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The following are meditation instruction tips. I've put down-to-earth reasoning behind every single point. Still you are welcome to adjust any of the advises to suit you best.
Sit
- if you lie down, you will very likely become sleepy. And sleep is what you "practice" at night - it's great and necessary, but meditation is different from sleep. In the beginning you may feel that there are too many things to consider. If you do, start with this single meditation instruction. And move on! You will blend in the rest of them with time.
Posture
You can choose any posture you like for sitting: any suitable Yoga asana, or just sitting down on a chair. - Meditation is not about making your body physically suffering. If your body is in pain, your mind unlikely will release stress and solve problems,
Keep your back straight
otherwise your back muscles will simply get tired fast. It's also easier to breath if your back is not round. But please, don't keep your back tense-and-straight, have it comfortably straight. If you sitting in one of the Yoga postures and your back rounded - adjust thickness of your cushion, it's likely to thin.
Don't over-eat
- you will feel dull and sleepy, hard to breath, thinking about your happy-belly... Wait for an hour or two after your meal before meditation.
Do it in the morning
- your mind is less distracted by day thoughts and worries. Of course, different time devoted to meditation and stress relief is better than no time at all. The best is to spend some time in the morning and in the evening for your meditation practice.
Don't force your breath
to become too slow, too deep. You may learn some more techniques afterward. For now keep it simple and comfortable for yourself. Attention to and observation of your breath with your mind by itself will make your breath slower and deeper. Naturally.
You can choose if to keep your eyes open, closed or half-open.
When your eyes closed - there is less distraction in the beginning. On the other hand, if you are tired and you closing your eyes - you may fall asleep.
Breath through your nose.
I don't have a simple, down-to-earth reason for this in my active memory (except the fact that breathing is the reason we have our noses :-) ), there are more Yogic explanations for this. We will talk later about those...
Take your time! Have your body comfortable
and still for a few minutes - that means all parts of your body should be placed well, without tension - find your own way to do it. It's OK to feel a bit pain in your body, your knees for example if you are cross legged. - Just take it slowly! Your body will develop a habit, capacity to sit still. Many people start with just 3-5 minutes and in 1-2 years develop capacity to enjoy sitting meditation for 30-60 minutes. At the end of sitting meditation - you may want to stretch your body in all directions, help your joints to become more alive again.
To take your time - is probably the most important meditation instruction in the beginning. We all get excited with a new something... And instead of steady development we often forget about treasure at hands just because we see another shiny thing out there... At the end - nothing is really achieved.
You may want to keep it short but regular!
5-10 min per session in the beginning is enough. If you regular in your practice 5 min a day - changes will come, then you increase the meditation time. Instead if you push yourself for one hour once a week - chances are it won't last a month.
These are first hand meditation instruction tips and hints to keep in mind. Hope you find them helpful.
Happy meditation!
Further reading:
Meditation Techniques
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