It would be hard to avoid hearing about the wonderful, healing benefits of meditation and mindfulness in this day and age. It seems like everyone is talking about it, promoting classes, clothing and special music to guide you on your journey.
But have you ever tried it?
Maybe you think, “How can sitting in a quiet room help me feel less stressed?” That’s ok, most of us have felt that way.
Did you know that meditation and mindfulness go hand in hand?
In most conventional practices, you’ll see a separate category of meditation known as mindfulness meditation. But in reality, the connection between the two is indistinguishable.
If you have been struggling with any kind of stress, worry or sadness in your life lately, exploring the art of mindfulness through meditation might be the answer to help ease your feelings.
What is Mindfulness?
If you just stumbled upon us while looking for how to master meditation, there is a slight chance you might not know what mindfulness is.
The term ‘mindfulness’ sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is. It’s simply your ability to be present in a situation, without your mind wandering everywhere.
Now, that might sound simple enough. But let’s rewind a little.
From the moment you started reading this post, how many other things have crossed your mind?
We don’t want you to answer. Rather, we want you to realize that it’s completely normal to think about a million things at once.
But sometimes, bringing your mind to reality is just what you need to make your day a little bit better. And that’s what mindfulness is all about.
The Connection Between Mindfulness and Meditation
“Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state.” – Wikipedia
In the journey to understand how to master meditation, you needed to understand the effect before the method.
Now that you have a good grip on the concept of mindfulness, we can move forward.
The idea of mindfulness seems very straightforward. Anyone could bring their mind to present and stay there, right?
In most cases, achieving mindfulness is something that doesn’t come easy to us.
The busy lives we lead are partly to blame. Our minds are scattered all over the place, thinking about hundreds of things at once.
In the long run, that’s not a good practice for your mental health.
Even if you’re swamped with problems in your relationship, your work, family, or finances, you can stay happy and relaxed just with the practice of mindfulness.
That’s where how learning the art of meditation comes into play. Meditation is simply the process of trying to achieve mindfulness. It might happen easily for you. Or, it might take substantial practice.
Is Meditation Hard to Master?
In my yoga practice, I had the hardest time giving in to the meditation part. I had a busy job, a husband and puppy at home and was doing school part time in the evenings. I committed to my yoga practice mostly because of how it strengthened my body.
My mind was constantly racing with what I was going to do next. But over time, as I learned how to give in to mindfulness, I looked forward to yoga because of how calm and relaxed I felt afterward.
The best trick I can relay to you is about letting thoughts barge in while you meditate. Every time something popped into my head, a deadline, a social commitment, groceries I needed to remember, I just thought,
“I don’t need to think about that now. It will be there when I finish the class. This time is only for me and for yoga.”
It took some practice (Which is why it’s called a practice, you will likely not be very good at it at first.), but eventually, the thoughts would drift away. I would focus more on how deeply I could breathe, and my mind would empty.
The important thing is to just start practicing.
8 Meditation Tips for Beginners: Quiet That Mind
How Do You Master Meditation?
The concept of meditation goes back thousands of years. Ancient monks practiced meditation and yoga for their physical and mental fitness.
With time, there have been thousands of renditions of meditation.
So, we are not going to take the conventional approach toward meditation or mindfulness. Rather, we’re going to blend the two.
As a result, you should be able to calm your mind and think deeper than ever before. Without breaking your patience, let’s get to some of the tips you can follow and actually learn how to master meditation.
Mindful Living: 4 Helpful Ways to Calm Your Mind & Keep it From Racing
1. Set Aside Time
If you have a habit of reading case studies, you can find two major schools of thought regarding meditation.
- For some, it’s just what they needed to improve their life.
- And for the rest, it’s all hocus pocus.
At the end of the day, it comes down to you. And to test your abilities of mindfulness, you need to set aside time.
For a lot of people, meditation doesn’t work just because they consider it a chore. They might rush home quickly after a long tiring day to meditate, just to realize that their stress levels didn’t decline at all.
Meditation and mindfulness are supposed to calm you down. So, don’t think of it as something you must attend to.
Just make sure you get some ‘me’ time. When no one’s going to bother you. When you can truly dive deep into the realm of your mind.
