During these trying times of stress and uncertainty, I have prepared a list of my top ten meditation tips covering frequently asked questions to help you with your meditation practice.

When you set out on the path to mindfulness, you begin right where you are and there is no better  time to start than right now. Enjoy and Namaste. 

1. Set a Clear Intention:  Meditation is a life skill that will help you to weather the storms of life and be more resilient and joyful in all dimensions of your being. By establishing your intention at the outset, you will set a clear path forward and be able to approach the waves of engagement and challenges that will surely come with clarity and commitment. 

2. Be Patient & Kind to Yourself:  Be patient and kind to yourself as you build the neural pathways needed to bring you into a state of stillness and centeredness.  Although it might seem hard at first and like you “can’t” meditate, it is through the practice, the repetition of the sitting where the magic begins. Once you begin to soften and clear through the junk mail of your mind little pockets of peace and calm will emerge and the steadiness will come. I promise.

3. Set Realistic Time Goals: If you are just starting out, you might begin with just 5 or 10 minutes once a day for 3-5 times a week and increase the time by 5 minutes until you reach a length of time that you can commit to on a regular basis. For many, a good time frame is between 15-45 minutes a sitting.  The longer and more regularly you sit, the easier the stillness will come, but regularity is the key.  Even if you can only sit on Saturday and/or Sunday mornings for example, you will experience the benefits. 

4. Experiment with the Time of Day that You Sit. My students often ask me when is the best time to meditate and of course, there is no one best time!  Historically, yogis meditated with the rising and setting sun, and while we can all aspire to that dedication or experience it for a few days on retreat, it doesn’t break the mindfulness rules if you meditate in your car on your lunch break or with your earbuds on while taking the train home at the end of the day. What matters is that the time of day works for you. 

5. Choose a Posture that is Comfortable for You:  Choose a posture that feels comfortable and relaxed, yet allows you to remain alert and feel dignified.  You may wish to lay down, sit, stand, or even walk. There is no one right pose and there is no meditator’s litmus test that you must pass.  I’ll break down the common postures for you:

Laying Down:  In teaching over the years, I’ve found that many beginners prefer to begin laying on their backs in “corpse” or savasana pose.  In this pose you would lay down on your back, legs long and relaxed with feet slightly splaying out wide with your arms in a soft V shape by your sides with palms facing down.  Depending upon your body habitus, you may also find that placing a bolster, pillow, or rolled up blanket under your knees will help your hips and lower back feel more comfortable. If you meditate lying down, you may be more likely to fall asleep, which is not necessarily a bad thing depending upon your goal.  Don’t worry if you fall asleep at first, it’s your body’s way of telling you that it needs attention and more rest; consider an upright posture, a different time of day, or to meditate with your eyes open. If you are still falling asleep, try a walking meditation instead or, if all else fails, take a nap instead! 

Sitting in Chair:  If you choose to sit, you must be able to maintain a healthy posture without slouching.  This means that you should sit in a way that allows your spine to remain elongated, and as we yoga teachers like to say, sit so that you can feel length in your side body.  Also, relax your shoulders down your back and away from your ears. You will not break the meditation rules if you sit in a chair rather than on your own.  It may not be the image that you hold in your mind about how you should look while you meditate, but it works just fine!  I often sit in my chair myself and this makes meditating in the office your little secret.  Just make sure that both feet can comfortably touch the floor and that your back is supported – this might mean placing a yoga block or the Black’s Law Dictionary that you received as a gift when you graduated law school under your feet and/or a small pillow behind the lumbar/small of your back. 

Sitting in a Cross-Legged Position:   This is the classic pose, but keep in mind that your core strength and any postural or alignment issues that you might have will be a factor as to whether and how long you can sit in this way. As with sitting in a chair, the most important aspect to sitting in this pose, sukhasana, is that you do not hunch your back.  In my experience teaching, even the more experienced students begin to slouch after a time so you must revisit your alignment and adjust as needed – just do so mindfully.  Another option is to sit with your back supported by a wall or even the headboard of your bed.  You may also find that sitting on a meditation pillow or with a tightly rolled up blanket or bolster under your sits bones brings more comfort to the pose. 

