourself successfully achieving specific goals, which is meant to increase focus and motivation.

How Much Should I Meditate?

Meditation is no more complicated than what we’ve described above. It is that simple … and that challenging. It’s also powerful and worth it. The key is to commit to sit every day, even if it’s for five minutes.

Meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg says: “One of my meditation teachers said that the most important moment in your meditation practice is the moment you sit down to do it, because right then you’re saying to yourself that you believe in change, you believe in caring for yourself, and you’re making it real. You’re not just holding some value like mindfulness or compassion in the abstract, but really making it real.”

How to do your first meditation session?

In a quiet place, take care not to be disturbed. Put your phone on silent.

We sit down (or if the physical form does not allow it, we lie down). The position should have three qualities: it should be comfortable, open (upright) and dignified.

The morning is often more conducive to meditation because it impacts the quality of the day. But we can be creative! You can decide to meditate after dropping the children off at school, after parking on the side.

Once properly installed, we direct our attention to breathing. We pay attention to the sensations in the belly, the nostrils.

As soon as you feel distracted, you refocus your attention on the sensations of breathing. And we wait for "the snow to settle, like in a snow globe". We do this for 5 minutes. Then, as the days go by, we increase the time (10, 15, 20 minutes) When we feel ready, we change the object of attention, we focus on the sensations of the body and more on breathing.

How to meditate; The basics for good meditation

Are you wondering how to meditate? Follow our guide!

Ø  Find a comfortable seat

Finding the right posture for meditating is essential, but you don't need to sit in a classic yoga pose. The main thing is to keep your back straight, but not stiff, to allow breath and energy to flow freely.

It is also very important not to move and therefore to be comfortable. You should be in a stable position that you can hold for at least 20 minutes without experiencing discomfort. Here are three possibilities to get started.

Once you are comfortably seated, put your hands on your knees, palms facing up or down, and bring your thumb and forefinger together. This closes an energy circuit which allows energy to expand in the body.

On a chair: Sit in a chair with a straight back and a flat seat. If you don't have a flat-seat chair, place a folded blanket under your sit bones to lean your pelvis forward. Put your feet flat on the floor, and place cushions behind the lower back if necessary to keep the spine straight.

Cross- legged: Sit on the floor in Sukhasana (comfortable sitting posture). If the floor is too hard, sit on a mat or a folded blanket to cushion ankle contact. Your hips should be about 5-10cm above your knees. If not, put a pillow or two or three folded blankets under your buttocks to lift your hips. This support will keep you upright and protect your psoas and other lower back muscles.

Ø  Start with breathing

To establish a stable foundation for meditation, it is important to work just one practice every day until it becomes a habit.

Against a wall: If you find it difficult to stay upright while sitting on the floor, you can sit against a wall in Sukhasana with pillows behind your lower back (position them behind your lower back rather than in the middle of your back) . Use as much as you want to support your spine and help you stay upright.

Sit in a comfortable position with your spine straight without straining too much. Inhale, release the hips, thighs and ischia letting them sink into the ground. Exhale, feel the slight lifting of the spine to the top of the head. Inhale, feel the chest rise and gain momentum. Exhale, let the shoulder blades relax against the back.

Inhale, and keep the bust straight. Slightly tilt your chin down. Place your hands in Chin Mudra, thumbs and forefingers touching, palms on thighs. Release the tongue in the mouth. Close your eyes.

Ø  Focus on the rhythm of your breathing

Let your awareness follow the flow of the breath little by little. Feel all the sensations in your body with each exhale and with each inhale.

With the inhalation, fix your attention on a part of the body that feels tense or stiff, and on the exhale, release any tension there. As you breathe in gently, bring your attention to your shoulders and when you exhale, feel them relax.

As you breathe in quietly, bring your attention to your chest and stomach, and as you breathe out, release all tension in that area. Inhale and allow your breath to reach all the areas of the body that still feel tense, and exhale feeling your whole body surrender and relax.

Let the breathing follow a natural rhythm. Notice how fresh the breath is when it enters the nostrils. It circulates through the throat, perhaps stopping in the chest, and then slowly reverses its way to come out through the nostrils, slightly warm.

Ø  Feel the sensations

Now feel the light touch of your breath as your attention becomes more and more focused on the flow of the breath. If any thoughts do arise, notice them with awareness, and allow your attention to return to the breath.

With the flow of the breath, you may feel the subtle presence of particles of light and energy. They enter with the inspiration, circulate throughout the body, and come out with the expiration. You can visualize these particles of light being white, blue or pink in color. You can also feel them as waves and particles of energy.

Feel the invigorating caress of the breath, perhaps by being aware of the particles of light that fill your body with the breath, perhaps by feeling the passage of the breath through your nostrils, through your throat and into the heart, then outwards.

In conclusion, to exit the meditation, take a deep breath and breathe out very slowly. Notice the sensations of your body, your mind, the quality of your energy. When you are ready, write down in your journal what is left of this meditation.