How to Meditate at Home

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHow to Meditate at HomeTypes of Meditation You Can Try at HomeBenefits of Meditation

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

How to Meditate at Home

Types of Meditation You Can Try at Home

Benefits of Meditation

Close

Meditationis an ancient practice that involves focusing the mind. It increases awareness, promotes relaxation, reduces stress and anxiety, and improves well-being. It also offers benefits for your physical health.

If you want to begin meditating, your home is a great place to start, saysSteph Strauss, a certified yoga instructor and meditation teacher.

This article explores the types of meditation you can try, the benefits of at-home meditation, and tips on how to begin meditating at home.

Strauss shares some steps to follow if you want tostart meditatingat home. They are outlined below.

Find a Cozy Spot

Find a cozy area in your home without a lot of distractions. This could be anywhere—your favorite chair, your couch, a corner in your home, your bedroom, or on your bed. You can lay down, if you prefer; however, staying seated can help prevent you from falling asleep—you should ideally be relaxed but alert.

It is helpful to meditate in the same spot every day, if possible. This helps your braincreate a new healthy habit.

Set a Daily Reminder

It is helpful to set a reminder to meditate at thesame time every day. This can help you build a long-lasting habit.

There is no set time frame after which you should start doing longer meditations; it varies from person to person. So, respect your journey and take as much time as you need.

Try Different Types of Meditation

There are endless types of meditation and what might work best for one person may not work for another at all, and that is just fine. Take some time to explore the differenttypes of meditationand seewhat is most helpful to you.

Be Kind to Yourself

While the practice of meditation is quite simple, it is not easy, nor does it get any easier with time. There will be days when the mind is calmer, times it won’t stop yacking, or times when it is somewhere in between. This is normal. It’s important to meet yourself where you are in that moment and accept what is present withkindness.

How to Sit When Learning Meditation

Strauss suggests a few types of meditation you can try at home to start with. Let’s take a look at them so you can begin your at-home meditation practice.

Loving Kindness

This practice is a great way to cultivate compassion for yourself and others.Loving kindness meditationsopen your heart and help you see how interconnected we all are.

In this form of meditation, you are guided to offer different people in your life—yourself, someone close to you, someone neutral, someone you’re having difficulty with, and all beings everywhere—loving blessings through a series of phrases.

You might say something like: “May you be healthy. May you be happy. May you be safe. May you live with ease.”

Body Scan

This practice is a great way to strengthen your mind-body connection. We aren’t taught to notice sensations in the body; however, we can learn a lot when we pay attention to the body.

Inbody scan meditations, you are often guided through a gentle scan of your body from the top of your head to your feet.

You will soon notice common areas where you tend to hold tension in the body and will be offered tools to help the body and nervous system relax.

Focused Attention

One of the most common meditation practices isfocused attention. This form of meditation involves placing your awareness on one thing, like your breath, sounds in your environment, a phrase, a candle, or your body.

When you start to focus your attention on that one thing, you will soon notice how quickly the mind takes over and brings you into thought. This is normal. When this happens, give yourself credit for noticing and return to your anchor of attention. Bring the mind back as many times as it wanders. That right there is the practice of meditation.

Steph StraussMeditation is the practice of training your mind to be present here and now.

Steph Strauss

Meditation is the practice of training your mind to be present here and now.

7 Tips for Becoming More Mentally Focused

According to Strauss, there are many benefits of meditation, which include:

Use Mindfulness Meditation to Ease Anxiety

A Word From Verywell

Meditation is a practice that can lower your stress levels, help youfocus, and offer several mental and physical health benefits. “There is no wrong place to meditate, so you most certainly can meditate at home,” says Strauss.

Find a quiet spot in your house, pick a type of meditation you enjoy, and you’re all set. Start with a few minutes at a time and then increase from there when you’re ready. Be kind and compassionate to yourself as you develop this practice.

The 7 Best Meditation Apps of 2024

5 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cleveland Clinic.Meditation.Hoge EA, Bui E, Marques L, et al.Randomized controlled trial of mindfulness meditation for generalized anxiety disorder: effects on anxiety and stress reactivity.J Clin Psychiatry. 2013;74(8):786-792. doi:10.4088/JCP.12m08083Shiba K, Nishimoto M, Sugimoto M, Ishikawa Y.The association between meditation practice and job performance: a cross-sectional study.PLoS One. 2015;10(5):e0128287. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128287Levine GN, Lange RA, Bairey‐Merz CN, et al.Meditation and cardiovascular risk reduction.Journal of the American Heart Association. 2017;6(10):e002218. doi:10.1161/JAHA.117.002218National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Meditation: in depth.

5 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cleveland Clinic.Meditation.Hoge EA, Bui E, Marques L, et al.Randomized controlled trial of mindfulness meditation for generalized anxiety disorder: effects on anxiety and stress reactivity.J Clin Psychiatry. 2013;74(8):786-792. doi:10.4088/JCP.12m08083Shiba K, Nishimoto M, Sugimoto M, Ishikawa Y.The association between meditation practice and job performance: a cross-sectional study.PLoS One. 2015;10(5):e0128287. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128287Levine GN, Lange RA, Bairey‐Merz CN, et al.Meditation and cardiovascular risk reduction.Journal of the American Heart Association. 2017;6(10):e002218. doi:10.1161/JAHA.117.002218National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Meditation: in depth.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Cleveland Clinic.Meditation.Hoge EA, Bui E, Marques L, et al.Randomized controlled trial of mindfulness meditation for generalized anxiety disorder: effects on anxiety and stress reactivity.J Clin Psychiatry. 2013;74(8):786-792. doi:10.4088/JCP.12m08083Shiba K, Nishimoto M, Sugimoto M, Ishikawa Y.The association between meditation practice and job performance: a cross-sectional study.PLoS One. 2015;10(5):e0128287. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128287Levine GN, Lange RA, Bairey‐Merz CN, et al.Meditation and cardiovascular risk reduction.Journal of the American Heart Association. 2017;6(10):e002218. doi:10.1161/JAHA.117.002218National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Meditation: in depth.

Cleveland Clinic.Meditation.

Hoge EA, Bui E, Marques L, et al.Randomized controlled trial of mindfulness meditation for generalized anxiety disorder: effects on anxiety and stress reactivity.J Clin Psychiatry. 2013;74(8):786-792. doi:10.4088/JCP.12m08083

Shiba K, Nishimoto M, Sugimoto M, Ishikawa Y.The association between meditation practice and job performance: a cross-sectional study.PLoS One. 2015;10(5):e0128287. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128287

Levine GN, Lange RA, Bairey‐Merz CN, et al.Meditation and cardiovascular risk reduction.Journal of the American Heart Association. 2017;6(10):e002218. doi:10.1161/JAHA.117.002218

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Meditation: in depth.

Meet Our Review Board

Share Feedback

Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit

Was this page helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit

What is your feedback?