- You are here:
- Home »
- Mind
- » How to Meditate in 5 Simple Steps
How to Meditate in 5 Simple Steps
Meditation is, perhaps, one of the best habits that a man could ever have. It will make you calm, collected, and focused on your purpose. But what if you don’t know how to meditate?
That’s fine. Meditation is actually quite simple, but plenty of “gurus” insist on complicating it.
You can meditate in your car, you can meditate at home, or in nature…you can meditate just about anywhere.
And, what’s even better, is that you can learn how to meditate in just a matter of minutes. Here’s how.
5 Simple Steps
Meditation is simple, but people insist on complicating it.
Here’s what you do:
- Go somewhere quiet where you will not be bothered.
- Either sit on the floor cross legged, or sit upright on a chair.
- Set a timer for however long you want to meditate for.
- Close your eyes, and focus on your breath.
- When thoughts pop into your mind, don’t react to them. Just acknowledge them and move on.
That’s it. Like I said, it’s actually very simple.
But, if you want a little bit more information, then look below.
The 5 Steps in Detail
Here’s a little bit more detail on each of the steps – don’t over complicate it, though. When you’re learning how to meditate, what’s important is that you just give it a shot.
Again, meditation is very simple. You don’t have to get everything 100% right when you first start meditating.
Just start, and improve as you go.
1. Go somewhere quiet where you will not be bothered
Ideally you want to be somewhere secluded so that you can focus on learning how to meditate.
Some people can meditate in the comfort of their own home – that’s great.
Others live in very noisy environments. There’s solutions for this, too.
When I first started meditating in college, I lived in a noisy dorm room. It was hard for me to find some peace and quiet.
So, every time I wanted to meditate, I would walk to the campus arboretum and meditate there. If you live in a noisy environment, you’ll have to get creative.
Here are some places that you can learn how to meditate if you live in a noisy environment:
- In your car
- On a park bench
- In a library
- In a secluded cubicle in your office
- Use your imagination – there’s plenty more.
Some people recommend using earplugs, and you can do this if you have no other option, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
The reason is that you want to hear your breath and heartbeat (yes, you can hear your heartbeat with practice) – this gets you in touch with your body.
2. Sit on the floor cross-legged, or sit upright on a chair
The important part here is that your spine is upright.
Many of the benefits of meditation come from the deep breaths that you take.
Most people breathe very shallowly throughout the entire day, so charging your body with deep breaths of oxygen and ridding yourself of toxins is a huge plus.
This is why your spine should be upright.
Personally, I prefer to sit cross legged in my desk chair – this is most comfortable for me.
Find what works for you though. If you can’t sit upright comfortably, then you can lie down.
Eventually you want to work your way towards sitting upright, but for now do what is comfortable.
3. Set A Timer
You have to set a timer when you’re first learning how to meditate.
If you don’t, you’ll be checking the clock every 2 minutes. This breaks your concentration over and over again.
If it’s your first time – set a timer for 5 minutes. Each week add 5 minutes until you’re at 20 minutes a day.
You can use your phone timer, but I prefer a stopwatch.
I’m a big fan of G-Shock watches – I not only use them for timing my meditation sessions, but also for timing my rest in between sets, timing how long it’s been since my last meal, timing my morning routine, and literally everything else that I need to time.
I probably use the timer function on my watch at least 5x a day. I’ve had this watch for 2 years, and it still runs like a champ, even after subjecting it to all kinds of conditions (sauna, hot tub, outdoors, salt water, etc.).
I highly recommend a using watch, but you can also use a kitchen timer or your phone timer.
4. Close Your Eyes and Focus On Your Breath
A lot of people say to “stop thinking,” when they’re trying to teach you how to meditate.
In my opinion, this is stupid – you’ll just end up thinking, and then thinking “Damnit! Stop thinking. Wait, that was a thought! Ok stop. No wait – UGH.”
Instead, focus on your breath.
Focus on taking slow, deep breaths.
There’s all kinds of different breathing patterns that you can utilize once you’ve got the basics down, but for now, when you’re first learning how to meditate, just breathe slowly at a pace that is comfortable for you.
You’ll want to keep your eyes shut, as well. The idea is to minimize external stimulus so you can hone your focus onto a single thing (your breath).
5. Let Thoughts Pass You By
This is the most important part of meditation – it’s also the hardest part. When you’re first learning how to meditate, you will encounter a lot of resistance from your thoughts.
Most people are addicted to thoughts. Some people are addicted to victimizing thoughts, some are addicted to dwelling on the past, and some are addicted to anxiety about the future.
Meditation fixes all of this, but not without some difficulty on your part.
When you first start to meditate, you’ll notice that your mind won’t calm down. This is normal.
The goal of meditation is to disidentify with your mind – so when a thought pops into your head, don’t get emotional over it.
Don’t entertain it. Don’t think about it. Just let it float by like a cloud.
Let it pass by you – do not judge it, do not chase it and start thinking about other things, just accept it and let it pass by you.
Again, this is the hardest part – but with time, you will be able to watch your thoughts roll by like clouds, without judging them.
In Summary
That’s it – a no bullshit guide to meditation.
If you’d like to learn more about the benefits, there’s plenty of resources that you can check out. Here are a few:
- The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, by Eckhart Tolle
- A New Earth: Awakening To Your Life’s Purpose, by Eckhart Tolle
- Success Through Stillness: Meditation Made Simple, by Russell Simmons
- You can read about some of the benefits here, here, here, and here.
You now have everything that you need to start meditating, so start.
You’ll notice some of the benefits within a week.
I’ll be writing more in depth on meditation in the future, but this is just a quick guide to get you started.
Until Next Time,
-Jon
About the Author Jon Anthony
After learning to successfully trade the market, build a six pack, start a social circle from scratch, and increase his IQ by 15 points, Jon Anthony has decided to teach others how they can, too. He plans to move to Las Vegas next year to invest in real estate and live it up.
