How to Meditate - Start on the Right Track for Meditation!

Interested in meditation? Wondering how to get started on the right track? Learning the do’s and don’ts early on can help you get the most out of your practice. To meditate properly, it’s important to learn how to sit, what to do with your thoughts, and what to expect.

Many people become interested in meditation for all the right reasons, then lose steam because they’re not sure how long to meditate, or how, exactly, to practice. Beginning meditators are especially likely to wonder if they’re “getting it right”—maybe you’re one of them. Fortunately, in today’s connected society, no one has to go it alone. A quick search online provides plenty of options in the form of videos, articles, guided meditations and blogs. One great resource is Mindworks—we’ve designed it to address all of the essential questions about mindfulness and meditation so that you have the answers before you even know you needed them.

For the best course to learn to meditate, we recommend Meditation Fundamentals.

How to Do Meditation at Home

2022-09-14T20:32:33-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Meditation is an effective technique that has been around for centuries. People who meditate consistently find that there are short-term and long-term benefits. For instance, soon after they start sitting, meditators begin to enjoy a decrease in stress and anxiety, enhanced well-being, and, in many cases, improved sleep and overall health. In the long [...]

The Art of Letting Go

2023-03-12T21:55:38-07:00By Trungram Gyalwa, PhD|

Meditation and letting go: the antidotes to suffering Is it possible that many of the difficulties in our lives come from our reluctance—or our inability—to let go? Whether we’re aware of it or not, our minds are constantly roaming and zeroing in on what we want to acquire and what we want to avoid. [...]

Opening the Heart to Love

2022-10-24T20:23:02-07:00By Vinny Ferraro|

4 Heart Practices Meditation I think when I first came to practice, probably for the first couple years, I sat there and I thought about meditation. I thought that was what I was supposed to be doing. To imagine: what would it be like if I was meditating? It would probably be like this. [...]

Guided Meditation for Stress Relief

2022-04-19T11:48:56-07:00By Maria Camara|

A mindful breathing meditation for relaxation Based on the guided meditations for stress reduction presented in Mindworks Working with Stress course, read on to learn how to switch from the usual mode of doing to a mode of non-doing—of simply being—at your own pace. Begin by assuming the correct posture for meditation. Now take a [...]

Meditation Definition: What is Meditation? Take Charge of the Mind

2022-04-15T21:37:21-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Good question! Meditation is indeed learning to work with the mind. The Cambridge dictionary defines meditation as “the act of giving your attention to only one thing, either as a religions activity or as a way of becoming calm and relaxed,” or “serious thought or study, or the product of this activity.” So meditation can [...]

Does Meditation Make You Happy?

2022-11-20T19:42:56-08:00By Trinlay Rinpoche|

What do we all have in common? What motivates us? What is it that we’re all striving for? We’re all looking to avoid pain, difficulties and dissatisfaction. We all want to be comfortable and happy, and experience a sense of well-being in our lives. But most of us are looking for happiness in the wrong places. [...]

Why is Meditation Important? 6 Facts You Need to Know

2022-07-24T11:20:25-07:00By Mindworks Team|

When the topic of mindfulness comes up, there are people out there who still imagine that meditation is the domain of free spirits who enjoy zoning out on a woven grass mat somewhere. But the fact is that there’s nothing woo-woo about mindfulness and awareness meditation. These life-altering practices have been around for millennia, [...]

What Does Meditation Feel Like? – Meditation Experiences

2022-12-09T20:38:45-08:00By Mindworks Team|

Many new (and not-so-new) meditators wonder: what kind of meditation experiences should I be having? What should I be feeling? Is my practice even working? It’s easy to forget that meditation requires patience. Why? Because the potential benefits of our practice may be less obvious than the obstacles in meditation, especially at first. Almost [...]

How to Breathe Properly When Meditating

2022-07-24T10:58:48-07:00By Mindworks Team|

The point of mindfulness meditation practice is to cultivate awareness and peace, but beginners often get side-tracked by worrying about the breath. They wonder if there’s a “right way” to breathe during meditation. Common concerns include: Should I breathe like I always do? Should I inhale and exhale through my mouth or nose? Should the [...]

How Long Does Meditation Take to Work?

2022-07-24T10:57:52-07:00By Mindworks Team|

A good number of new meditators begin sitting with the hope that the holistic benefits of meditation will make themselves felt in a matter of days. They expect meditation to act as a quick fix – like swallowing a pain relief tablet. It isn’t a reasonable expectation. Most genuine meditation teachers say that while a [...]

