Meditation is a practice that I have been engaging with for years at this point. For me, it all started when my sixth grade teacher had us start class in the morning with a five minute guided mediation from Headspace. Of course most of my peers didn’t like it or even give it a chance (what can I say, middle schoolers can be harsh). But while I still joked with some friends about those five minutes being a free nap time, in secret I found myself actually enjoying them. Over time, I found value in them. A value that I did not expect.

Meditation, at its most basic, is a practice in learning to control focus. Through meditation you can learn to more effectively control your focus in your daily life. You can learn to refocus away from negative thoughts. To refocus toward what is important even in stressful and intense situations. It can help you to find an inner calm by redirecting focus. You can even learn to be more present in the current moment by putting away distracting thoughts of the past, future, worries, and tasks.

In essence, when you control the focus, you can control the mindset. You learn through meditation to be more cognizant of your own thoughts. The process may let you learn things about your own head that you didn’t even realize. Maybe you will find that you don’t like what you are saying to yourself, just like I had. But through mindfulness and meditation, you can alter that inner dialogue and thus positively alter your mindset. Meditation gives you a tool for you to use to better yourself, your thoughts, actions, and even your understanding.

So how do you start?

There are many ways to meditate. However, most people find that the easiest one to start with is guided meditation. In guided meditation, there will be a voice that will guide you through the entire exercise from start to finish. A beginner should aim to start with smaller sessions (think 3-5 minutes) and to slowly work up to longer ones. When you first start out, you may find trouble following the voice’s instructions fully or to maintain focus for the whole exercise. This is normal. You should stick with it; it gets easier with practice. Soon five minutes will be a breeze.

The length of time you want to meditate is really up to you. Some people stick with five minutes for their entire meditation journey, others will go to more of an extreme and build themselves up to do an hour or two straight. There is no scientifically perfect amount of time to mediate for. Even five minutes regularly has been shown to improve mental health and wellbeing. Try meditation for a while and make the sessions as long as you want them to be.

Once you feel you are ready, you can start to explore some un-guided meditation. Un-guided meditation is usually harder for people, so be sure to be comfortable with guided meditation first for the best results. In un-guided meditation, you can go many different directions.

Often people use their breath as the basis of their meditation (both guided and un-guided). You focus on only the breath. How it feels and sounds. Keep it natural and take note of its cadence. Then as your focus wanders, take note of it and gently bring your attention back to your breath. In this meditation, you act almost as a passive observer of your mind. Like a old gardener, you watch over it. Gently intervening only when necessary, but otherwise just being there to enjoy the nature and soak up the land you have cultivated.

You may also choose to incorporate more traditional breathing exercises into your meditation. Keep your focus on the breath and its cadence while you breathe in deeply for four counts, the hold it for four counts, breathe out for four counts, and finally hold for four counts. You then repeat this pattern as much as you want. Take notice of how it makes you feel (physically and emotionally). This particular pattern is called the box method and it is my favorite. It promotes calm and is even used to help ground people having anxiety attacks. However, you can incorporate any breathing exercise you like.

When meditating you can learn to shift your focus around while still staying in that focused meditative mindset. Take note of everything that you can hear. Notice how your body feel against the chair or floor beneath it. Even start to examine the things that you can see around you. Try to be as present as you possibly can in your current place and moment in time.

I believe that learning to meditate and making it a regular practice in your life can serious benefit your mental health and your ability to navigate your day to day life. These sessions can be your personal moments of calm. They can be a way to set the tone for yourself going forward. At least for me, meditation helped to me pull myself out of some rough mental spots. I am very glad that my teacher introduced me to the practice and that I really gave it a chance. Without it, I would be a different person. I wouldn’t have been able to become the person I wanted to be; the person that I am now.

– Emma Doyle