How To Meditate Properly At Home – Our Ultimate Guide

This is a guide to how to meditate properly at home, for beginners. 

As a meditation teacher, I’ve helped hundreds if not thousands of people to start meditating. And I’m delighted to help you too.

To help you, I’ve included lots of meditation tips and answers to common questions.

And if you would like my help getting started with meditation the right way, book a private online meditation lesson with me today.

How To Meditate Properly At Home (Beginners Script)

When I was getting started with meditation, I was eager to try all diffrrent types of meditation techniques. But that was my mistake. Because it is best, in the beginning, to choose one simple method and to stick to it for a couple weeks at least. 

I always recommend starting with Anapanasati, which is the proper meditative breathing technique. So let me show you how to do that first.

1. Sit with good posture. While there are technical positions such as the Tibetan Buddhist Vairocana position and Lotus posture, Anne Cushman (author of Moving Into Meditation) states that no particular posture is required. So, just sit comfortably.
2. Close your eyes. I used to make the mistake of holding my eyes too tightly. Dont do that. Just let them be closed lightly.
3. Observe your breath moving through your nostrils. You may count breaths if it helps you focus. As you continue deep breathing you will reduce amygdala activity, reduce sympathetic nervous system activity, and promote parasympathetic nervous system activity according to Mladen Golubic, a physician at the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Integrative Medicine. Basically, you will relax.
4. Gradually expand your awareness until you are aware of the entire process of your breath moving around your body, entering your nose, going down your throat, into your abdomen, and then back out.
5. When thoughts or feelings occur, calmly observe them, and continue to watch your breath. You might find it helpful to label your thoughts, saying, “This is just a thought” and “This is just a feeling.” This is a traditional practice used in Buddhist Vipassana meditation, which is one of the main methods I teach in my lessons.
6. The goal is casual awareness of the present moment. You should not be trying to change in any way. As Tibetan Buddhist meditation teacher Pema Chodron says, “Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already.” So, accept your own mind and its actions. Do not be judgmental of your practice.  
7. It is normal to notice that your mind is wandering, you’re dwelling on the past, worrying about the future, or daydreaming. Buddhists refer to this as Monkey Mind. Shunryu Suzuki, the author of Zen Mind Beginners Mind, states that a large part of meditation is reducing the monkey mind. If you do find your mind wandering just gently return your focus to your breath.
8. Continue focusing on your breath for 108 breaths.

Now another big note. When I was beginning meditation I used to judge my practice all the time and rate my sessions as good or bad. Don’t do that. Meditation is all about non-judgmental acceptance. Whatever happens during your session, accept it.

What’s going on….?

First, what is meditation?

Meditation is the practice of focusing the mind on one element of the present moment in order to quieten the mind and produce calmness. 

Well, that’s what they say. But I’m sorry. They are wrong. So let me tell you. Meditation is deliberately focusing the mind on one or more things to create different psychological effects, of which calmness is just one.

More on that later.

You might have heard about meditation from apps like Headspace, Calm, and Insight Timer, or from luminaries such as Jon Kabat Zinn, Sharon Salzberg, and Tara Brach. Or, if you’re into yoga, you might have heard about Dhyana, the method discussed in the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali and the Eight Limbs of Yoga

These different people and products describe meditation in slightly different ways. But ultimately, meditation is about two things: Focusing, and seeing things as they truly are.

Meditation is about seeing things as they are 

Above, we did a simple mindfulness meditation for beginners at home.

When we do a basic beginners meditation technique like this, we are observing the true nature of things. In Buddhism this is called Kensho (seeing the true nature of things).

Sometimes we observe (focus on) the breath, sometimes sounds, and sometimes other objects like a crystal or candle.

But whatever we observe, we aim to see the true nature of it. And this is huge. Why? Because a lot of the suffering we humans experience is caused by an inability to see things for what they truly are.

 My life has taught me that everything is easier when you see things for what they truly are. Take thoughts for example. I used to get lost in my thoughts and I would think my thoughts were real. That caused me a lot of stress and anxiety. But just by using some beginners meditation exercises I learned to see the truth of thoughts. I learned that thoughts are not real. And that has saved me from a lot of stress.

That’s why the ultimate purpose of meditation is to see things as they truly are.

But mindfulness is a little different to meditation 

Many people don’t realise that mindfulness is different to meditation.

Mindfulness is about present moment awareness and there tons of different mindfulness exercises. Meditation is any technique involving deliberately focusing the mind on certain things.

Mindfulness is also a lot more versatile than meditation. Joseph Goldstein [co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society], calls mindfulness “the quality and power of mind that is deeply aware of what’s happening”.  

