Meditation Techniques: How To Be More Present

Meditation can seem daunting at first, but with the right guidance, it can become an important daily practice with the capability to change your life.

For more on meditation and ideas for a few guided meditation practices to get your started, keep reading!

Before we walk through the basics of meditation and even some step-by-step guided mediation practices that you can try at home, let’s talk about what meditation is, what it isn’t, and why you should practice it.

But first, a bit of history. When you hear people say that yoga is “5,000 years old”, well, that is just not true. Or at least the yoga we practice here in the West which is often, solely concerning the physical aspect of yoga in the form of asana practice, where we bend and stretch our body into various postures that all offer us great benefits.

Despite the benefits, asana practice is not 5,000 years, old. Eastern history and timelines are difficult to trace back to exact dates, but where we can officially trace yoga back to is first found in the 4 scared and spiritual texts called the Vedas, meaning light or knowledge.

We do not know exactly who wrote them but it is said that they were written by sages in elevated states. In these texts we find evidence and culture of the Indus Valley (predating India as we know it today)

Included are stories of fire ceremonies used to celebrate new births or marriages that were accompanied by chanting. Therefore, thanks to the Vedas, we do have evidence that meditation, rituals, chanting, and mantras are in fact 5,000 years old, asana practice however, was created at a much later date. It was developed in the 1900's by Krishnamacharya (b. 1888, d. 1989) during the British occupation of India.

If you would like to know more about the history and philosophy of yoga, click here.

Eastern history concerns itself little with dates, however, we can start to see how Eastern practices have transcended and transformed, remaining relevant today. It is the current use and practice of these traditions that help keep this beautiful history alive.

Now that we know the origins of meditation, what is meditation?

Historically, meditation was used to help deepen spirituality and understandings of sacred texts, and to find one’s highest self, known within Eastern traditions and practices as the part of you that is closest to the source.

Today, mediation can be practiced by anyone and it can be practiced anywhere. Mediation can be used as a tool to help us become more present, mindful, and it can help us reduce stress, tension, anxiety, and symptoms of depression.

Meditation uses the power of the mind to heal, to focus, and can help you reach an elevated state of higher consciousness, or simply help you feel relaxed and at ease.

Sometimes, in order to understand what something is, we need to define what it isn't. There is a common misconception that during meditation, one must think “nothing”. That your mind should be completely empty. That you should enter a state of nothingness, feeling and thinking nothing for as long as possible.

This is not how we practice meditation. Yoga and meditation teach you to become more integrated, more connected, more aware of your surroundings. It is not a practice of empty nothingness and separation from reality.

The objective and purpose of meditation: to allow for an emptying of the mind, of all other things, to keep the mind focused on one concept, idea, or thought. Therefore, having only one of these present in your mind, will make you fully present, committed to that single thought or concept.

Eliminating distractions from the mind can be extremely challenging, especially for those of us in the West, we love to multitask, do more than we are capable of, and we love the "hustle". However, this type of lifestyle will slowly, if not quickly, start to ware on you.

Now that we know what meditation is, who is mediation for?

The answer is, mediation is for everyone, there is no wrong age to start, there is no wrong place to practice mediation. To fully reap the benefits of your meditation practice, it is best to aim for 5-10 minutes of meditation per day.

Consistency is key in anything, mediation is no different. Practicing meditation daily could be accompanied by music, you could practice a guided meditation, or add a meditation practice to your daily breath work or yoga practice. Meditation can also be done in groups and mediation has been shown very helpful for children to practice.

Starting a new meditation practice can be challenging especially if you don’t know where to start. A good place to start is, of course, with the basics. Practicing guided meditation is a great way to keep the mind focused and unwavering.

Certain guided mediations can also help individuals overcome more specific issues as well, such as; unresolved traumas, health concerns, high stress levels, etc.

"The key to freedom will always be about finding it within yourself."

The Basic Meditation Steps

Once you have decided to give meditation a try it is important to start with the basic steps and work up from there. Always begin with a short meditation, as it goes without saying in regards to any new endeavour, never start too big or it will only lead to discouragement and frustration.

Choose a seat

Start by choosing a seat, this sounds obvious but this might be one of the most important steps. Make sure that you feel comfortable and supported as you will be here for some time. If you are having trouble sitting comfortably and you are holding a lot of tension in your body, try practicing some yoga or stretching beforehand.

To understand just how important your seat is, asana translates from Sanskrit to English as “seat". Historically, yogis practiced yoga in order to sit better for deeper and longer meditation. When sitting the spine should be upright, it is best to refrain from leaning against something or lying down. This is because the spine acts as an antenna. You want it pointing upwards to receive energy. However, if you are suffering from any injuries that prevent you from sitting, meditation can, of course be practiced lying down in Shavasana or corpse pose.

