Meditation 101

A Beginner's Guide

Author

Sam Battersby
May 15, 2024

Meditation and Me

Meditation saved my life. That’s not an exaggeration. I first found meditation through yoga when I was in high school. At the time, I was overloaded with classes and extra curricular activities as I was trying to graduate high school with my Associate’s degree. Meditation served me well as a major stress reliever in 5-10 minute doses. But alas, I fell out of practice once I saw results.

I dusted off my practice again when I was 18 years old and had been diagnosed with cancer. This time, meditation served as a tool for letting go. I had my whole life planned out; I was going to Tampa for college, I’d finish my bachelor’s in two years and start teaching high school at the age of 20. Cancer changed all of this. Meditation allowed me to accept that my life was no longer going according to plan. I was able to let go of the immense anger I felt, and those “Why me?” type feelings. Again, I fell out of practice once I saw results.

A few years later, I was in my early twenties. My life was a blur. I was in remission from cancer. Chemotherapy was over, but had left me with an addiction to painkillers. I was constantly under the influence of drugs. I was working all the time, but any extra money I had went to drugs. I wasn’t taking care of myself, I wasn’t eating properly. One day, I had a moment of clarity: I saw where I was headed and I didn’t like it.

Too ashamed to turn to family and friends for help with my addiction, I turned instead to my meditation practice. Sitting with myself for even five minutes at a time was excruciating. I didn’t like who I was, where I was headed, or what I was doing. But I kept at it. Withdrawal was awful and painful, so I leaned even harder on my meditation practice.

That stillness and presence from my meditation practice began to seep into the rest of my daily life. I began practicing yoga again. I started working out and eating properly. I got clean. I stayed clean. This time, I didn’t fall out of practice.

This time, even after I saw results, meditation was a daily practice for me. It’s a practice I lean on when things get hard. When I had a miscarriage in February of 2017 meditation was there to teach me, once again, how to let go. When I got pregnant a few months later, meditation was there to teach me to embrace life fully.

Meditation and YOU

My meditation practice is different these days. It changes daily and I squeeze it in whenever I have the time. Which can be difficult with two small children. But I know from personal experience and extensive research that meditation produces real, tangible results.

In one study, after participating in an 8-week mindfulness meditation program, participants had increased gray matter in their brains.These same participants experienced increased patience levels, and their reaction times were almost 50% faster.

In another study done on college students, after participating in a 6-week mind/body intervention program that included mindfulness meditation, affirmations, guided visualizations, yoga, and journaling, 90% of the 128 students involved reported lower levels of anxiety, depression, and less perception of stress in their lives. In addition to all of that, they also reported a sort of “trickle-down” effect in other areas of their lives. These students noticed that they were making healthier lifestyle choices and increased levels of physical activity as a result of the new practices they were engaging in.

These are real results that you can experience just by starting a mindfulness meditation practice. The participants in the studies mentioned above experienced results in as little as 6 weeks. That’s it. A month and a half to be a better you, a less stressed you, a healthier you. Let’s break this down for you.

How To Meditate

Meditation is accessible to everyone. I highly recommend using guided meditation when you’re first starting out, as it helps calm the mind-chatter. If you decide to try it sans guide, set a timer. Start small at first. 10 minutes is plenty, especially if you’re brand new to the whole meditation thing. Setting a timer will help immensely since it will prevent you from checking to see how long you’ve been sitting there in the pursuit of enlightenment every thirty seconds. So if you’re going to try this on your own, here’s a little guide for you:

  1. Set a timer for 10 minutes.

  2. Get comfortable, whether that means sitting cross legged on the floor, sitting in a chair, on a couch, laying down, whatever. Just make sure you don’t fall asleep (this is where guided meditations can come in handy).

  3. Connect with your breath. Count them. Inhales = odd numbers, exhales = even numbers. Stop at ten and start over. (example: Inhale 1, exhale 2, inhale 3, exhale 4, etc.)

  4. Feel the weight of your body on the floor, chair, or whatever you’re sitting or lying on. Feel where the surface you are sitting on is supporting you.

  5. Do a full body scan. Start at the top of your head, and slowly work your way down to your neck, torso, hips, and so on, all the way to your toes.

  6. If thoughts come up, and they will, don’t dwell on them. Just kind of witness them as they come and allow them to pass. If you find yourself caught up in your thoughts, don’t sweat it. Just notice it, and focus on your breath again, counting if you have to. The goal is not to have an empty mind, but to gain more awareness and to observe without judgement. 

  7. If you find yourself uncomfortable, feel free to shift your position. Buddhist monk and teacher Thich Nhat Hanh encouraged his students to get comfortable as discomfort can and will detract from the meditation experience.

  8. When your timer goes off, don’t immediately get up. Instead, gently open your eyes and really think about what you’re going to do when you get up. Be intentional with your movement. 

  9. You might find it helpful to journal about your meditation experience. Did any ideas come to you? Was there a pattern in the thoughts that you found yourself caught up in? Were the distracting thoughts all of things you felt you should be doing instead? Were you noticing a lot of thoughts about money, work, family, etc?

  10. Throughout the rest of your day, when you find yourself in a state of stress or worry, think back to how you were feeling while meditating. Bring yourself back to that feeling of being present. Connect to your breath. Feel the weight of your body on the surface you’re sitting on. Feel your office chair (or wherever you are) supporting you.

Did you know that I created a FREE guided meditation? Yep. And you can just have it. You don’t have to do anything. Well, except for click the button. But once you do that, it’s all yours 🤷‍♀️

Meditation literally changes the structure of your brain.

Meditation gave me the power to change my life.

What can meditation do for you?

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