Best Meditation Techniques for Beginners

2022-06-24T19:37:57-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Meditation is a transformational method that not only helps us relax but also improves our general well-being. If you’re just beginning to meditate or you’ve been wanting to learn, there are a variety of simple meditation techniques you could start with. Learning how to meditate may seem like a daunting task for beginners, but the [...]

Overcoming Obstacles in Meditation Practice

2022-12-09T20:35:23-08:00By Mindworks Team|

The 5 Hindrances (Five Veils) to Meditation Practice Our meditation practice is rife with obstacles, even before we ever get to the cushion. The first obstacle we must overcome is that of laziness, also known as busy-ness. But even after having made time for daily practice, obstacles arise as soon as we attempt to focus. [...]

Walking Meditation and How to Do It

2022-11-29T20:13:11-08:00By Mindworks Team|

Mindful Walking Meditation Guide (How to Meditate While Walking) When we think of meditation, we typically picture someone sitting upright in full lotus pose, both their body and mind completely still. But there’s more than one meditation technique, and not all of them require sitting. Walking meditation is just one of four traditional meditation postures [...]

How to Start Meditating: Five Meditation Techniques for Beginners

2022-06-24T19:38:45-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Mindworks 101: Learn How to Start Meditating Keep it Simple When the time comes to start meditating, it may all seem a bit perplexing. After all, there are many methods, teachers, and traditions out there. Where to begin? When first beginning to develop a practice, the simpler the approach, the better. Simplicity is good news [...]

Does Faith Play a Role in Meditation?

2023-03-12T22:05:33-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Meditation Strengthens Faith When we have faith in something, we trust it completely. For many people, faith is reserved for the divine. It’s hard to place our complete trust in ordinary, imperfect people and things. But what about faith in meditation? Faith has a role to play in motivating us to practice and helping us [...]

What Are the Four Foundations of Mindfulness?

2023-01-29T20:00:27-08:00By Mindworks Team|

Shifting our full attention to the mind itself with direct experience Mindfulness meditation teaches us to be present with whatever arises, accept it without judgment, and allow it to pass. We typically practice mindfulness meditation by choosing a single point of focus, such as breath, and observing it while letting go of distractions if and [...]

How Meditation Works to Stop Bad Habits

2022-04-24T07:15:14-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Science points to how bad habits form, but mindfulness helps us break free Research shows almost half of what we do is habitual, and this makes sense. Habits save energy and resources. If we never developed habits, we’d be exhausted by breakfast. And yet we know from experience not all habits are beneficial. If you’re [...]

Which Type of Meditation is Best?

2022-11-29T20:30:33-08:00By Mindworks Team|

The Best Types of Meditation for Beginners — Mindfulness & Awareness Once people understand there’s more than one type of meditation their next question is usually, which type is best? Meditation isn’t ranked on a worst, better, best scale - each type is different and helps us work with the mind in varying ways. The [...]

Common Meditation Myths Debunked

2022-11-29T20:32:34-08:00By Mindworks Team|

Mistaken assumptions about meditation, how it works, and what the outcomes should be can prevent us from starting a practice or may interfere with our current practice by creating unreasonable expectations. By debunking the myths of mediation we open ourselves to the possibility that meditation can benefit us in unexpected ways. Let’s take a closer [...]

How We Benefit from Mindfulness of Feeling Tones

2023-01-29T20:05:00-08:00By Mindworks Team|

Mindfulness of Vedanā (Pleasant, Unpleasant, or Neutral Feelings) The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, from the Satipatthana Sutra, offer us instructions on what, exactly, we are to be mindful of while meditating. We begin by observing our breath and body, then feeling tones, our state of mind, and the nature of reality itself. Each of the [...]

Why Breath Meditation is Not Only for Beginners

2022-04-24T07:18:58-07:00By Mindworks Team|

What are the Benefits of Advanced Breathing Meditation? Most people who are new to meditation are instructed to begin with mindfulness of breath. The breath is a convenient point of focus for meditation, because it’s always with us. But breath meditation is not only for beginners. In fact, it can be quite an advanced practice. [...]