And so, mindfulness is just about being aware.

Meditation teacher Tara Brach says that mindfulness meditation is used to “become mindful throughout all parts of our life. It’s about observing the mind, noticing mind wandering, accepting and observing thoughts and feelings, and paying attention to the moment.”

Rules for Meditating At Home  

When learning to meditate properly, follow a few simple rules. Like so…

1: Start with a beginner’s meditation technique

There are many different ways to meditate. Indeed, Buddhist meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg says, “Meditation is the ultimate mobile device. You can use it anywhere, anytime, unobtrusively”.

Some methods are quite technical.  These are not ideal for beginners.

In my experience as a meditation teacher I’ve found that the best types of meditation for beginners are:

• Mindful breathing
• Repeating a simple mantra like OM
• Candle Gazing (otherwise called Trataka)
• Vipassana 

Many people like to start with guided meditations for beginners. However, research from Harvard Medical School shows that guided meditations aren’t as powerful as traditional techniques. 

Here is another simple meditation technique for beginners.

An Easy Exercise

1. Sit somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed. Sit comfortably with good posture (you do not need to sit with crossed legs if you find this uncomfortable).
2. Tell yourself that you are going to be relaxing for the next 20 minutes.
3. Take a few deep breaths to relax. If you have tension in your body, stretch gently.
4. Begin to breathe. Count the in-breath to a count of five “1, 2, 3, 4, 5…”
5. When you reach the end of your inhalation, stop for a count of two
6. Now breathe out to a count of five
7. Let each breath begin naturally. Do not force it. Just let your breath come and then start counting again.
8. Simply focus on the sensation of your breath moving around your body.
9. Continue to a total of 108 breaths.

(1.b) But also try some traditional methods

I personally consider the following to be the best meditation techniques for beginners who have a little bit of experience and want to try something different.

• Loving Kindness (Metta Bhavana)
• Vipassana (observing your mind)
• Anapanasati (mindful breathing)
• Guided meditation
• Mantra meditation (meditating on simple sounds)
• Samatha (meditating on any one object)
• Mindful eating
• Jon Kabat Zinn’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
• Contemplation meditation
• Trataka (holding your gaze still)

2: Posture

In my lessons I always tell my students that their meditation posture is important. There’s a good reason for that: Your mind and body are one.

Elizabeth Broadbent Ph.D. tells us that bad posture reduces focus and good posture “can make you feel prouder after a success, increase your persistence at an unsolvable task, and make you feel more confident in your thoughts”.

Basically, your body posture affects your mind.

It took me a long time to learn this but trust me, your meditation position is important.

Here is the best meditation position for beginners:

1. Sit on a chair
2. Place your feet shoulder width apart
3. Balance your weight evenly across your sitting muscles
4. Make sure your spine is straight but relaxed
5. Slightly lower your chin to elongate your neck and spine

3:  Breathing  

When you’re just learning to meditate at home, you will probably concentrate on the various breath-based methods.

Proper breathing is essential to proper technique. When you meditate correctly, your breath will come from your diaphragm, and it will be relaxed and rooted. Your breath might be quick in the beginning, but it will slow down and deepen as you meditate.

If you breathe slower when meditating, that’s perfect. But I always tell my students not to force it. Just let your breath be and calmly observe it.

As you relax, your breathing will become deep and diaphragmatic, not because you’re focring it, but because you are relaxing.

In my experience one of the biggest meditation mistakes is forcing the breath. Don’t do that.

4: Where to meditate at home

Make sure you have a proper meditation space at home. Your space should be a specially designated spiritual space.

The rules for spaces are:

• Must be peaceful
• Should be quiet
• Should be conducive to relaxation and focus
• Have as few distractions as possible

For your home meditation practice, meditate in the same space and reserve that space specifically for your practice.

5: Developing a daily habit

A lot of people ask me how to meditate daily. For beginners, it can be hard to get into the habit.

I recommend that you keep your home meditation practice to a specific time of day. When you know that at 6 AM you’re going to get up, enter your Zen space, and focus on your breath for twenty minutes, you create a habit.

Honestly, it’s not a big commitment. You can get many of the benefits of meditation from just 8 minutes a day according to Richard Davidson [professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and founder of the Center for Healthy Minds].

6: Change your attitude

It is impossible to meditate properly if you have the wrong attitude.

The correct meditation attitude is non-judgmental. To meditate properly, you need to let go of your judgmental mind and accept things as they are—especially yourself.

When you’re not sure how to meditate, you often get distracted during your practice. You think to yourself, “Am I meditating correctly? Is this right? Is that right? etc.” And these unwanted thoughts, ironically, prevent you from meditating correctly. That’s why you should adopt a nonjudgmental attitude and just go with it.