Don't move

Once you have found your seat, which could be on a mat, the floor, a pillow or a bolster, you want to work to remain completely still. Stillness allows for insight to arise. Shifting and fidgeting results in avoidance and distraction of what information your body and mind is providing you with. This is where the most discipline and focus are required. To focus on one thing without distraction is our biggest obstacle. Focus on breath, tune into sensation.

Surrender

Whether you practice yoga or not, in life we always want to strive for deepness. Deep knowledge, understanding, love, all things in life are enjoyed more when we surrender to experiencing them to the fullest. In yoga, the ultimate lesson is surrender. Meditation is our opportunity to put surrender into practice.

Initially, your daily meditation will be full of distractions and annoyances: itches, loud noises, phones ringing, worries and thoughts of “am I doing this right”, will continue to arise, but if we keep at it, over time, those distractions will begin to dissolve and become less and less important.

Meditation practice asks you to become comfortable with the uncomfortable .

Guided meditation practices

Basic meditation

The first meditation practice is the most accessible for everyone as it just requires you to focus on your breath. This meditation practice is something you can do anytime, anywhere, for any duration, but start with 5-10 minutes.

Begin by drawing the attention to the breath, exhale any tension, focus only on breath and its sensation, the experience of breath in your body. Feel it as it enters the body through the nose, as it moves through the back of the throat, feel the chest, ribs, and belly expand with your inhale, suspended for a moment in nothingness, then feel everything deflate again, as the breath escapes through your nose. Every time you breath, challenge yourself to describe all of the qualities of your breath and note, how does your breath sound, feel, how long is each inhale and exhale.

If your focus starts to stray, draw yourself back in, let go of the idea that you are doing this wrong, or that it is not working for you. If and when you feel the mind drift, let that go and come back to breath.

Continue to drop the distractions and bring yourself back.

Just as we need to let go of frustrations, also learn to let go of the “I’m doing it” feeling. Drop any self praise or self awareness, because when you truly let go, you are not aware of the letting go itself because you are truly gone.

You cannot know if you are doing something well if you are really in the moment. It's like sleeping, you wake up feeling refreshed but while you are sleeping, you are not telling yourself every 5 minutes, “I am sleeping so well”, because you are simply not aware of it.

Then, pick a new element of breath to focus on, such as its sound, sensation, or its function and let yourself go. Allow yourself to be absorbed by those thoughts. Then start to deepen the breath, making every inhale and exhale longer than the last, and close by making a promise to yourself to keep this serenity and calm with you throughout the day.

Gratitude Meditation

Practicing a gratitude meditation can help you successfully reduce symptoms of depression and can help you if you often feel lost or unfulfilled. This meditation practice asks you to offer gratitude for the beautiful things and people in your life.

Taking time to show love and thanks to someone in your life who helps you be the best version of yourself, gratitude for your health, your willingness to change, the obstacles you have overcome, the things you never thought you could do, for pulling yourself out of darkness.

Start by writing down on a piece of paper three things you are grateful for, these could be things that you have found within yourself, it could be the faces of loved ones or special people in your life, or any combination of the two.

To begin, choose a comfortable seat and close your eyes. Inhale, and say silently “Gratitude to...”

When you exhale, allow a name or a face to come to mind and offer gratitude to this person.

With each breath you begin with “Gratitude to...” and end your exhale with a name or face of someone.

Continue with this pattern, never forcing or second guessing the thing or person that arises.

Alternatively, on your inhale offer gratitude to yourself for something you have accomplished or show gratitude for who you are today despite your hardships, on your exhale, see yourself in that moment, doing as many things that relate to this thought as possible.

Fill yourself with joy and allow yourself to see just how incredible you are. Remember to speak to yourself as if you were your best friend. You would raise them up and say “look at all you have done! You are wonderful and you are growing brighter each day”.

Start treating yourself the same way. Making sure your thoughts and self talk reflect that which the people who love and support you most, would speak to you.

Loving Kindness Meditation

Practicing a loving kindness meditation can help address unresolved traumas, unfinished disputes, feelings of anger or jealousy, and it can help us to practice compassion and find peace when closure isn’t always an option.

To practice this meditation, begin by visualising faces of people, offering them well wishes, compassion, love, and understanding. The mind cannot differentiate between things that are there and things that are thought. So imagine that this person is with you, in the same space.

Always, begin by finding a good, comfortable seat and be still, taking a few moments to ground yourself using your breath.

With your eyes closed, visualise a loved one, someone who you know personally and who means the world to you.

Using the breath, send this loved one compassion, kindness, gratitude, and well-wishes.

Next, visualise someone inspirational, this person you may not know personally, but you admire them for the work they do, and they, even from a far, make your life better. Offer your passion, your gratitude for their positive influence, creativeness, and presence, what it is they stand for, and offer that which they give you, back to them.

Using the breath, send this person compassion, kindness, gratitude, and well-wishes.

