There is no pre-requisite to start meditating, everybody can do it. But when we start to meditate the question is ‘are we really meditating?’ Or are we dissociating? We may sit in a meditation pose and look ‘zen-like’ but we may as well be bypassing ourselves. It may differ from person to person, but meditation may be a step to soon for some.
Meditation is about concentrating on one specific thing. Whether that be the breath, a mantra, a word, the body (or a body part), a thought or an emotion etc. And we need a lot of focus in order to do that. As we start to meditate we most likely feel uncomfortable sensations and emotions become bigger due to the stillness and silence we commit to. We are most likely to disconnect from the body and dissociate, when we don’t know how to be with uncomfortable feelings, nor do we know how to process them. For this reason, we can see that meditation is an advanced practice.
If you are someone who wants to start meditating but finds it difficult, then here are some more ‘gentle’ entryways to meditation that is recommended to practice first.
- Somatic work
Before we start a meditation practice we want to have the capacity to be with sensations and emotions, because they will come up to the surface during meditation. Therefor it’s important to build capacity before we start a meditation practice.
When we do somatic practices, we work on connecting with the body (soma means body) and we simultaneously notice the sensations and emotions that are present. We want to be able observe our experience and not get overwhelmed by our feelings as we connect with ourselves or find stillness during meditation. When we learn how to do this, then we are able to experience how it is like to truly meditate.
There are different somatic exercises we can practice, like for example orientation, that will help us feel safe while feeling sensation in the body. Any somatic exercise can be an entryway to connect with the body and become present, which will help us in our actual meditation practice.
If you like to learn a somatic exercise you may also like to read ‘How To Do A Nervous System Cleanse In 3 Steps’ (somatic work and nervous system regulation goes hand in hand). And you can sign up for my free ‘Emotional Stress Release Guide’ here and learn how process your feelings.
- Yin Yoga & Restorative Yoga
Yoga in general is a healthy practice for the body and mind. And the goal of yoga is self-realization, it’s a practice to become more self-aware. Yin yoga and restorative yoga in particular are a meditative practice. It allows for more stillness and silence, which is uncomfortable for many at first. Younger people seem to have more difficulty getting into yin and restorative yoga, usually the older generation gravitate to this type of yoga. Nonetheless, yin- and restorative yoga is for everyone! This type of yoga is a gentle entryway to meditation, because it doesn’t leave you in complete silence entirely. This helps a person to dip in and out of stillness and silence with guidance, while at the same time connecting to their body and the present moment. Yin and restorative yoga are a great precursor to meditation.
- Yoga Nidra
Yoga Nidra is another great entryway to meditation because this practice allows for stillness and more silence, but there also isn’t complete silence during yoga nidra due to the instructions that are given. During yoga nidra you can enter into a state of stillness, observation and relaxation rather easily.
Yoga nidra is not about concentration though, the participant is asked not to analyze and to receive only, so we cannot consider yoga nidra a meditation practice. But yoga nidra does contain the elements that we need to meditate, like getting into a state of observation and it supports stillness of the mind and body. Therefor yoga nidra is great to practice for a period of time before we start meditating or when we experience difficulty during meditation.
Why do we need to ease into meditation?
Lots of people have difficulties being alone, being still or experience silence. Many distract themselves and fill in the gap of stillness by turning on music, calling a friend every time they are alone with themselves, listening to a podcast or video etc. Being used to stimuli every day and then getting into a state of stillness and silence is scary. But the above practices will help bring in more meditative states in a gentle way.
It may take years of practicing the above before you are ready or feel called to start meditating. And some people may not need any preparation work to starting a meditation practice, there are no mandatory practices before we start meditation truly. But most of us can use different entryways to find stillness first. Taking walks alone in silence is another entry way to ease into stillness. Or we benefit from a guided meditation or we meditate with relaxing music on the background to help us stay present. Like everything in life, we have to find what works for us individually.
Hopefully you feel inspired to try out the above practices. Give it a few tries because you may not like it at first, but it will help you ease into meditation. May it relax you, heal you, bring you more self-awareness, inner peace, and much more than that, as a result.
Until next time.
With Love, Naomi
P.s. you may also like to read ‘The One Skill That Humanity Has Forgotten To Use…’
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Written by Naomi
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