How Meditation Helps Stop Overthinking

2022-11-12T19:44:46-08:00By Mindworks Team|

How Overthinking Harms Us (Meditating When You're an Overthinker) We all know what it’s like to lie awake at night ruminating on past decisions, or second-guessing our upcoming ones. Meditation can help stop overthinking, allowing us to live with greater peace and ease, while guiding us toward clear actions that are aligned with our greatest [...]

The Best Guided Meditations For Beginners

2022-12-01T19:53:28-08:00By Mindworks Team|

Guided Meditation for Beginners: How to Meditate? (And Keep it Simple) Guided meditation can be a good way to start if you’re a beginner. But when searching through apps, videos and downloads, there’s so many to choose from. We take a look at how guided meditations, and mindfulness meditation in particular, can help beginners learn. [...]

How Long Should Beginners Meditate For?

2022-11-20T19:48:39-08:00By Mindworks Team|

The Best Meditation Length for Beginners (The Ideal Amount of Time) New to meditation? You might be wondering how long you should meditate for. But dive more deeply into what’s behind that question, and you’ll find there’s more to consider than 5 versus 20 minutes. Everyone comes to meditation with a different capacity for stillness [...]

Meditation for Releasing Negative Emotions

2022-12-18T17:14:53-08:00By Mindworks Team|

Why Emotions Sometimes Hurt (How Emotional Pain Affects Your Mind) Meditation is a powerful tool for helping us work with negative emotions. Negative emotions are uncomfortable and can be overwhelming, a feeling that often gets worse when we attempt to ignore them or push them away. With meditation, we learn that our negative emotions don’t [...]

Learn by Doing Nothing: Emotions and Thoughts in Meditation

2022-04-30T19:40:42-07:00By Tsony Devroux|

How do you practice being present in every moment of your life? Through meditation we learn that we can relate to our emotions with a more natural attitude. Once we’ve developed a meditative foundation of being present in the moment, the next step is to recognize that our emotions are not forced upon us. We [...]

How to Listen to Your Breath, and What it’s Telling You

2022-09-25T01:34:46-07:00By Mindworks Team|

8 Breathing Patterns that Reveal the Health State of Body and Mind The quality of our breath has lots to tell us about what’s going on in our body and in our minds. By partnering mindful breathing and mindful listening, we can learn to use the breath to reach a healthier state of wellbeing in [...]

Meditation on the Job | Practicing Mindfulness at Work

2022-06-20T17:20:18-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Five ways to bring more meditation into your work life Meditation is an oasis of calm in our busy lives, a time to check in with ourselves and simply be instead of do. And the wonderful thing is, this dedicated daily session of focused presence has a spillover effect: we generally find that we’re better [...]

Mindful Listening

2022-04-24T07:22:26-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Is there a relationship between effective listening and mindfulness? What is mindful listening? Mindfulness, in all its many forms, boils down to being fully aware in the moment, without judgment or expectations, with or without a specific object of meditation. Mindful listening incorporates many of these same elements. Some kinds of mindful listening are meditative; [...]

Beginners Guide to Meditation

2022-04-24T06:00:53-07:00By Pamela Gayle White|

How to Meditate for Beginners: let’s get you started! You’ve read about the many benefits of meditation, you’ve got friends or family members who swear by their 20 or 45 minutes a day, you’ve heard celebrities say they couldn’t live without it, and now you’re ready to take the plunge! But wait, there’s a [...]

Morning Meditation

2022-04-24T07:23:12-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Four mindful ways to wake up your body and energize your mind What are the benefits of morning meditation? As soon as the alarm goes off, we’re probably already thinking about work or study, the people we need to see and those we’d rather not, unfinished business, laundry lists and that all-important cup of coffee [...]

Mindfulness of Sounds – Meditation Practice

2021-05-14T11:31:17-07:00By Mindworks Team|

What are meditation sounds? How to use sounds in mindfulness practice Meditation is about paying attention in and to the present moment. But you’ve probably noticed that the present moment gives us lots of choices when it comes to what, in fact, we choose to pay attention to. The breath? Sensations? A mantra or phrase? [...]

How Long Should I Meditate?

2022-06-12T08:37:08-07:00By Mindworks Team|

For those new to meditation or thinking about starting, some common questions that crop up are How long should my meditation session last? How long is long enough? Do I have to do this forever or will a few weeks or months suffice? Behind these questions there may be a fear of not reaching [...]

