How To Meditate at home
— Getting started —
To start, sit however you feel best, can be cross legged, in a chair or lying down. Find whatever suites you best.
If there is noise that you find too distracting then try wearing some headphones to listen to something that will help block out the distracting noises, whilst allowing you to still meditate. I personally find a static sound like Brown Noise is really good for this.
Set a timer for however long you like, 10mins, 20mins or maybe 30mins, whatever you feel is good to do and once seated or lying down, allow your body to relax for a couple of minutes and It’s at this time you’ll probably start to notice your thoughts.
— Thoughts and being present —
Allow your thoughts to come and go.
Try not to create thought and try not to hold onto thought.
Just allow thought, or anything that gives you a sense of self for that matter, to come and go as it naturally does.
But be present with whatever makes up your experience moment to moment. So if for one moment a thought is occupying your experience, be present and open with it. Same with a feeling or physical sensation. But when it’s gone, let it go, don’t hold on to it and in that respect try not to push anything away either, just allow everything to naturally appear and disappear. This can take effort to do and if possible try to do this with a non-judgemental mindset. Manifesting a state of equilibrium like this, to all that arises in meditation can help you explore what makes up your thoughts, feelings, or any sense of self, in away that you may otherwise overlook when using a judgmental mindset, this can add greater insightful and therapeutic qualities to your meditation.
If you do get caught up in a thought or find yourself daydreaming then simply focus on your breath until you feel grounded in the present again, then let go of focusing on your breath, and just return to focusing on the present.
— The ‘BAU’ of Meditation —
And that’s kind of all you need to do really for the duration of your meditation, be present and if you get distracted by thought then use something like your breath to bring you back to the present.
— Results? What results? —
I can’t really pin down the results of meditation into words, so I can’t say for sure if it will have this effect, or that effect. That’s really something for you to explore and experience. Meditation may make you feel relaxed, peaceful, calm, focused, but it may also make you more aware of how noisy it is inside your head, making you feel less peaceful and less calm.That doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong or that the meditation isn’t working, it’s the awareness that’s important, awerness we cultivate from being present in the moment. It’s about being still in the middle of whatever arises” rather than being calm or peaceful (although those are nice side effects), because we can be still and grounded even if thoughts and feelings are churning about within us, and as mentioned, we’re looking to cultivate a non-judgmental experience in meditation. So all phenomena are welcome, whether it’s good, bad, happy or sad, as every moment is a chance to practise being still and grounded in the middle of it all. Do it in meditation and it will most likely permeate into you're daily life, helping you to be better grounded with whatever life throws at you.
— Conclusion and advise —
That’s a general and fundamental introduction to meditation that I hope you find useful. However there is a lot to meditation that I can’t put into words. So if you’re looking to take your meditation further then I’d say exploring literature, videos, talks, groups and retreats (once lockdown is over) may help you explore these qualities that make you feel like ‘cat caught you’re tongue’ when you try to talk about them.
One thing I will say for sure though is that if you make meditation a daily practise, then it will definitely permeate anything you do in a positive and progressive way. But it’s a bit like gym, you can’t just go to the gym once and expect results, you need consistency and training, this is the same with meditation.