How to Do Mindfulness Meditation: Doing meditation is one of the sure shot ways to have that mental peace and clarity you always crave. In the modern chaotic times, there is a lot of stress and tension in minds of people. Chronic stress among most corporate people is on a rise which has paved way for all kinds of diseases.
Even by doing meditation for 5 minutes, you can get immense relief from the constant chatter of the mind and stressful situations. In fact, being mindful in any activity for a brief period of time may give you a profound feeling of calm and serenity.
Mindfulness meditation is one of the types of meditation that is not only easy to learn and do but also gives immense benefits. However, a question arises How to do Mindfulness Meditation?
Today, I am going to tell you the simplest way to start doing mindfulness meditation right away. It is one of the best ways to do mindfulness meditation for beginners. This technique of meditation is known as mindfulness of breathing.
In fact, you can set aside 2 minutes immediately after reading this article and try to practice mindfulness meditation.
How To Do Mindfulness Meditation With Your Breath
– Sit comfortably with your back straight and shoulders relaxed. You can even lie down but there is a chance that you may fell asleep.
– Inhale deeply with your nose feeling the air into your lungs as your stomach rises. Do this for a count of 3-5 and hold on for a couple of seconds at max. Then gently begin to exhale the air from nostrils to a count of 8-10. Your aim should be to have an exhalation longer than the period of inhalation for the proper expulsion of CO2.
– Have 8-10 deep breaths with each breath like above. This breathing exercise is essential before doing meditation of any type as it will relax your body and make you centered .
– After breathing, close your eyes (you can keep your eyes open but it may lead to distractions).
-Now, start focussing on your breath. Just be aware of the inhalation and exhalation. Do not breath forcefully or intentionally, just breathe normally like you do. You only have to be aware of: “I am inhaling now, and exhaling” “Breathe in, breathe out”.
-Feel the air entering into your nostrils and see where it ends. Feel the air moving out leaving out. Notice your stomach rising and falling as you breathe.
(Now before you read further, just set a timer for 1-2 minutes and do the above procedure of observing breath. Just be mindful of your breath. Start now)
– Initially, you may notice that there are a lot of thoughts that will enter your mind and take your focus away from breath. Just observe them without reacting or getting involved with them. Bring your focus back to your breath. Breathe In. Breathe Out.
– If you find yourself carried away with thoughts and realize you are no longer focussing on the breath. Congratulations. You have started being mindful. Do not worry and just bring back your focus to your breath. Breathe In . Breathe Out.
– You may also have thoughts like “Why Am I doing This? This makes no sense. This is stupid.” Just observe them and let them go and bring back your focus on the breath. Breathe In. Breathe Out.
-Initially start with as low as 2 minutes a day. The ideal time to do this is to immediately after waking up and before going to sleep. You can gradually increase the time as you become more accustomed to the process.
– As you practice doing it regularly, even for 5-10 minutes daily, you will begin to sense a feeling of peace and calm which stays with you throughout the day. You will be more aware of your emotions, thoughts, and surroundings. You will be mindful.
The above activity is one of the easiest mindfulness meditation exercises for beginners that you can try anytime. This is just one type of mindfulness meditation i.e, breathing mindfulness. The mindfulness of breathing is the simplest as breathing is a natural activity for which you do not have to consciously do anything.
You can be mindful of any activity you are doing. So, you can be mindful of eating paying attention to the taste of food with all five senses. You can even learn how to do mindfulness meditation while you are walking, cleaning, and basically anything.
If you think about it, being mindful is essentially engaging all your senses in the present moment so you are fully immersed in present rather than past or future. You can also learn the art of how to do mindfulness meditation by observing babies or kids when they are totally immersed in the moment.
If you go deeper, you may begin to wonder if there is any difference between mindfulness and meditation. And you are not alone to think that!
You can read here in detail about the difference between mindfulness and meditation.
Nevertheless, it is not necessary to get confused with definitions and technical terms. After all, the key is to get a break from incessant chatter of the mind and see your thoughts as separate from yourself.
So, just set aside 10-20 minutes per day (preferably two times) to practice mindfulness of breathing. You will begin to notice a sense of calm and peace and then you can move towards other meditation practices such as Vipassana Meditation. Do not forget to share your experiences of doing breathing mindfulness meditation in the comments section below. Meanwhile, if you love cats (who doesn’t anyway), you’d also like to check out this Karma Kitties cat meditation video!
