How to build a meditation practice

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In my last post (click here to read it) I spoke of the benefits meditation has had on me.  There is a ton of research and evidence on these, and many more, benefits of this wonderful practice.  The best part? It’s not something that is overly complicated.  You can do it. Right now. As you read. This sentence. On your screen. Yet before we go to how you can meditate in any place and in any situation (yes even as you are having a conversation with someone!), I want to share with you how I built my meditation practice from just 1-2 minutes to 45-90 minutes a day.

  1. I got curious.  I started with Jack Kornfield’s “Meditation For Beginners” in my tiny, tiny NYC studio in 2005.  This audio CD is a great place to start!  It will give you both background on meditation as well as teach you how to start meditating.  For less than $15 it will be a great investment, as you can hear it over and over again. 
  2. For about 7 years I meditated on and off.  It wasn’t until Fall of 2012 that I really started a dedicated meditation practice.  I started visiting meditation centers more frequently and participating in daylong retreats so I could learn more. I am lucky that for the past 4 years, I have lived near to no other than Jack Kornfield’s meditation center Spirit Rock. How amazing is that?? Given that he is the first person I learned meditation from so long ago when I lived all the way back on the East Coast?! Love it when you come full circle.
  3. I began doing guided meditations all of the time.  Every morning, I would wake up at 5:30 a.m. and do this playlist in this order:
    1. This meditation is a great way to kick off 
    2. This meditation is great to get centered on the present moment
    3. I love this meditation as it allowed me to really step into synchrodestiny
    4. This meditation really helped give me the confidence to be myself
  4. I found teachers that spoke my language.  So here’s the deal.  There are a TON of meditation teachers.  The key is to find teachers that speak your language and that you feel inspired by.  Some of my go to teachers?  Jack Kornfield, Pema Chodron, Deepak Chopra, Shakti Gawain, and Gabrielle Bernstein
  5. I eventually moved away from guided meditations to doing meditations with music in the background.  There are some amazing artists out there that make phenomenal music.  My favorite songs?  Download these from iTunes as soon as you can: Artist Gurunam Singh, “Guru Ram Das”, “Ong Namo – I Bow”, “Mul Mantra”; Artist Snatam Kaur “Ong Namo”, “Rakhay Rakhanahaar”; Artist Jai-Jagdeesh “Expand From the Heart Center (Aad Guray Namay)”…email me if you want more suggestions!
  6. I began practicing mindfulness in my day to day, which has helped me now sit in silence in my meditations :) This piece is quite long to explain so….I’ll save it for my next post!
Me with Jack Kornfield at Wisdom 2.0 2015...Full circle from 2005 when I picked up "Meditation for Beginners"  

Me with Jack Kornfield at Wisdom 2.0 2015...Full circle from 2005 when I picked up "Meditation for Beginners"  

Meditating rocks!  I truly hope that the above is helpful and that either you will soon have a consistent practice or deepen any practice that you may currently have!

Lots of love,

Judith