By Sejal Shah | Updated on : September 13, 2021

New to meditation? Read on to learn the basics of meditation and dive into our 21-day meditation challenge to get started with your stable practice. 

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When you hear the word “meditation”, what comes to mind? A Buddhist or Tibetan monk sitting on a mountaintop? Or perhaps an Indian yogi sitting in a candlelit cave?

Well, those are certainly the ways that meditation was introduced to the world thousands of years ago. If you like, you could also meditate in similar ways, but the good news is that it’s not necessary to become a monk or ascetic to start meditating. You can meditate right in your home or office, or any other place that you like! The mountain top is entirely optional.

What is meditation?

There’s a misconception that meditation is all about emptying, controlling, or quieting your mind, when really meditation is meant to transcend the mind in order to connect to the infinite source of peace and joy within.

Over the years, meditation practice has evolved quite a lot to match the needs of people in modern times. So much so that meditation can mean many different things to many different people. Many types and techniques of meditation have become popular. That is why perhaps an easier approach to understand what meditation is could be to start with clarifying what meditation is not.

Benefits of mediation: Why should I meditate?

In today’s fast-paced, modern world, when you already feel short of time, you might wonder why you should spend your precious time on meditation, and whether meditation can help you. You will be surprised to know many research studies have backed the benefits of this ancient practice.

The purpose of meditation can be different for different individuals. It’s a beautiful practice that has so many benefits. It can enrich the overall quality of your life and improve your physical as well as your mental health. And if you are aspiring for nirvana or enlightenment or self-realization, meditation practices can help you with that too!  

The regular practice of meditation offers a wide range of benefits from improving your health and happiness, helping you sleep better, combating stress, anxiety, and depression, reducing chronic pain, losing weight (yes, you read it right!), and improving your mood to increasing emotional resilience, enhancing your overall brain functioning, and sharpening your focus. 

If you have been feeling low, or nothing seems to be going your way, your mind and body could be trying to tell you that meditation is needed in your life. 

How do I get started with meditation practice?

Today, meditation is open, free, available to anyone, and easy to get started with. It is not exclusive to any one sector of society or a specific type of person or tradition, religion, or culture. 

In ancient times, a spiritual master or enlightened guru would initiate the disciple into the practice of meditation, and only if the disciple was ready and eager. But in these modern nirvana days, you don’t need a guru’s physical presence to start with meditation. In fact, through a meditation app, you could get the guidance of a meditation teacher or guru right from the comfort of your own home. 

While you want to get started with your meditation practice as soon as possible, you may also have a ton of questions! You may have questions like, what is a good time to meditate? Does an early morning meditation have an advantage over a sleep meditation? Is playing music while meditating going to be useful or not so useful? What is a good meditation posture? How should I be breathing while I am meditating? Do I need a mantra in order to meditate? These are all good questions. And following some of our tips, FAQs, and guidance from meditation masters and experienced practitioners can provide you vital insights as you embark upon your journey. 

There are many meditation techniques. If you are an absolute beginner, guided meditation is a good place to start. All that you need is some quiet, comfortable space and a few minutes to meditate.

Protip: Just meditate every day!

Here is the catch: How much ever you read or Google about meditation and its benefits, it won’t give you any benefits unless you actually meditate, right? Reading about - or even thinking about - meditation is not the same as meditation! So the first important tip and step is to meditate! All the benefits of meditation can manifest only when you start to meditate. And believe it or not, you will feel the difference right from the very first meditation session.

If you want to be an expert swimmer, you need to jump into the water and swim every day. If you want to be an expert swimmer, you can’t be standing outside of the pool thinking about swimming, or reading books and articles about swimming. You have to swim! Similarly, meditation is experiential. Do it often and do it regularly because the benefits of meditation come from its practice, not from theory and books. You can’t get it by thinking about it. You have to actually sit and meditate. If you are new to meditation, rather than spending a lot of time reading about it, just start meditating!

We have something exciting to get you started with actually meditating! 

Take a deep breath, and get ready to relax. 

 

How do I know if I am ready to dive deeper?

This 21-day meditation challenge is just the beginning of your deeply rewarding and life-changing meditation journey. 

We are here to support you to continue with and reinforce your meditation journey even after you finish the 21-day challenge. 

As you meditate for 21 consecutive days, you will start experiencing a tangible difference in the quality of your life—personal, relationships, academic or professional. In fact, you may get hooked on it and get hungry for more ways to strengthen and deepen your practice. 

If so, it is time to learn and have your own meditation technique and develop your meditation routine. 

At this stage, I would like to recommend you to learn a profound breathwork-based meditation known as the SKY Breath Meditation. I learned this about a decade ago. It gradually but definitely transformed my life like the lives of millions of people around the world who practice it day in and day out. 

What is SKY Breath Meditation?

Inspired by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a globally renowned meditation expert, the SKY Breath Meditation is a technique based on the simple science of breath and its connection with the mind. It helps to get rid of deeply rooted stress and takes you to the deep state of meditation, using different rhythms of the breath. It puts you in touch with your natural Self to discover the unbound joy and peace that you are! It has been taught to millions of people in 156 countries for more than 40 years by certified teachers. 

Backed by scientific research and its practitioners, it continues to benefit people in all walks of life in many different ways. A 2019 study at Yale University evaluated the impact of three well-being programs on undergraduate students: SKY Breath Meditation, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and Emotional Intelligence, compared to a control group. Of all the programs, SKY Breath Meditation had the most benefits—reducing stress and depression, enhancing mental health, social connection, mindfulness, and positive emotions. 

It is also recommended by New York Times bestselling author James Nestor in his book BREATH - The New Science of A Lost Art. It is a must-read book to understand the incredible power of your own breath.

How can I learn SKY Breath Meditation? 

It is pretty easy to learn this technique, either in person or online from the comfort of your own home. I would invite you to join a free online intro meditation class. Select the date and time that works best for you to attend the introductory session with a live instructor available to answer any questions that you may have.

But if you think you have all the info that you need and you are ready to enroll now for the SKY Breath Meditation course itself, click here to select the date and time that best fits your schedule. 

Why not give it a try and explore what benefits this practice can offer you? Certainly worth a try!

Wishing you a rewarding journey to great inner peace and fulfillment!

Sejal Shah, E-RYT 500 Sri Sri Yoga Teacher, YACEP, C-IAYT, Meditation Teacher, SKY Instructor, NYU Post Graduate Medical School approved Yoga-CME retreat facilitator, Mind-Body Wellness Writer, Homeopath. She can be followed on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.