Tips for a Successful Meditation Session: Start Slow

Meditation can be an intimidating practice for newbie’s. Lets face it, meditation can be intimidating for experienced yoga practitioners as well! The idea of sitting completely still for long periods of time and not allowing any thoughts into your mind can be enough to scare anyone away from this practice. When I recently read in a magazine article that beginners should attempt to meditate for 30 minutes daily, I was shocked. If you ask me, this sounds like a recipe for disaster. Jumping into a meditation practice with that level of commitment sounds like a good way for someone to set themselves up for failure. I could be wrong, perhaps there are new meditators out there who would have no problem committing 30 minutes of their day to deep concentration, completely un-intimidated by the silence itself. But I tend to believe that that kind of time commitment alone would present a challenge for must people in our fast paced society. In addition, to try and take on something as challenging as stilling the mind and quieting our thoughts for such a lengthy chunk of time seems like jumping into the deep end before you even know how to swim. My personal opinion is that slow and steady is the right approach for new meditators. If the idea of meditation is new to you, consider these tips for the slow and steady approach:

• Try 5 minutes at a time instead of one lengthy meditation session. It is probably going to be easier to quiet your mind and focus your attention for a shorter amount of time in the beginning, therefore allowing you to finish your session feeling successful rather then feeling defeated that you couldn’t keep still for 30 minutes.
• Give yourself something simple to focus on: the breath. Without any judgment at all, start to observe the breath. Notice the sound, length, and depth of each inhale and exhale. Gradually deepen each breath, and silently say to yourself “I am breathing in, I am breathing out.” Use your breath as a tool to help you stay in the present moment.
• Don’t give up! This is key. Go into your meditation with an open mind, open to anything that may occur. Before you begin, set an intention to be patient with yourself. If you find yourself fidgeting or unable to sit still, don’t be afraid to readjust yourself and find a more comfortable position. If your mind starts to wander or you become distracted by sounds in the environment, don’t get frustrated with yourself; just use each distraction as a reminder to return your attention to your breath. At the end of your five minutes, be thankful for the minutes you were able to focus and be still rather then being upset for the minutes you spent thinking of your to-do list or what you were making for dinner. Focus on the good.

Teach What You Need To Learn.

In one of my new favorite teaching tools, Guiding Yoga’s Light, a book by Nancy Gerstein, I read something that I continue to keep in mind when planning what I will teach in my yoga classes: “Teach what you need to learn. You will be more passionate about your teaching and ultimately be a better teacher.” This simple, yet meaningful piece of information really resonated with me. The more I thought about it the more the idea made sense to me; when you teach to others what you need to learn yourself you are more likely to put your whole self into the lesson, be completely present in spirit, and teach from your heart. That is the kind of lesson that others need and will want to learn.

I have decided to focus more on teaching awareness and being in the present moment, the topic of my last post. This is a lesson that I continue to learn, and struggle with, each & every day. I am beginning to notice that when I incorporate the idea of being present into my classes and teach it to others, I begin to bring more awareness to my own life on a daily basis.

I recently went to my local library and checked out a book called Fully Present by Susan Smalley and Diana Winston. While I have only gotten around to reading the first four pages of the introduction, I am very excited to learn more about mindful awareness, and have decided that instead the best way to teach this art to others is to work towards mastering it myself.

This has me wondering about all the other yoga teachers out there, and what lessons they themselves need to learn. Yogis, are you out there? If so, let me hear from you! What is it that you need to learn?