Top 5 Beginner Meditation Mistakes

So you have heard of the wonderful benefits that meditation bestows and are eager to establish a strong personal practice, but often beginner meditators fail to establish such a practice because they fall prey to some very common mistakes. In the video below and article we will discuss the top 5 most common mistakes beginners make so you can avoid them and succeed in establishing a daily meditation routine.

From reducing stress and anxiety to gaining greater awareness and mindfulness, meditation helps people in a number of important ways. No wonder, meditation is touted as one of the most important tools for a healthy living. So if you are eager to include meditation in your life, please read on and use these tips to help you succeed.

Here are 5 common meditation mistakes that a learner can make:

I. Procrastination

“I am too busy”,

“I don’t have much time, I think I need to take some time out for this”,

“Definitely, after I retire”,

“Just wait for the summer vacation to come”,

“Not finding a perfect teacher!”

And,

Many, Many more.

Throughout my career I have heard plenty more excuses and people come with anything and everything to delay starting this amazing practice.

Procrastination is a hard habit to break. In fact, it is like a disease that keeps us from achieving positive things and thereby, creates a negative impact in many aspects of our lives.

My advice is, if you are inspired to meditate, start today.

Do not procrastinate and don’t derail this important journey of your life that you know is highly beneficial for you.

II. Strict Meditation Posture

A common misconception in practicing daily meditation is that you have to meditate sitting in a perfect posture.

If your body is not flexible enough or if you haven’t given the practice of meditation a try before, a posture like, Full Lotus or Padmasana can actually injure you. Apart from injury, you might not feel comfortable in such an advanced posture.

I would say, find a posture that you are comfortable with. Sit on a chair if you wish to, be cross-legged if you feel comfortable in that way or try the Burmese Style or Half Lotus posture if that suits you.

If sitting is all too difficult for you, simply lay on your back and meditate. I myself, started the journey of meditation using this method and I still practice it sometimes.

Whatever posture makes you relaxed and comfortable, is good enough to start with.

Meditation practice has its own challenges. So, do not create an additional one for yourself.

III. Sitting for Long Periods of Time

This mistake is very akin to the previous one.

Yes, there is a reason to sit for long periods of time later in the process of meditation, but initially, meditation can be challenging if you have never tried to be still or sit quietly in a place, before.

Even sitting quietly and being still for 5 mins can be quite challenging for a beginner who has just started on this journey of turning their attention inwards.

So, in the beginning, set a time span that you are comfortable with. If it is just 5 minutes, that’s fine. Even if it is 2 minutes, that’s fine too.

Just make it regular and you can build upon that slowly.

Don’t be over ambitious with regard to the amount of time you are going to meditate for. It is important that you begin with what you are able to do comfortably or otherwise, it would be a challenge for you to continue this journey.

IV. Not Setting Up a Proper Meditation Space

Not setting up a proper meditation space along with not having a fixed time to meditate, comes in the list of some of the critical mistakes that a person can make.

In the initial stages of your journey, you have a wonderful spirit as you are highly inspired and you have reasons that keep you motivated and therefore, during this phase you can meditate at any time of the day, in any random place of your choice.

But,

There will be days when you would find that you are not in the mood to meditate, or you are not in the mood to stay in your session as long as you had determined you would.

In both these cases, having a fixed time, a fixed duration and a fixed proper place to meditate is absolutely essential. If you want to establish a regular practice of meditation, it is critical that you keep these three things totally fixed.

A place in your home that is quiet and clean, will serve your purpose. It does not have to be lavish at all, but the place should be exclusively for meditation practice.

You can have some items of your choice that inspires you, some incense sticks or meditation cushions that you like which provide you the right ambience, so that you can sit and meditate regardless of the mood or the kind of day you had.

V. Expecting Quick Results

This is a common mistake that can derail any great practice.

Unfortunately, we are trained in a way that we always expect rapid results from the actions that we take.
Be it a quick pain reliever pill or a pill that will help us loose our weight without going to the gym and sweating it out. Even in relationships, people are looking to move faster, taking the relationship quickly to the next stage and thereby, shortening the period of innocent love and romance.

Early in your journey, if you haven’t practiced meditation before, openings within yourself can take place quickly and many beginners have experienced this feeling which has provided them with great inspiration for the future.

But once you regularize the practice of meditation, these feeling of inward opening settle down.
The right way to put it is,

Meditation is akin to getting drenched in the fog. You do not get wet too quickly but gradually and if you stay out for long, it will drench you totally.

Therefore, do not expect quick results as over expectation can be detrimental if you are looking for a long time established meditation practice.

Conclusion

Now you know the 5 common mistakes that beginner meditators often make.

So, do not procrastinate as starting today will give you the benefits from today on. Meditate in a posture you are comfortable in, sit for a period of time in the initial stage that is manageable, set up a proper meditation place and keep that space exclusively for the beneficial practice of meditation.

Avoid these mistakes and see how wonderfully meditation helps you.

Top 5 Beginner Meditation Mistakes | Meditation Tips