This is how you should prepare for sitting meditation practice
How to Meditate, Step-By-Step 1.
In this series we run through step-by-step instructions in cultivating mindfulness and other wholesome mind-states, based on Buddhist traditions and modern psychology.
So you decided to start a meditation routine. Maybe you bought a book, or downloaded some popular mindfulness application. But before you settle down, there are few things you should do to give your practice the best chance at being truly useful, healthy and sustainable.
1. Set the time
First decide when you are going to carry out your practice. Although it sounds tempting to say something like “I’ll find some time for it during the day”, you have much better chances at sticking to it if you decide at a set time at the get-go.
When I learned to meditate in the Taiwanese monastery where I used to practice, we had a routine of getting up early, and sitting down to meditate together first thing in the morning, before breakfast. To this day I found this the most sustainable practice, even though I tried many versions since, and admittedly I’m really not a morning person. Still, it’s much easier to sit down to clear you mind when your day hasn’t started yet with all its chores and responsibilities.
Of course, you don’t have to meditate in the morning, you can just as well decide on an evening practice, or to take 15 minutes out of your lunch break. The key is to stick to a set time. The Buddha taught (and modern psychology agrees) that humans are habitual beings. After a few weeks you’ll notice that the effort it takes to set down to meditate becomes less and less, as your mind gets used to the new routine.
2. Find the place
Another important parameter of the practice is the place, especially if you are a beginner. While advanced meditators can practice practically anywhere, anytime, in the beginning it’s best to find a place where you can be undisturbed by outside factors.
But it’s not just a matter of not being disturbed — the idea is also that the physical space where you live has a deep connection to what’s going on inside your mind. Have you ever had that feeling of mental clarity after decluttering your room? Keeping a nice and clean area dedicated to your practice — even if it’s just a single meditation cushion — tells your mind that you are making space in your life for training your mind. If you are a Buddhist, and you have the luxury of space, you can also set up an altar dedicated to the Buddha and/or the Bodhisattvas — whatever works best for your practice.
3. Be social about it
The Dalai Lama often says that humans are “social animals”. He is right. Although there is absolutely nothing wrong with practicing alone (the Buddha did, when he reached Awakening), having a partner or partners can be a very powerful motivating factor. I can’t even tell you how many times my wife was there for me to gently push me beyond my resistance if I woke up “not feeling up to it”, and I often did the same for her.
4. Do some yoga
When I was in the monastery, we started each meditation session with a few gentle movements, drawing on the traditions of China and India. The asanas we do today in out yoga classes have their ancestors in ancient exercises that were designed to prepare the body for long periods of sitting meditation (or, as meditation postures themselves). Chinese spiritual practitioners have aligned movement with mindful practices since time immemorial, connecting mind, breath and body in one continuous flow.
If you can, it’s a good idea to start your practice with a few stretches to help with the relaxation, and to increase the flexibility of the body — especially if you want to meditate in a traditional sitting posture.
5. Wear something warm and comfortable
When you meditate, wear loose-fitting clothes that don’t obstruct the blood flow. It’s also a traditional advice to cover your legs with a thin blanket, especially if you practice sitting in a cross-legged posture on the floor. This can prevent you from getting too cold if you are sitting for a longer time. It also helps with the circulation, helping you to sit longer without your legs getting numb.
6. Sit upright
Breathing well is inextricably linked to our sense of well-being, and maintaining good posture is similarly linked to breathing well. Sitting upright not only expresses a sense of peace and dignity, it also enables our lungs to fill up with air to their full capacity. In traditional Buddhist meditation we often watch our breath as a way to develop mindfulness of our bodies and minds, so it is especially important that it can move naturally and unobstructed.
In the Chinese and Japanese traditions, meditation is often practiced in a posture described as “sitting like a bell”: cross-legged, buttocks resting on a raised cushion, and the hands resting in the lap, forming the “meditation hand-sign”, or “dhyana mudra” — a posture familiar from Buddha statues. But meditation can just as well be practiced sitting on a chair, our legs firmly planted on the ground, and most importantly, sitting upright, not resting our backs against the chair (in fact, there are also traditional Buddha statues that are shown meditating like this).
7. Set your intention
When you sit down to meditate, remind yourself why you are doing it in the first place. Perhaps you just want to be less stressed, and you are aiming for inner peace. Maybe you want to make the world a better place, by working on yourself. In any case, it’s good to be in touch with the reasons for your practice, and with the knowledge that you are able to grow into whatever goal you are setting.
From a Buddhist point of view, the ultimate goal of our meditation practice should be Awakening: growing beyond all the factors of our mind that feed unhappiness: hatred, greed, misunderstanding ourselves and others. The highest form of this goal is when we set it in the knowledge that we are all interconnected: that our growth is connected to the well-being of others. This aspiration practice is traditionally called bodhicitta or “awakening-mind”, and it’s the best fuel for our practice.
8. Breathe deeply to relax
It’s a good idea to start your meditation session by taking a few deep breaths through the nose, and then exhaling through the mouth. This helps the mind to relax as we settle into our practice. Aim to fill your whole lungs, by breathing deep into your belly, and then exhale fully, giving out an audible sigh. You can then return to your natural breath for the rest of the meditation.