In Full Catastrophe Living, Jon Kabat-Zinn, says, “With the mindfulness attitude of non-judging, we find a more effective way of handling the stress in our lives.”

7: On Buddhist methods

If you would like to learn Buddhist meditation at home, take a look at my article on Buddhist Meditation Techniques.

Performing Buddhist meditation at home requires more than just mindfulness. In Buddhism, meditative exercises are just one part of a much bigger practice. If you want to practice Buddhist meditation properly, you need to understand the philosophy of Buddhism.

Proper meditation in the Buddhist tradition requires discipline and patience. It isn’t a case of “sit down and focus on your breath”. It involves study and gradual development. To learn more I recommend reading some of the works of Pema Chodron.

8: How To Know You Are Meditating Properly

One of the main reasons people book their first meditation lesson with me is to find out whether they are meditating correctly. 

So, how can you check?

To know if you’re meditating correctly, ask yourself if you feel better after your session and if it benefited you for the rest of the day. If you didn’t notice the benefits, you probably are practising the wrong way. In that case, you might like to change to a different method or book an online meditation lesson with me.

Simple Ways For Beginners To Meditate At Home

In this section, we’ll look at simple ways to meditate at home. Try each of them and let me know which one is your favourite.

In Bed

One of the most straightforward ways to meditate at home is when you’re lying in bed. If you do this, make sure you are meditating properly. Check you have good posture. Then proceed with the steps below.

1. Bring your awareness to your breath
2. Take 25 mindful breaths
3. Relax
4. Begin to notice your body and the feeling of lying down
5. Let your muscles relax and let the bed take your weight.
6. From here, you can either continue with a traditional technique or listen to some relaxing music.

I do not recommend meditating in bed all the time because you will not focus as much as you do when sitting up. But I myself have had those days when I just want to lie down and relax. And at those times, I let myself meditate in bed.

 In The Shower

This is a method I learned from Shauna Shapiro, Ph.D [Professor of Psychology at Santa Clara University].

1. Start by getting the water to the right temperature.
2. Make sure you’re standing tall and relaxed with good posture.
3. Now begin to focus on the sound of the water coming out of the shower.
4. Feel the shower water on the crown of your head and bring your awareness to that sensation.
5. Move your awareness down your body, feeling the water cleaning you.
6. Now focus on the steam from the water as it enters your mouth.
7. Feel the steam moving into you and cleaning you from the inside.
8. Continue to be mindful as you clean your body. Observe the feelings and the fragrances.
9. Now take ten mindful breaths and say, “My mind and body are pure”.

 In The Bath

Now you know how to meditate properly in the shower, let’s look at how to do it in the bath.

Writing for VeryWell Mind, Elizabeth Scott, MS says, “Bath meditation combines the standard benefits of meditation with the benefits of a relaxing, hot bath, which can soothe tired muscles”.

1. Get in the tub
2. Let your body relax and make sure your head and neck are supported.
3. Make sure you’re not putting your mouth below water level. No one’s drowning on my watch!
4. Take twenty-five mindful breaths to relax.
5. Now feel the warmth of the water around your body. Feel how your body relaxes in the water.
6. Focus on the sensation of the water meeting your body, like one soft energy bubble cocooning you.
7. Now slowly begin to clean your body with the soap.
8. As you move your hand and the soap around your body, be mindful of the areas you touch. Ask those areas to relax
9. Once you have finished, say the mantra “My mind and body are pure”.

 In The Garden

Ah. The garden. One of the best places to meditate at home. Try some of these exercises:

• Create a Zen garden
• Try five-senses methods (focus on the scents, sights, and other sensory information in the garden)
• Do a slow and relaxing Zen Walk around the garden
• Pick your favourite flower and meditate on it

5 Ways To Learn To Meditate Properly At Home

Now we have discussed how to meditate at home, you might like to learn more. I’ve created a list of the best ways to learn to meditate. Pick the one which is best for you.

1: Our free beginner’s meditation guide

My passion here on THE DAILY MEDITATION is to teach people to meditate correctly. That’s why I have created a massive guide showing you the top 31 ways to meditate.

It contains tons of information on how to meditate for beginners to learn. I’ve also provided guides to all the different techniques.

2: Lessons

You want to learn to meditate, so you should probably work with a proper teacher. I personally give meditation lessons online and my students love their lessons.

It’s crucial that you find a teacher who is right for you. Otherwise, they will teach you inappropriately.

