How to meditate
Meditation involves doing the following three things simultaneously:
- Sitting with your eyes closed
- Controlling your breath
- Observing your mind
Below, each of these steps is explained in detail.
Sitting with your eyes closed
When meditating, it is best to sit in a comfortable position because standing can be tiring, and lying down may lead to falling asleep.
If you feel tired even sitting, consider starting yoga.
Controlling your breath
Meditation does not require any special breathing techniques.
Just maintain a breathing rhythm that feels most comfortable to you.
Although your breathing may become irregular during meditation, always try to keep it steady and consistent.
Observing your mind
"The mind" specifically refers to three aspects: (1) pain, (2) pleasure, and (3) desire.
In other words, when meditating, keep observing three things:
- What kind of pain you are feeling right now
- What kind of pleasure you are feeling right now
- What kind of desires you have right now
In particular, pay attention to what kind of pain you are feeling right now.
Facing pain is so painful that it may distort your expression or bring you to tears, but that's okay.
However, even in such cases, make sure to maintain your breathing rhythm.
If it's too hard to maintain breathing control during meditation, stop meditating for the time being.
There is no need to force yourself to continue under difficult conditions.