2. Don’t Be Too Worried About Your Setting
The majority of the meditation practices ask you to select a quiet room with dimmed lights. They might even ask you to have control over the temperature.
Sure, if you have easy access to all of these, go for it by all means while learning how to master meditation.
But don’t go out of your way if it’s going to increase your stress levels. Mindfulness is all about being in the present. Observing your surroundings with your inner eyes.
So, if it’s noisy, focus on the noise. Try to understand what’s going on. Submerge yourself in the noise.
If it’s quiet, enjoy the tranquility. Listen to the subtle sounds made by the insects on the lawn or a car crossing by the distant highway.
If it’s hot, feel the temperature. Feel the gentle breeze touching your skin while you concentrate. Remember, awareness is the biggest strength of mindfulness.
3. Wander as You May
The human mind works in a mysterious way. It’s almost impossible to always stay present in the current moment. And that’s not how to master meditation.
So, don’t be so harsh on yourself if other things cross your mind. Embrace the thoughts with grace and return to the moment.
The practice of mindfulness is all about returning to the present moment. If you could stay at a certain level of calmness at all times, there wouldn’t be any need for mindfulness.
- Let your mind go where it wants to go.
- Take notes of the things you feel.
- Enjoy a faded memory.
- And come back.
As long as you come back and realize your surroundings in detail, your session is successful!
4 Keys to the Simple Practice of Meditation
By now, you should have a clear idea of how you can achieve mindfulness. It won’t happen the first time you do it. It might not happen the 100th time you do it. The key is to stick to the practice. Success will come.
Now, let us share some of our insights on how you can make your mindfulness meditation better.
1. Close Your Eyes Softly
The more stressed we are, the stronger our gaze tends to be. Start with relaxing your eye muscles. All you need is a soft gaze.
If your gaze starts to stiffen as you progress through the meditation, don’t worry. Keep note of it and practice again the next time.
2. Be Comfortable
Most guides on how to master meditation will ask you to lie down flat on your back or sit straight on a chair.
But the ultimate takeaway is to be comfortable. If you’re not comfortable on your back, be in a position that you are. It’s hard to concentrate on your surroundings when you’re in discomfort.
3. Breathe Deeply
The classic technique used for thousands of years. You might ask:
- Why do we have to breathe gently for meditation?
- What special powers does it have?
Well, you might be disappointed to know that breathing doesn’t have any special powers. Rather, it’s used to anchor your thoughts. Breathing is the only natural bodily function that goes on a rhythm, 24 hours a day.
And that’s why it’s easier to use breathing to tie things to. Also, the longer breaths increase the oxygen level in the blood, bringing the heart rate down and relaxing the muscles.
4. Practice Guided Meditation
Many people can’t concentrate on their breathing when just starting out. It’s completely normal. Just like everything, learning how to master meditation takes practice.
So, if you’re having trouble keeping track of things, you can go for guided meditation.
Give it a try! Tap here to go to our Guided Meditation Playlist on YouTube.
However, guided meditation takes away the edge of mindfulness. Because the goal of mindfulness is being present in the moment. When you’re listening to an audio, it becomes hard to focus on anything else.
For beginners though, guided meditation is a great way to ease into the feeling of mindfulness and calm. Once you see how great you feel afterwards, you’ll even start to look forward to your practice! It’s hard to know what you are supposed to feel if you haven’t felt it yet.
Get a taste with a guided meditation and eventually, you can go out on your own. When you grasp the idea behind meditation, go solo. As you have the basic understanding of how to master meditation, mindfulness will come in no time.
Are You Ready to Embark on a Journey to Master Meditation?
- Are you stressed in life?
- Do you want to learn how to calm your mind?
- Do you want to enjoy life as is?
The answer is mindfulness. And the art of mindfulness comes with the practice of meditation.
And for meditation, you must get comfortable.
If you’ve been meditating with no results so far, try the tips we shared. Remember, the point of it is to calm your mind and give you a stronger sense of reality.
Bothering over what is supposed to calm you down won’t be helpful. Accepting who you are and how you are will.
Make the effort to learn how to master meditation and the art of mindfulness.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published May 14, 2022 and has been updated to improve reader experience.
Photo by Yan Krukov from Pexels
