I hope I have convinced you to try meditation through my article “7 Great Reasons to Meditate” . In this article, you will discover a simple method to meditate. Here I apply the general principles of mindfulness meditation. It is the most known and practiced. His practice and his benefits are of interest to experienced meditators, scientists, managers, parents, and beginners of course!

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Here are some points about how to practice mindfulness meditation.

1. THE POSITION

You can choose the position of the tailor or the lotus. In both cases, sit on a carpet (to protect your feet and ankles). Sit on a small cushion. There are two types of lotus position:

• the half-lotus: crossed legs, left foot against the perineum, right foot above the calf or thigh
• the entire lotus: crossed legs, left foot on the right thigh and right foot on the left thigh. This position is often difficult to hold if you are not used to it, so do not insist if you are not comfortable.

But if you do not like the position of the lotus, you can quite choose the sitting position. There is no harm in that. On the contrary many meditation experts recommend it to start and I fully agree with this opinion.

In this case, sit on a chair or sofa with your back straight, feet flat on the floor. Legs against each other. Hands resting on the knees. The back should not lean against the back, but stay straight.

It is inadvisable to practice lengthened mindfulness meditation because it promotes falling asleep.

2. THE POSTURE

It is important during meditation to find the right balance for your body. This balance of the body will promote the balance of the mind.

So you have to be relaxed, but not too much. Your back should stay straight, do not slouch during meditation. However, you do not have to stay tense and contracted throughout the exercise to stay upright. Extend the column, find the right inclination of the back that will allow you to stay straight without much effort. Hold this position, and relax the rest of the body.

3. EYES CLOSED OR OPEN

The most common is to practice meditation with your eyes closed. But some experts, like Fabrice Midal, recommend to meditate with open eyes.

In this case have, like the Buddha statues, half-open eyes. Let your gaze settle on a point in front of you on the floor. Do not look around. Just let your eyes rest.

Try with your eyes closed and your eyes open and simply choose what you prefer.

4. AFTER THAT ? WHAT DO I DO ?

Contrary to many received ideas, in meditation it is not a question of thinking about nothing.

Mindfulness meditation is about keeping one’s attention in the present moment and observing weak signals around oneself. So do not try to empty the mind. But rather let pass the thoughts, the feelings, the feelings, without lingering there.

5. INDOOR AND OUTDOOR SENSATIONS

During your meditation, the important thing is to keep your attention in the moment. Then she can dwell on two types of sensations:

• Inner sensations: your feelings, thoughts, anxieties, which will flood your mind as you go. Let these thoughts come, note it, do not judge them, do not judge yourself, and let them go.
• The external sensations: these are those brought by your body, and by your senses (hearing, touch, taste …). Note the sounds around you, the air movements, the sensations of discomfort of your body. As for thoughts, note these sensations, do not judge them. Let them go …

Position of the half-lotus

6. THE THREE BASIC ATTITUDES

According to Christophe André, a famous doctor-psychiatrist who brought meditation to the hospital, mindfulness can be broken down into three fundamental attitudes:

• The maximum opening of the attentional field, in other words all that is present to the mind minute after minute: breathing, body sensations, sounds, emotions, thoughts ..
• The disengagement of tendencies to judge, control, or direct this experience of the present moment.
• The “non-elaborative” consciousness in which one does not seek to analyze or put into words, but rather to observe and to experience.

7. WHEN YOUR THOUGHTS ASSAIL YOU

When you are overwhelmed by emotions, worries, as your brain resumes its usual whirlwind of thoughts:

• Do not judge yourself, do not feel guilty, it’s perfectly normal to be carried away by thoughts
• Write down these thoughts, put them mentally a “post-it”
• Let them go
• Focus on the present moment
• Hook your attention to a detail (your breathing, your body, a regular sound) to help you refocus your attention in the present

At first, you will often get carried away by your thoughts. But do not be discouraged. As you get better and better your attention …

8. SET A DURATION BEFORE STARTING

Personally, I recommend, at least to begin, to set a duration and set an alarm before starting the meditation. Indeed, when we meditate, the time is totally different. The risk is to ask every 2 minutes how long we have been meditating.

So to avoid this disturbance, set a time in advance to meditate, and set an alarm on your phone. So your thoughts will not be disturbed by the measurement of time. Your phone will inform you that you have reached the desired duration (no obligation to stop at this time of course!)

9. PRACTICE REGULARLY

To progress in meditation, and to feel the effects, you must practice regularly. 10 minutes a day is a very good pace to achieve significant effects, without getting discouraged by a practice that would take too much time and would be hard to stall in a busy schedule.

10 minutes a day to integrate into your agenda is nothing at all. It’s time to read an article or to smoke a cigarette. Of course you can practice more if you wish!

10. SET A SCHEDULE

In order to maintain this good resolution and to practice your 10 minutes a day, I recommend you to devote a fixed and not variable time slot. Otherwise the risk is to push back every time thanks to the famous “I’ll do it later”.

Set a daily schedule, or better mindfulness meditation before or after another activity you do every day like brushing your teeth, taking a shower ….

Integrate meditation into a morning routine, like the Miracle Morning, and the effect will be amazing, as I tell you in the article “Miracle Morning, the method that will make you love in the morning” !