“Do you have patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?”
Lao Tzu
Meditation is for everyone, not just the one who desires a deep understanding of who and what they are. A desire to learn how to meditate can simply come from a desire to slow down or decompress. The paths to learning how to meditate can look very different. There are hundreds of ways to meditate. We cultivate our ability to meditate by dedicating an amount of time of practice to it. The benefits of meditation can be felt immediately but will continue to evolve, as you do, over time.
Learning how to meditate can be intimidating at first. There are a lot of preconceived notions out there on how one’s meditation should feel, look, and be. I have had clients come to me and say, “Oh, I have tried meditating, and I wasn’t any good at it.” When I ask them why, they respond, “Well, my mind wouldn’t stop.” Of course! The mind was made to think and process like a computer. However, we wouldn’t be subservient to a computer, would we? Well, unfortunately, there are a lot of people allowing their mind’s to control them. Life doesn’t have to be this way. We can cultivate our capacity to recognize that we are not really our thoughts or our physical persona. Learning how to meditate can slow us down enough to become mindful of our thoughts and actions in such a way that we become the witness. That way, we can fully embrace each moment with a clarity and presence that is healing, awakening, and real.
Anytime we set the intention to meditate, matched with the action of meditating, we are doing it. It is our capacity to hold space for whatever arises to be exactly what is needed to arise in that particular session.It is our allowing of our human condition to coexist with our spiritual nature as being exactly what it is meant to be in that moment.
Even though it can be fleeting, meditation’s mantra is, “Presence.” It’s a continued willingness to show up to practice and be, here, now. Sometimes, we need assistance to find presence. There are several ways to make meditation more accessible for beginners or even the regular practitioner who is having one of those days. So whether it’s a peaceful guided imagery, a tutorial on breathing techniques to stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system, or a full body scan, we will inevitably find a meditation that catches our attention to introspection.
Here are a few guided meditations to give you an idea of the variety of ways you can practice on a daily basis.
Guided Imagery Staycation: This is one way to rock a busy mind to presence in an instant. The guided imagery staycation features a calming voice that carries you away to someone far away and is a gentle way to show a beginner practitioner how to meditate. I have experienced great excursions to whi te capped mountains in the himalayas, sandy white beaches, lush forests withruby encrusted temples, star dusted galaxies, other
dimensions, past lives, and much more, right from the comfort of my own home or studio. I often feature guided imagery in my beginner meditation class, as it provides detailed cues for the busy mind to follow, thus creating a harness for the mind. Experience how to meditate with a guided nature walk right now.
2. Guided Breath Meditation: The breath is the first thing we consciously take when we come into this world and the last thing that is taken before we exit. It is something we 
do unconsciously every moment of every day and it is also something we can chose to do consciously in order to unite the mind, body, and spirit connection. I have been in a school for several years now that focuses solely on this concept. At the school, we get together, sometimes for 8-10 hours a day, and we breathe consciously. It is one of the quickest and most profound ways that I have personally found for presence-ing.
A beginner guided breath meditation might have you count the inhalations and the exhalations. It may have you hold the simple awareness that you are taking this breath in, and then taking this breath out. Another may have you focus on the breath creating a rising and a falling in the abdomen and the chest or awareness of the sensation of the breath as it comes in through each nostril and out through each nostril. A simple exercise one can practice when they notice themselves getting stressed out during the day, is to pause, and take a deep breath in, hold the breath for a few seconds, and then slowly release. Learn how to meditate with a guided breath meditation here.
3. Guided Body Scan: What better way to stop a running mind then to give it a body part to focus on. When was the last time 
you stopped to notice how the bottoms of your feet felt or better yet, the edge of your right ear? Take a moment to close your eyes and do that now having full awareness of these body parts. Continue to breathe while focusing on these body parts. Do this for a couple of minutes and then slowly open your eyes. Notice the difference in your mind and body from when you started just a couple of minutes ago. In a full body scan, you would be taken through every body part and possibly through different sensations in the body or energetic centers. A guided body scan has been used by many to reach a relaxed state from highly stressed situations. Here is a great guided body scan meditation by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
“Your own self-realization is the greatest service you can render the world.”
Ramana Maharshi
Alana Roach is a International Yogi currently based out of Annapolis, MD. Formerly adorned by the city lights and the busy streets of 
America, she was then whisked away by the illustrious path of yoga and took to traveling the world to share it with others. A few years back she started to write about the transformation she undertook by practicing conscious meditation. She practices and teaches varied styles of yoga at Ruahstudio.com, leads international retreats, loves surfing, being in nature, and enjoys a good belly laugh. She is on Facebook , Instagram, Twitter, and can be reached by email alanaroachyoga@gmail.co