Mindfulness Q & A

2021-05-14T11:31:17-07:00By Khaydroup Podvoll|

Answering what is the meaning of mindfulness with Khaydroup Podvoll How would a seasoned meditation teacher define “mindfulness?” We wondered the same thing! We asked Khaydroup Podvoll, Mind Trainer extraordinaire, to give us concise answers to some pithy questions about what it means to be mindful. With over half a dozen years of intensive, full-time [...]

Meditation Classes for Beginners

2023-02-19T20:37:35-08:00By Mindworks Team|

Mindfulness-based meditation practice for beginners Wondering how to start meditating? For beginners, there are plenty of courses and classes that are designed to teach basic practices and theories. Many, but not all, of these will present mindfulness of breath as their main meditation for beginners. But while mindfulness of the breath is a core meditation [...]

Can Anyone Meditate?

2022-12-09T20:43:31-08:00By Mindworks Team|

Sometimes when people have tried to meditate and then lost interest, they wonder “Is it really possible for anyone to meditate? Or is it just the chosen few?” According to meditation experts, just about anyone can learn how to practice meditation. Individuals with serious mental illnesses are an exception in that they should be closely [...]

5 Simple Ways to be Mindful in Your Everyday Life

2023-02-19T20:40:17-08:00By Pamela Gayle White|

Each and every day, there are many opportunities to be mindful In today’s distraction-filled world, mindful moments can feel like a luxury. How can we be more mindful in a society that encourages multi-tasking and snap decisions? Note that being mindful doesn’t necessarily require sitting motionless in a quiet place for a certain length of [...]

Meditation and Ethics

2023-03-13T12:09:22-07:00By Mindworks Team|

The morality of meditation: enhancing our ethical decision-making At first glance, it may seem that meditation practice has very little to do with morality or ethical behavior. Mindfulness meditation in particular is often presented as a non-sectarian method that can help us do a better job of just about anything: studying, sleeping, working efficiently, de-stressing, [...]

Top 10 Best Tips on How to Meditate

2021-11-01T16:58:47-07:00By Trungram Gyalwa, PhD|

How Do You Meditate? A Meditation Toolkit Here are 10 tips on meditation that will enable you to experience its peaceful and joyful benefits. 1. Just do it Meditation is something that anyone can do at anytime and anywhere. Don’t think that you can’t meditate. If you are concerned that you don’t understand what [...]

Noting Meditation Practice

2023-01-29T19:58:40-08:00By Pamela Gayle White|

How to use labels to make a busy mind more manageable Oh, those pesky thoughts. When we’re in deep meditation, thoughts, sensations and emotions can feel like the distant drone of bumblebees. They’re familiar and benign; we’re aware of them, but they don’t pull us out of our practice and sense of well-being. Often, however, [...]

News: Mindworks Announces New Online Meditation Courses

2022-07-24T10:29:00-07:00By Mindworks Team|

~ NEW, RELEVANT AND INSPIRING ~ Great news! Our sparkling new and improved Mindworks website is now host to some of the best online meditation courses you’ll find anywhere. Accessible on your computer or mobile device, our regularly enriched content is increasingly varied and always relevant. Mindworks meditation courses take the guesswork out of practice. [...]

Helping Our Kids Deal with Technology through Meditation

2021-05-14T11:33:51-07:00By Lama Jampa Thaye|

Information Technology, Social Media and Meditation Today’s younger generations are growing up in a context that is significantly different from their parents’. For many parents and grandparents, information technology was in its formative years when they were young or adults. Social media came later, with the generalization of internet access. Think about it: Google was [...]

Mindfulness Exercises

2023-01-29T20:02:06-08:00By Mindworks Team|

4 beneficial mindful techniques and activities you can try today Mindfulness is so popular these days that there’s no shortage of quick, creative mindfulness exercises available through websites, apps, and in print, not to mention in live classes online or in person. Here are four curated breath and mind-body exercises that you can easily experiment [...]

Listen, Reflect, Meditate

2023-02-08T19:32:25-08:00By Mindworks Team|

The Power of Contemplative Practice If meditation in general and mindfulness in particular are so popular nowadays, it’s because the cat’s out of the bag: meditative practices are good for us. They improve mental and physical health. They support positive qualities such as patience, resilience and the ability to focus. They boost creativity and self-awareness. [...]

Working with Emotions in Meditation

2022-07-16T19:21:53-07:00By Bart Mendel|

When we meditate, we need to understand how to work with thoughts and emotions. Emotions are part of life, but what are they? According to one definition of emotions, they are contents of the mind, like thoughts. They are not two separate things; both are produced by mental activity. You could think of thoughts [...]

