Meditation can be an incredibly powerful and transformative practice for students. With so much going on in school, a regular meditation practice can help students manage stress, improve focus, and gain more inner peace.
As someone who started meditating in college, I’ve experienced the incredible benefits of meditation steps for students firsthand when it comes to managing a busy student lifestyle. While it can seem intimidating at first, meditation is quite simple once you get into the swing of it.
In this beginner’s guide, I’ll walk through 7 easy meditation steps that any student can start practicing right away.
Key Takeaways
- Find a quiet, comfortable spot to sit upright
- Focus on natural breathing as an anchor
- Expand awareness to thoughts, sounds and body sensations
- Try walking meditation when antsy
- Use guided meditations to simplify the learning process
- Start small with just 2-10 minutes a day
- Build patience and self-compassion into your practice
Step 1: Find a Quiet Spot to Meditate
The first step is to find a quiet and calm spot to sit down and meditate. This could be in your dorm room, out in nature, or in a quiet corner of the library.
Tip: You don’t need complete silence, just a space with minimal distractions.
Ideally, make sure you can sit upright with your back straight, while still being comfortable. Having the right setting goes a long way towards creating a meditative headspace.
Some good spots conducive to student meditation that have worked for me include:
- An unoccupied study lounge
- Outdoors under a nice tree
- An empty conference room or classroom
- A calm hallway corner in the dorms
Amber Student: Decide on the duration of your meditation. Beginners can start with 5-10 minutes and gradually increase the time.
Step 2: Sit Up Straight and Plant Yourself
Posture is key for effective meditation. Sit with a straight back on the front edge of a chair or cushion, or cross-legged on the floor. Keep your shoulders back and relax your hands in your lap.
Proper posture keeps your lungs open and allows you to stay alert. If sitting up straight proves difficult, feel free to lean against a wall for some support.
The most important thing is that your pose allows you sit comfortably for the duration of your meditation session.
Step 3: Focus on Your Breath
The basis of most meditation techniques is focusing on the breath. Close your eyes and draw your attention to the physical sensation of breathing. Breathe naturally through your nose.
Placing awareness on the breath serves as an “anchor” keeping you focused in the present moment. Pay attention to each inhalation and exhalation. Observe the slight pauses between them. Notice how your chest and stomach rise and fall.
Tip: Don’t try to control your breathing in any way during meditation, just let it happen naturally.
As you closely observe each breath, aim to keep your focus there without letting your mind wander off. Thoughts and sensations will come and go—when they do, simply return your attention back to the breath.
Breath awareness seems simple, but it can take real mental effort at first. Be patient and relaxed with yourself as you practice. Over time, concentration builds and breathing focus becomes easier.
Step 4: Expand Your Awareness
After practicing breath focus, you can experiment with expanding your awareness during meditation.
Open your attention to take in the full range of sensations happening both internally and externally. Sense into the current state of your whole body down to your toes, fingers and even the top of your head. Let sounds, smells and other stimuli enter your awareness without judging or clinging to them. Just let it all be.
Expanding awareness cultivates present moment mindfulness. By fully embracing “what is” from moment to moment, you give your chattering mind a rest from the past and future. This builds the equanimity and insight that meditation offers.
Step 5: Walking Meditation
Most people associate meditation with sitting, but you can meditate while walking too!
Walking meditation is great for active individuals or times when you feel too antsy to sit still. Go for a short walk at a deliberate, slow pace. Focus intently on the physical sensations happening in each step—the pressure shifting beneath your feet, breaths going in and out.
Aim for full immersion into the walking process. When distracting thoughts intrude, guide your attention back to your feet. Allow walking to anchor you into present moment awareness just like the breath does.
I like doing short 3-10 minute walking meditations around campus when I’m short on time or need an energy boost. It’s a simple way to infuse daily activities with added mindfulness.
Step 6: Guided Meditations
For many beginners, starting out with guided meditations can be really useful. Guided meditations talk you through the whole process and help simplify things when you’re just getting started.
There are now tons of excellent free guided meditations online from teachers like Tara Brach, Jack Kornfield and Mingyur Rinpoche. There are also some great meditation apps for students like Headspace and Calm that make learning easy.
Tip: Look for short 5-10 minutes guided meditations to start out with as 30+ minutes can feel like eternity when you’re beginning!
Over time you’ll want to strengthen your own independent meditation skills. But having an experienced teacher guide your early training wheels sessions helps build key foundations.
Step 7: Start Small and Be Patient
The most important thing when building a meditation practice is being patient with yourself. Start out meditating for just 5-10 minutes per day. Even 2 minutes can have benefits.
Expect lots of mind wandering at first. When it happens, just gently return focus back to your anchor without self-judgment. Success in meditation isn’t about stopping thoughts—it’s about building the skill of non-reactive awareness.
As meditation becomes more familiar, gradually increase your sitting durations. But don’t worry too much about length or depth. Regular practice is what counts, not perfection. Over time the peace and clarity blossoms on its own.
