Simple Tips to Help You Meditate Like a Pro

Meditation is for everyone and provides faster passage to better mental health, physical health, and relationships. Here are some practical tips to get you started and help you build a daily meditation habit.

As we move to a new normal, we’re all learning things we never thought we’d have to learn. One’s ability to turn variables into value is a key component of creating health and happiness in our lives, now and at any time.

One highly effective way to turn variables into value is to develop a meditation practice. There are boatloads of articles on the benefits of meditation to be found on the internet — so much so that it may seem too good to be true.

But the benefits are real. For just a few minutes every day, we can develop the habit that changes our lives for the better… together.

How to get started

As the founder of SitForce — the Salesforce group devoted to supporting anyone on their own meditation journey — and author of a meditation booklet, dozens of guided sessions, and more, it’s my job to help you develop your practice and turn this period of change into a treasure you can use for the rest of your life.

I realize it may seem daunting to begin with. But these top meditation tips will help fully equip you with the resources you need to be quiet and still, and feel comfortable doing so.

Here, I’ll outline three best practices and then four “pro-pointers,” and then gently push you away from the dock and await your postcards from the other side.

1. Use your resources!

Salesforce has an amazing introduction and tutorial on meditation and mindfulness — for free! — on Trailhead. The badge was created in conjunction with the brother- and sister-monks from Plum Village, a monastic order founded by Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese monk and Zen master (of world renown). You may have even seen the monks at Dreamforce.

I encourage you to start with this module. If you’ve dabbled in meditation already and are looking for additional resources, try my booklet, Seeds for Contemplation, which is available as a PDF here.

2. Be fully in the moment

One of the most difficult things for the modern human to do is sit and do nothing — and feel good about it. Yet that is almost precisely what meditation is: sitting and letting one’s thoughts, emotions, expressions, and impulses come to settle, over time, and provide space for greater clarity.

Think of your mind like a snow globe that’s all shaken up. Put it down on the counter and imagine that every snowflake is a thought, each competing for your attention, each swirling about, seeing which one can last the longest and latch onto your energy. After a while, though, the snowflakes all come to rest at the bottom of the globe, and the water is clear. You can see the main figure clearly and just take in that simple picture.

So it is with your mind. When we sit and focus on our breath, sooner or later, the thoughts and emotions and anxieties and so forth — they all come to rest and settle. And when they settle, clarity soon follows. There is a sense of tranquility, a counterbalance to our more normal, highly-stimulated lives. Even one breath, taken consciously and apart from your surroundings, can help you gain equipoise and clarity — and be fully in the moment.

3. Try it right now!

Relax your body, gently close your eyes, breathe in deeply and softly through your nose, and, after a second or two of no-breath, let out your breath slowly and gently.

Go ahead, do it!

You feel more relaxed and in control, right? Of course you do. So now let’s discuss a few “gateways” to get you to do it more often and with greater frequency.

• Music — If music helps you calm down and “gives you permission to drift,” then put on some kind of ambient meditation music, which is readily available all over the place. Nature sounds — rain, birds in the forest, a gentle breeze, or even the sound of muted traffic — can also provide a soundtrack that’s conducive to a meditative state.
• Guided meditations — These are wonderful vehicles for the novice meditator, as they take away the fear of “just sitting” and help direct your mind toward a more settled state, faster. The sound of a soothing voice leading you on a journey that you might not have taken on your own can be instrumental in helping to establish the routine of dedicated meditation practice. Wisdom Labs, Headspace, and Calm are three popular apps that offer a wide variety of guided meditations, and there are dozens of free meditations online. Find something that works for you.

4. “Pro pointers”

There are a few simple things you can do to exercise your meditation muscle and build a habit. Here are my top tips:

1. Start small. Try 3 to 5 minutes at first. Set a timer, find a quiet, private place, and commit to sitting in silence, focused on your breath. After a week or two of 3 to 5 minutes, try 7 to 10 minutes.
2. Find a comfortable place. Both physically and psychologically, in which to meditate. Meditation isn’t hard, but it’s also not easy. Take it easy on yourself and find someplace where no one can interrupt you. I was once in Hong Kong with my wife and our 5-month-old baby, and I really needed my practice. Early in the morning, I would wander the hotel and find a place where I could sit alone and uninterrupted for 10 minutes. I cannot tell you how valuable that was for all of our sanity.
3. Make it part of your daily routine. Do your meditation at the same time every day. Routine builds habits. Make it something you can easily replicate, every day.
4. Commit! If you want a strong and healthy body, you work out regularly and eat the right foods. If you want true clarity and happiness, carve some time out of your day in which to meditate. Half measures bring less than half the results. Just do it.

Watch this Trailhead LIVE episode where I talk with Shirlene Chow about Meditation Best Practices. We had a lively conversation, and our chat closes out with a short, guided meditation for you to get started.

You can also sign up for my 31-day email journey. You’ll receive a daily meditation every morning for a month. You can cancel at any time, or renew the program if you like. Find all the details here.

I hope you use these tips to ease your way into a new meditation routine with mindfulness and gratitude.