How to Clear Our Minds and Create Space in Meditation

2022-07-24T10:45:09-07:00By Chogyal Rinpoche|

Disrupting Copy and Paste Mentality It is quite interesting that as human beings, our mental behavior often adopts a sort of copy and paste approach. If we’re not aware of our thought patterns, who we are and what we are may be defined by the way we repeat automatic behaviors learned since birth. In [...]

How to Meditate: Tibetan Buddhism

2021-05-14T11:33:53-07:00By Mindworks Team|

As Buddhist meditation and philosophy spread throughout the East many hundreds of years ago, they acquired the flavors of the lands where they took root. Today, when you look at some of the Buddhist meditation techniques of Japan, Indochina, Sri Lanka and Tibet, for example, there are certainly similarities, but there are also some notable [...]

What is Meditation? Everybody’s talking about it!

2022-06-12T19:01:08-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Okay, but what is the definition of meditation? According to the Cambridge Dictionary online, the meaning of meditation is either: • the act of giving your attention to only one thing, either as a religious activity or as a way of becoming calm and relaxed, or • serious thought or study, or the product of [...]

What Is the Goal of Meditation?

2022-08-04T16:46:41-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Sometimes even the most seasoned meditators find it difficult to meditate on a daily basis. But isn’t it funny how we find time to watch TV, go shopping and do everything else? When we understand how valuable meditation is for our well-being on every level, though, we naturally give it top priority and incorporate [...]

5 Best Places for Meditation

2022-04-24T06:16:09-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Where Would You Love to Meditate? Ready for a real journey to uncharted territories? It’s time to sit! And where are the best places to meditate? A quiet room definitely counts, but there are plenty of other good choices out there. The best locations aren’t necessarily the most exotic - they’re the ones where you [...]

Sitting Meditation Demystified

2021-05-14T11:34:48-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Is strong determination required for sitting meditation? If determination spells persistence, then the answer is yes. Most everyone agrees that you’ll get the most out of your meditation practice if it’s regular – when possible, daily is best. But if you think determination means that you absolutely have to sit still for hours at [...]

Everyone Has Different Meditation Experiences & Stories

2022-12-09T20:37:48-08:00By Mindworks Team|

Regular meditation practice often results in experiences that are different from those of everyday life. But what should we expect? Meditation tends to bring long-buried emotions, memories and qualities to the surface. You may have heard people who meditate telling stories about their practice. Some are delightful and others are rather perplexing. Truth is, your [...]

Daily Meditation

2022-10-04T12:15:07-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Many people rely on daily readings and meditation to help them maintain balance and a healthy spiritual life. Those who adhere to a religious tradition have sacred texts that can inspire and guide them throughout the day. The Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Quran, and Hindu and Buddhist scripture are the bases for the faith [...]

How to Meditate for Better Concentration

2022-04-24T07:27:57-07:00By Mindworks Team|

We lead extremely busy lives - more often than not we have to devote our attention to many different tasks simultaneously. Meditation is an antidote to this scatteredness: when we practice, we train the mind to be fully aware of one thing at a time. The result is that our ability to concentrate increases. [...]

Best Mindfulness Meditation Exercises

2023-01-29T20:03:52-08:00By Mindworks Team|

Mindfulness meditation is gaining popularity across the world, and for good reason. Studies have shown that mindfulness meditation exercises contribute to creativity, decrease anxiety and cultivate peace of mind. The basis for mindfulness is maintaining a regular sitting meditation practice. The awareness and simplicity experienced while sitting can carry over into your daily routine. [...]

Meditation and Breathing Techniques

2022-04-24T07:29:36-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Meditation and the Breath In today’s hectic, distracted world, a calm and settled mind may feel like wishful thinking. Fortunately there are established techniques that make it possible for us to tame and train our busy minds. Cultivating inner peace and calming the mind are two of the better-known benefits of mindfulness meditation. In what [...]

What Does “Mindful” Mean?

2022-04-24T07:08:21-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Mindful is just what you’d think, kind of Be mindful of the time, mindful of your language, mindful of how much those groceries cost, mindful of where you put your feet—being mindful was part of our everyday language long before mindfulness became a thing. So what does it mean to “be mindful,” exactly? In our [...]