6. Use an Anchor:A meditation anchor is like your home base. It is where you focus your attention to stabilize, steady your mind, and to deepen embodied presence. Common anchors include following the breath by focusing on each inhalation and exhalation, focusing on the body sensations such as the rise and fall of the chest or belly with each breath, repeating a simple mantra either softly outloud or with your mind’s eye.  You can use any word or short phrase that feels meaningful to you. I recommend keeping it simple and often guide students to use a simple word that represents the state of being they wish to cultivate, such as “stillness” “calm” or “healing.”  You can then expand that word to a short phrase, such as “May I be calm” or “May I be healthy and well.”  If you are having difficulty, you might even invite in some self-care with, “This is hard and I am right here.” Soft meditation music can also be a great anchor as it can act as a signal to the brain that it is time to settle into your meditative state of being. I recommend using a particular anchor on a regular basis before changing modes. You may also find that as your practice evolves so does your anchor.

7. Soften to Feel Your Strength:  When we close our eyes and turn inward we can tap into an inner state of peace amid the chaos of our lives. The pathway into this state of centeredness requires us to soften the outer shell of the body in order to perceive its subtleness. Once you have settled into your chosen position, begin by softly closing your eyes and then begin to  soften your body.  Begin with your forehead and eyebrows and move downward to the jaw and neck, and then the shoulders and chest, then onto the heart, the belly and arms, and then down to the seat, legs, and feet.  Focus on your anchor as you soften the body, and re-visit the softening once you recognize that your attention has wandered.

8. The 5-Second Rule Applies to Meditation Too.  You know what I mean, we’ve all dropped a piece of food on the floor only to declare that due to the 5-Second Rule it was uncontaminated and ok to eat.  A similar principle is true of meditation.  Your brain will want to take 5 seconds now and then to wander off and be filled with distracting thoughts.  No one will know that your mind wandered and it won’t matter anyway because a wandering mind is a natural part of meditation for everyone.  I remember years ago I felt so relieved when I learned that our brains are actually programmed toward distraction and that clearing our minds of thought actually goes against the structure of our brains.  Over millennia when we lived wild in the bush, our brains developed to be oriented toward distraction as a defense mechanism to keep us alert to preditors and danger that might threaten our survival.  As a result, we have what scientists refer to as a “monkey” brain that must be trained toward recognizing our thoughts without becoming lost in their content.  So, you are hereby off the hook and can officially let go of the notion that you “can’t” meditate because your mind wanders.  It happens to everyone and it’s ok- just like cookies that get dropped on the floor.

9. Recognize and Name Your Thoughts and Emotions:  Recognizing and naming your thoughts as they arise is an incredibly effective tool to neutralize their grip on your attention. Once you realize that your mind has wandered off, simply recognize the distraction, give a name to whatever thought, emotion, or physical sensation is occupying your attention, such as “telephone call with client” or “put out the recycling” or “anxiousness” or “neck stiffness.” You may wish to repeat the name several times in your mind’s eye as you allow the thought or sensation to linger for a few breaths.  Then, soften, reconnect with your anchor to bring yourself back to your center, and use your imagination to see the distraction dissolve away like the wave of the ocean or a cloud passing out of your view.

10. Don’t Judge Your Practice!:   What is most important is that you greet yourself right where you are in your imperfect body, in your imperfect life, in this imperfect world. You may find that some days when you meditate you will feel like you never settled in and your mind raced with thought the entire time. If so, don’t label yourself or get frustrated, but do rest in the state of knowing that this filtering of your mental e-mail, processing of your restlessness, and even possibly an initial absence of feeling is an essential part of the clearing process that will connect you with your true self, something greater than yourself, and your unique wisdom.  You are not defined by your limiting thoughts or your monkey mind, you are so much more.