Deepen Your Practice With Concentration Meditation
As your meditation skills strengthen, you can take things to the next level with concentration meditation techniques.
Concentration meditation aims to train your ability to focus deeply for extended periods of time. This level of sustained mental focus is termed samadhi or one-pointedness.
Developing strong concentration has incredible benefits including:
- Increased ability to focus while studying
- Greater mental calm and reduced anxiety
- Less distraction and procrastination
- Heightened feelings of joy and inner peace
Meditation for Students for Concentration
Find a quiet space and get into your regular sitting posture. Set a specific focus object such as your breath, a mantra phrase or a visualized image. The key now is to keep your attention unwaveringly fixed there without slipping into mind wandering.
Tip: Softer focus objects like breath awareness are great foundations before moving to more concrete focal points like mantras.
When inevitable distractions do arise, avoid getting lost trailing the thoughts. Just calmly return attention to your chosen focus anchor.
Start with short 5-10 minute sessions and extend as concentration improves. Quality is more important than quantity. With regular practice, you’ll find your attention span during study/work also greatly increasing as a natural side effect.
My Experience With Concentration Meditation
I generally start my sits with open awareness before transitioning into focused breath concentration. I let environmental sounds fade into the background as I intently tune into subtle sensations of inhales and exhales.
If I get distracted or sleepy, I might switch my focal object to mentally reciting “rising, falling” in sync with each breath. Or I’ll focus on the continuous mantra “sat nam” used in Kundalini yoga.
I try not to beat myself for losing focus. Over months and years of patient practice, concentration periods gradually last longer before effortless stable attention just becomes my normal state.
Give concentration techniques an honest try for a few weeks using the tips shared here. See if you notice improvements in hours spent “in the zone” while studying or working after focusing mental muscles during meditation. With consistency, concentration practice bears incredibly sweet fruits!
Conclusion on Meditation Steps for Students
In closing, meditation is an incredible gift for students needing oasis from stress. With just a few minutes of practice each day, you can tap into greater calm, clarity and control.
Give it an honest try for 2-3 weeks using the steps outlined here. Stick with the beginner’s plan without overdoing things. If you hit road blocks, find support from apps, groups or teachers rather than getting down on yourself.
With a little patience and the right guidance, a simple meditation practice can yield huge transformations. You can unlock inner resources that radically change how you deal with all of life’s challenges and opportunities as a student.
What do you have to lose? Set a reminder for 10 minutes tonight and give meditation shot using the easy techniques suggested here!
FAQ on Simple Steps for Student Meditation
Q: How can simple sensation awareness during meditation be advantageous for students?
A: Sensation awareness, typically called mindfulness meditation, lets students heighten their sense of being in the present moment. This can help them enhance their focus and attention, thereby increasing their efficiency while studying.
Q: How does the “scan your body” meditation technique work, and how can it be beneficial for studying?
A: Body scanning, a type of technique in the meditation guide, involves focusing your attention sequentially on different parts of your body. This practice can lead to an increased awareness of physical sensations and can help students concentrate better while studying.
Q: How can deep breathing, inhale and exhale, aid students during their studies?
A: Deep breathing, both inhale and exhale, is an easy step to simple practice meditation. It helps in providing a calm and focused mind, reducing stress and anxiety that could potentially hamper studying.
Q: How can learning and adopting a new meditation technique help students manage stress and anxiety?
A: Adapting a new form of meditation provides students with a powerful tool to manage their stress and anxiety levels. The best meditation techniques, such as mindfulness and concentration meditation, can improve mental clarity and focus, helping students to study more effectively.
Q: How can students benefit from Zen meditation?
A: Zen, a type of meditation, focuses on the mindful observation of thoughts without judgment. This meditation technique can help students manage their stress levels and increase their focus on studies, making it much more efficient.
Q: How can students keep their attention focused during the meditation practice when their mind wanders?
A: When the mind wanders during the meditation practice, the exercice is to gently bring one’s attention back to the practice without any judgment. This practice can enhance students’ ability to concentrate, which is crucial while studying.
Q: What is the correct posture for effective meditating?
A: The ideal posture for practicing meditation is to sit with your back straight, feet flat on the floor, and eyes closed. This posture enables one to stay mindful and focused during the practice.
Q: What type of daily practice meditation is ideal for beginners who are also students?
A: A simple mindfulness meditation, where focus is on the breath, is ideal for beginners. Such practice requires just a few moments daily and can be done anytime, making it convenient and easy for student life.
Q: What should you do when your mind has wandered off during the meditation session?
A: When the mind has wandered during the meditation practice, the exercise is to gently bring your attention back to the breath without judgment. This process can enhance the student’s ability to concentrate, which is beneficial to their studies.
Q: How can students benefit from integrating a few moments of meditation into their daily activities?
A: Integrating a few moments of daily meditation can help students become calmer, more focused, and less anxious. This, in turn, can improve their academic performances, and over time, regular practice of meditation can significantly improve mental health.
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