Meditation Basics

Being in the present moment means that you have awareness of and are existing in this current moment.  Being present means that you have taken your thinking mind out of the future or past, and have your attention on what you are experiencing right now, in this moment.  Being present means you have an awareness of your breath and feeling body, existing right now - that you are attuning to, listening to, and focusing on being alive in this moment.

Being present is important because this is truly the only moment that exists.  We can only think about the past and future, but existing and experiencing happens only right now.  Being present provides introspection and a way to examine your internal processes.  Being present allows space for healing, peace and self-compassion.  Learning to be present takes practice and unfolds many different benefits the more you do practice.  Some of the benefits you may experience are:  less anxiety and stress, relaxation, feelings of peace and gratitude, introspection, the ability to operate in harmony with your intuition, manage symptoms related to mental health issues, and so many more.  These benefits affect both mind and body and generally, can be experienced immediately.  The benefits expand and multiply with consistent, regular practice. 

Breathing deeply can have physiological, mental, and emotional benefits.  When you combine breathing deeply, with breathing consciously (with awareness/attention/focus on your breath) most practitioners are able to relax, release stress, lower blood pressure and heart rate, manage anxious thoughts and even manage pain.  There are hundreds if not more, types of breathing techniques and exercises.  Each can serve a different purpose and provide different benefits.  I like to say that your (conscious) breath is what unites you to the present moment.

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Language is very important and consent is very important.  During meditations and other practices, I often use the phrase, "I invite you to..." and then whatever the invitation may be.  If, for whatever reason, the invitation is not something that you're completely comfortable with, I want you to find something or some modification of the invitation that works for you in that moment.  We all show up to our practice in different ways, that can be different every day - just like some days we're feeling great and some days we just aren't.  I want to meet you where you're at today, in this present moment and having your consent is vital.  Therefore, the invitation is vital.

The best way to be present more often is with practice.  It's not necessarily about meditating for 1 hour, as an example.  If you're just starting out on your journey, meditating, or even conscious breathing for 1-2 minutes, several times a day would be much more beneficial.  Use your breath to unite you to the here and now- focusing on just your breath moving through your body.  When I first started meditating and was figuring out my journey, I would set alarms throughout the day to remind me to breathe and bring my mind and body back to the present moment.  Try my alarm system or setting a reminder at the beginning of the day and at lunch, for example.

Awareness and having awareness can be big topics with many philosophies.  For the purposes of sticking with the context of meditation basics, we'll use the following: Having awareness is focusing your attention (narrowing your focus) on any number of things, such as your breath, the present moment, what's going on in your body, what your intuition is "saying" to you and so on.  In a more broad (opening your focus) sense, having awareness can mean having knowledge of certain aspects of ourselves, our reality, our energy, the universe, and more.  In the beginning of your journey it can be helpful to have a narrow focus on something specific like your breath, then gradually and quite naturally, your awareness will become more open and expansive.

Having awareness can be incredibly valuable to our journey on earth.  When we become more aware, in either a narrow or broad focus, the more we see that there is to learn and know.  We come to know ourselves better, find spaces for healing and opportunities for growth and self-development.

Meditation can take many forms.  Most practitioners acknowledge 4 basic types:  lying down meditation, sitting meditation, standing meditation, and moving/active meditation.  Some practitioners will say there are 2:  moving and still, which all of the above fit into.  You can also find variations within the basic forms, but just knowing the basic 4 is fine.  The majority of meditation done here, is done either lying down or sitting (still meditations).  Standing and moving meditations can be useful once you become comfortable with the former.

Finding a place that is without disturbances and distractions, where you feel comfortable, safe and can relax are some of the most important factors, when deciding where.  Being comfortable is important, whether sitting, standing or lying down.  There are many practices that ask the practitioner to be still throughout the entire meditation and to push through discomfort.  While there are benefits to this type of meditation, when you're first starting out, being comfortable is more important.  Closing your eyes is optional.  Some people find closing their eyes helps them leave the visible distractions out, while others find that meditating with their eyes open and relaxed gaze, they are able to find a trance-type experience.  Conscious breathing is important, as well as other types of breathing.  Again, for the purposes of the beginning of your journey, conscious breaths are a foundation.

With all that said, meditation is a very personal experience, and even if you start each practice in the same way, in the same place, each meditation will most likely be different from the one before.

So, find a place and a posture, close your eyes, relax and focus on your breath.  In and out through your nose, noticing your breathing getting deeper and making you more and more relaxed.  Relax the muscles of your body and try not to follow the random thoughts passing through your mind.  Acknowledge that they came to visit, then watch them fade away as you bring your awareness back to your breathing.  Try one of my guided meditations from this website or YouTube!

Now that you know there are 4 basic types of meditations, you can decide which is going to best meet you where you are today.  In the beginning I would recommend either a sitting or lying down meditation.  There are different postures that are more conducive to the uninterrupted flow of energy through your body, but in the beginning, finding something that works for your body now is what's best.  You can always try different postures, keeping in mind that ultimately it's your comfort is what's most important.  You will still receive the benefits.  These are my top recommended postures:  1-Sitting on the floor, on a cushion for support and comfort, with your back straight, legs bent with ankles meeting at your center, uncrossed, hands relaxed on your thighs.  2-Sitting in a chair with feet flat on the ground, back straight, hands relaxed on your thighs.  3-Lying down on the floor with a small pillow under your knees to support your back, (optional small pillow under your head), arms relaxed at your sides, hands/palms facing upward.  There are example pictures of each posture on the Videos page.

Very simply put, the Sympathetic Nervous System is the system in charge of the fight, flight, or freeze responses in stressful situations.  The SNS sends the messages to your brain to release the chemicals and hormones that will be most helpful in that stressful event.

The Parasympathetic Nervous System is the system in charge of bringing your body out of the fight, flight, or freeze response.  In other words, the PNS helps bring your body back to a relaxed state of being, before the stressful event.

In today's culture and society, humans spend more time with the SNS activated than it was evolutionarily designed to do.  This equates to stress on the mind and body.  It's important for our overall health to be conscious of getting into a relaxed state, activating the PNS.  Meditation and conscious breathing exercises are techniques that can help us recalibrate and come back to a more natural, relaxed state of being.

NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming.  In short, NLP uses language to reach the subconscious to make improvements, changes and alterations to thought and behavioral patterns.  In order to make lasting changes and improvements in our lives, the "new, better, changed" thoughts must first become a part of our subconscious mind.  If the changes are only done at the conscious-thought-level and/or external level, the individual will most likely fall back into the pattern of thinking and behaving before the changes were set out on. An example of this would be someone continually, over their lives or period of time say, they "want/need to to stop procrastinating," but after only a few months of working toward their goal, they revert back to their old ways.  This is because the change has not taken place at a subconscious level and the subconscious will win in the long run.  The person is only doing the external or conscious work of helping them to not procrastinate.  They are not getting to the root of the issue.  Using NLP (and meditation!) to reach the subconscious level, to reframe thinking patterns aka your mindset is one of the most efficient tools to provide lasting results.  NLP is used by coaches of all types, therapists, counselors, educators, parents, business leaders, and so on, to give their clients and teams long-term results, achievement and success.