Mindfulness Meditation for Beginners – Why and How to Meditate

Hey Guys,

Mindfulness meditation is perhaps one of the most rewarding exercises out there for mental and physical health.  And despite this fact, as mentioned in the video, mindfulness meditation is not something that should be undertaken with the consequences or results in mind.  It is an act of reuniting with the present, and living fully in the here and now. 

Most of our day to day thoughts and actions are not in harmony with the present.  We constantly make comparisons and judgments, constantly strive for more and regret mistakes.  All of these thoughts are ego driven and result in stress, frustration, and potentially depression.  And fundamentally, they are not really real. 

We carry our past with us in the form of memories.  We create an identity over the course of a lifetime that is the construct of experience and thoughts for the sake of socialization.  Our identities, choices and preferences prevent us from having pure and innocent experiences of reality.  Mindfulness meditation is non judgmental awareness of the present. 

By relaxing and observing things as simple as the feeling of the chair underneath you, vibrant outdoor colors (or dull ones), the sound of birds chirping or even traffic humming, and doing so without attaching a value to it like ‘noisy’, ‘beautiful’, ‘delicious’, ‘frustrating’, etc., your mind is free from conditioned thought, and you’re capable of really living. 

This is in principle very easy, but in truth requires a great effort.  It is difficult to sit without the ‘you’ stepping in after a moment of boredom to think, judge, or decide.  In cases where your mind wanders, there is no need to force it to stop.  Remaining aware of your thoughts, even as they wander is the key to self awareness and peace.  Don’t judge your thoughts, simply observe and discover your mind as it is. 

There is no dogma or set posture in mindfulness meditation.  But there are a few helpful pointers in starting out.  Sitting or lying in a way that allows you to relax, but not fall asleep.  Sit with good posture, while allowing the shoulders to relax.  It may help to close your eyes in the beginning, to eliminate certain distractions, though with time this pointer can be tossed out.  And it may help to observe the breath, and use this as the window to reuniting with the present.

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