Meditation is the perfect exercise for the mind. Just as we have to physically exercise to keep our bodies healthy, we need to meditate to keep our minds healthy. Mediation is a simple and easy thing to learn how to do, however it does take some practice, especially when you're a complete beginner. That is why we have created this guide on how to meditate for beginners, to help beginners like yourself learn the best ways to get into meditation. 

Meditation refers to an extended focus on a particular thought or very concentrated thinking. It basically refers to focussing on one thing for a long time. Mediation can help you to arrange your thoughts and come up with clearer solutions to any thoughts that you have. Focussing long and hard on something can often result in you coming up with a much better solution to whatever that thought is. 

Some of the benefits of meditation include reducing your stress and anxiety, clearing your thoughts, helping you to come up with better resolutions to problems and exercising the brain. Mediation is great for your mental health. There have been many studies surrounding the benefits of meditation and they have found that regular meditation can lead to many great things such as lower blood pressure, improved blood circulation, lower heart rate, less perspiration, slower respiratory rate, less anxiety, lower blood cortisol levels, more feelings of wellbeing, less stress and deeper relaxation. As you can see from this list, meditation has many great benefits for both the body and the mind. 

The simple answer to this question is - anyone. There are no specific things needed to meditate. Basically, anyone can learn to meditate and anyone can take advantage of the benefits listed in the above section of the benefits of meditation. Since meditation takes very little skill, there really isn't anyone out there who can't learn how to meditate. All it takes is some heavy concentration, which is easy to learn how to do as long as you have a quiet place available with very little distractions. 

Meditation is great because it can be done basically any time. If you have a free few minutes to spare, then why not use those few minutes to do a bit of mediation and clear your mind. Having read the above section on the benefits of meditation, why wouldn't you want to choose to meditate during your  free time? There are so many reasons to choose mediation, and there really isn't a bad time to it. As long as you can find a quiet place with minimal distractions, then you should be able to participle in some relaxing meditation. 

It is important to feel incredibly comfortable before you're ready to meditate. It may be worth investing in a comfortable chair, beanbag, cushion or bed. It is essential that this comfortable item is positioned in a room with very little noise since meditation involves heavy concentration for long periods. 

Make sure whichever position you choose to be in while mediation, that you will be comfortable for a long period of time. Being comfortable is an important starting point for meditation. Once you feel comfortable and in position, it's time to start meditating. Read on to find out how to get started. 

It is important to keep your eye closed during mediation so that you can become extremely focussed. It may be worth investing in an eye mask or some kind of face mask which covers the eyes. This way, you'll be able to fully concentrate without feeling the urge to open your eyes and look around at the world wound you. This saves you from any distractions which may occur. You want to have a little distractions as possible because mediation involves a lot of heavy concentration, and so the less distractions there are, the easier it is going to be to meditate. 

Although it may be difficulty to ignore your breathing, especially for a beginner, it is important that you just continue to breathe naturally. Do not attempt to control the way you breathe, as this may create a negative effect on the meditation. Instead, it is important to ensure that you continue to breathe as naturally as possible. Your natural breath will allow for better focus and will make the next step in this guide a lot easier. Breathing as naturally as possible will allow your body to respond naturally to each breath that you take, making the focus stage much easier. 

Focus all of your attention on your breath and how your body responds to your breathing. Focus on the way your body moves while breathing. Think about the way your lungs are opening up and how your rib cage expands while taking in and breathing out breaths. Focus on the way your shoulders move with each breath, and how your entire body responds to each breath. Focus on the way it makes you feel when you take in each breath and when you breathe out every breath. Just stay completely focussed on everything to do with your breathing. 

Simply focus on everything to do with your breathing, however do not attempt to control it. If you find your mind wandering onto other things, just switch back and continue to focus on your breathing. Make focussing on your breath your priority. 

To start with, try maintaining this focussed exercise for around two to three minutes and then work on building up on that. It is important not to try to meditate for too long to begin with, as your focus will more than likely wander onto other things and you may lose hope in your ability to meditate. Instead, start small and work your way up to meditating for longer periods. This way, you can train yourself to meditate in an effective way. People who choose to meditate often and use meditation as a part of their life routine may meditate for up to an hour or sometimes even longer. Once you begin to feel the benefits of mediation, you will more than likely want to keep it up for longer periods and on a more regular basis.