We all have individual styles of teaching that we like. And we all have our own beliefs. Some teachers are amiable and teach simple techniques. Others are more serious, religious types who will teach you not only about the techniques but the philosophy too.

My own style of teaching is all about acceptance, non-judgment, compassion, and helping people to heal. 

3: Books

Books are still one of the best ways for beginners to learn how to meditate. And there are lots of great books on meditation.

I recommend the folowing authors:

• Jon Kabat Zinn
• Thich Nhat Hanh
• Shunryu Suzuki
• Sharon Salzberg
• Dan Harris
• Pema Chodron
• Jack Kornfield

4: Retreats

What better way to learn to meditate properly than while on vacation at a retreat?

Some of the best meditation retreats for beginners include:

• Esalen Institute, Big Sur, California
• Bali Silent Retreat in Mount Batukaru
• Shambhala Mountain Center, Red Feather Lakes, Colorado
• Simple Peace Hermitage, Assisi, Italy

5: Online Courses

The staggering rise of online meditation courses makes this one of the best ways for beginners to learn meditation at home.

Some of the best online meditation courses include:

• The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Mindful Awareness Research Center, which has podcasts, an app, and courses.   
• The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), the Sanford Institute, and the Compassion Institute 
• Vipassana Fellowship Meditation Course
• Mindfulness Program at the University of Toronto: School of Continuing Studies 

6. Apps 

There are tons of meditation apps available. They include Buddhify, headspace, Insight Timer, Calm, Synctuition, Breethe, and Sattva.

But a word of warning. I do not recommend apps because most of my students who come to me after using apps have learned meditation improperly.

Meditation apps are overrated. They are popular because they are easy and cheap. But they don’t provide proper tuition like a course or an online meditation class does. They’re a fun way to start meditating, but that’s about it.

Benefits of Meditation for Beginners

Meditation is beneficial to most areas of our life. Yes, it helps with health and particularly mental health, but it also helps with happiness, social life, work, even relationships.

When you start meditating, you can expect to see the following benefits quite quickly:

• Stress reduction
• Happiness
• Anxiety reduction
• Relief from depression
• Self-awareness
• Concentration
• Compassion 

There are very few known side effects of meditation, although people with epilespy should consult a healthcare professional before starting, and some have reported worsening symptoms of anxiety and depression after meditating.

FAQ

Where can I meditate at home?

You have already chosen to practice meditation at home, but where exactly? Some atmospheres are more conducive to inner peace than others. A room with a water feature, for instance, is a good choice. Or how about in the garden?

I’m struggling to find the time…?

Try practising for ten minutes one hour before bed and try some mindfulness while doing housework (so you can meditate while still getting things done).

I want to practice with my children. Any advice?

Meditating with children is a great idea, but be sure to pick the right kind of meditation. Simple techniques like mindful breathing are the best option.

I can’t find a quiet spot…?

If noise is a problem, there are a few solutions. You could play meditation music to cover the noise. You could go for a Zen walking. Or you could look for an alternative place to practise.

I find it hard to focus. Any advice?

Almost all beginners find it hard to focus when meditating. This is natural. Don’t worry. Keep trying, and you will naturally develop focus over time. Try counting your breaths to help you focus, or recite a simple mantra, such as OM.

Should I find a teacher or school before beginning?

This is entirely up to you. It certainly isn’t necessary. The practice is safe and relatively easy. That said, the knowledge a teacher or school can offer is valuable. It depends on how much you want to get out of your practice and how much you are willing to invest.

I’ve been practising for a few weeks but haven’t seen much benefit…?

Try changing technique. If you’ve been using seated methods, try standing or moving. If you’ve been doing mindfulness, try mantras etc.

Is it okay to practice in bed?

Practising in bed is okay but not ideal. The reason it is not ideal is that you want to meditate while you have energy. If you’re tired when you start, you’re likely to drift off.

Do I need any specific items? 

There are many meditation items and tools available, such as Hindu japa malas, Christian rosaries, meditation chairs, mindfulness apps, singing bowls, and crystals, but you do not actually need any of these items. 

Summary

Now you know how to meditate, you’re going to find life so much more relaxing. You can cut out the stress and the noise and find some good old fashioned you time.

I hope you found this guide helpful. To get the most out of meditation, book an online meditation lesson or corporate meditation class with me today.

Paul Harrison

Paul Harrison is a passionate meditation teacher who believes in genuine, authentic meditation. He has more than 15 years experience in meditation and mindfulness. He studied meditation in beautiful Oxford, UK, and Hamilton Ontario Canada, and earned his degree at Staffordshire University.

“My goal is to provide the most authentic meditation sessions so you can harness the power of your own mind for personal transformation” – Paul Harrison