Next, visualise someone in need, someone who does not have enough or who you know is struggling and could use your help.

Offer them healing and recovery. Know that you are not to take responsibility of fixing them, only they can do that for themselves, but offer support, love, encouragement and healing thoughts.

Using the breath, send this person compassion, kindness, gratitude and well-wishes.

Lastly, picture someone that hurt you, an enemy, someone who you thought ruined something you had or something you worked for, and offer them all of your love, your light, your forgiveness, understanding, because only when that becomes true, that is when and where you will find your freedom.

Open your heart and feel compassion for them, while keeping them physically at a distance. You need to be able to resolve this within yourself without needing to invite that person into your life.

To offer this person love will be the most difficult of all, this visualisation may bring unresolved trauma closer to the surface or give you feelings of discomfort, sadness, anger, or unease, but challenge yourself to sit with these feelings, notice them, let them be without suppressing them, and then, as you breath, start to let these feelings go.

Using the breath, send this person compassion, kindness, gratitude and well wishes, no matter how much it pains you. This is the most important person to address on your road to freedom.

Healing Meditation

Healing meditation practices can be used to calm anxiety, bring the body into a deep state of relaxation though visualisation, and help release physical, and emotional tension that is being stored in the body.

To practice this meditation, begin with breath and find softness in the body, focus on healing energy, focusing heavily on a part of the body that needs healing.

Imagine a blue ball of light, a light that can move, breath with you, and heal with you. Once you have that blue ball of light in your mind, let it float, shining its light over the entire body, as if it were light therapy, allow the light to soften pain, removing darkness from the body, until the body has been emptied of all things that do not serve you.

We will move through this meditation together:

Find your comfortable seat and be still.

With the eyes closed, imagine a bright ball of blue light encircling the heart.

With each inhale, the blue light expands, and with each exhale, the blue light contracts.

Move the awareness around the body, sending any tension, stress or darkness into the blue light.

Allow the ball to begin in the toes and feet, moving all the way up the body, pausing anywhere that may require more time.

Allow the ball of light to move up through the lower legs, knees, thighs, hips, back, belly, chest, arms, hands, into the throat, the neck, the face, the head, and finally, up to the crown of the head, always sending any tension, pain, discomfort or negative thoughts into the blue light.

Near the end of this meditation, start to see the blue light, with all of the stress and negativity you filled it with change shape, expand, and morph into a ball of white light.

Give this new white healing light as an offering to a part of your body that needs it most. An area that needs relief, needs softening, needs warmth and love.

Accept the parts of you that seem flawed. The only way to heal is to first, accept them.

Chakra Meditation

Our final guided meditation is aimed at aligning the chakras and finding harmony in our energetic body. In this meditation we will move though the chakras and energy centres, using the corresponding colour of each chakra.

This meditation practice can also be done using the corresponding mantra and/or vibrational sound for each chakra, but especially as a beginner, visualisation of the chakras as colours is often the most effective, especially for visual learners and those who are unfamiliar with the workings of the subtle body.

If you would like to learn more about the chakras and the energetic body, check out our article “chakra healing” for insight and information.

To begin this meditation practice, find a comfortable seat and be still as you begin to focus on your breath.

With the eyes closed, imagine a white light moving up and down the spine like a ball on a string, watch it move with the breath.

Now, visualise a red light at the base of the spine.

Allowing the red light to bring you sensations of steadiness, grounding, and connection to the earth.

Visualise an orange light at the sacrum.

Let this light fill you and fuel you with passion, desire, and flowing creativity.

Visualise a yellow light at the solar plexus.

This yellow light makes you feel confident and empowered and shows you all of your gorgeous uniqueness.

Visualise a green light at the heart.

Here this green light will show you unconditional love and compassion.

Visualise a blue light at the throat.

The blue light allows you to speak your own truth, to express yourself with clarity, it will show you that you are worthy.

Visualise a purple light at the third eye.

Allow this light to show you the way, your way, the path of intuition, inner guidance and ultimate trust within yourself.

Now, lay down in Shavasana or corpse pose to close this meditation.

Lastly, visualise a white light at the crown of the head.

Allow the white light to saturate the body in relaxation and complete connection

Conclusion

We hope that practicing these meditation techniques have been helpful for you. If you would like a private video session to practice these techniques with guidance, please send us an email and we can plan a guided session.

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Jasmine Melrose

Director & Founder of DECO the Blog

Jasmine Melrose is a Toronto native living in Amsterdam. Once a professional dancer, her passions include movement, fitness, yoga, healing, and all things vegan. Jasmine is a 500-hour trained yoga teacher, who loves to get you deeper into your practice. She is also a certified barre teacher who loves making raw vegan, guilt-free and good-for-you treats. Check out her recipes and articles on everything from fitness to yoga, to notes on a journey towards healing.

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