How to get started with meditation

If you are new to meditation, choose one technique which suits you and try introducing it into your daily routine

DESPITE its immense health benefits, getting started with meditation can be challenging.

According to Sarvesh Shashi, Founder, SARVA and Diva Yoga, the big question of “how to meditate” can be answered in so many ways really because it has no single answer and is so subjective in nature.

He says: “If you are new to meditation, choose one technique of meditation which is easy or suits you and try bringing it into your daily routine.”

Choose the same time of the day if possible and try to find that silent corner of the house where you sit to meditate.

You can keep some plants around you and a soft pillow at this place and can choose to come back to this place every time you want to meditate

Set a time of 2 minutes to start with, which you can slowly increase as per your comfort

Start simple. Find an anchor or a point of focus, it can be your breath, it can be the sounds around you, it can be the eyebrow center or simply focusing on your pulse or heartbeat

Bring your attention to your anchor and try to keep the attention there. Every time your mind wanders into future past thoughts bring your attention back to your anchor

It may sound and even be difficult to focus attention if one is a beginner, but keep at it, says the yoga master, adding that with regularity and daily practice, one will be able to increase the time for which they sit for meditation and slowly, they will notice themselves getting better at it.

SOME MOST-PRACTICED MEDITATIONS

• Focus or concentrative meditation, where you will have a point of focus for your meditation. It could be your breath, or any such anchor l

• Mindfulness meditation is somewhat similar to focus meditation, in that we look at our thoughts from an objective point of view, without judging them.

We just observe the thoughts and let it pass by without holding on to one thought obsessively

• Movement based meditation, where one is active from the body and the entire focus is on the movement and nothing else, you are deeply focused and this can bring you to the stated Dharana (onepoint concentration)

• Mantra meditation is also one very effective and active form of meditation where one can chant some of the Sanskrit mantras.

One begins with a simple or short mantra like ‘Om Shanti Shanti Shanti’ and repeats this mantra for a few times.

This helps bring the vibration of the mantra subconsciously in the mind and body and get deeply engulfed in the state of concentration on the mantra

• Visualisation is also a very effective way to meditate. One draws a mental picture in the mind – anything visual which will calm the mind down, like a beautiful scenery or recalling some good memories or visualising healing of the body. | IANS