# How do I learn to meditate? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 28, 2009, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-learn-to-meditate/511835 "2009-09-28T12:21:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-learn-to-meditate/511835/1 "2009-09-28T12:21:17Z")
[A number](http://www.livescience.com/health/080902-zen-meditation.html)of [studies](http://www.livescience.com/health/051111_medidate.html) have [shown](http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200304/the-benefits-meditation) the [benefits of meditation](http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200105/the-science-meditation). But I suspect that a lot of the material out there on meditation is New Age bullhockey. Looking through the [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) search results on ‘meditation’, I certainly don’t know how to separate the wheat from the chaffe. How do I learn meditation? Do you Doper types recommend a particular book? If it matters, I’m an atheist and can do without the spiritual add-ons; I just need to learn an effective technique. I am interested in improving my mental well-being (stress-reduction, improved sense of well-being, etc.). Help! ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-learn-to-meditate/511835/2 "2009-09-28T12:48:01Z")
[8 Minute Meditation](http://www.amazon.com/Minute-Meditation-Quiet-Mind-Change/dp/0399529950) by Victor Davich is the one I recommend to everyone now. It is very much written for a modern day western audience and is easy to follow. Most people I have recommended it to have stuck with it. The author has a website which sells a CD with guided sessions on it but I haven’t heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-learn-to-meditate/511835/3 "2009-09-28T13:13:28Z")
Although it is very dry reading, I recommend\* The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche\*. The author does a fine job of explaining both what happens in the brain and teaching you to meditate. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-learn-to-meditate/511835/4 "2009-09-28T13:33:46Z")
just do it. to separate the new age crap; don’t get any books by authors or about methods done in the new age time period (recent printings of old copyrights are OK). buddhist meditation can be done in a nonspiritual manner, the philosophy needs no spiritual basis. the zen styles are very plain. even tibetan styles that come out of a cultural spirituality can be taken to have those elements be more metaphorical that real. ---
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-learn-to-meditate/511835/5 "2009-09-28T15:07:27Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > just do it. Yep. Meditation is what we naturally do between thoughts. As we live our everyday lives, a constant stream of thoughts, most of them seemingly unbidden, present themselves for our evaluation. These thoughts are not real in that they are obviously symbols, subject to interpretation, and at least once removed from what they purport to represent. Without some serious (and highly suspect) assumptions, they are meaningless. Yet we attempt to live our lives as if they were given us by nature. Until this is recognized as fact, it’s hard to meditate. Thoughts are held in mind because they are valued and they are valued because they _seem_ to offer meaning to an apparently meaningless existence. But my sense of meaninglessness is simply the result of my trying to make sense of my individual chaos of thought while trying to make peace with 6+ billion similarly deluded souls. Impossible! Putting thought aside has its benefits. A good way to start is to spend a day in silence. Mentally slap a piece of duct tape over your mouth (hard cases find the real thing helpful) and accept the fact that today, you have nothing to say. To ease your way, a lapel pin reading, “Just listening today.” and a smile will do ya. Freed from the need to express your thoughts, you will find they have lessened in value and you’re on your way. When you sit down to meditate, just put on the lapel pin and refuse to engage your thoughts in fruitless conversations. In the beginning, it’s hard because it’s habitual. Meditation is the way to wean yourself from it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-learn-to-meditate/511835/6 "2009-09-28T15:44:21Z")
There is a lot of new age hooey out there, but meditation and positive thinking are not amongst that bunch - they really are good for you, and they really do work. I used to meditate regularly; I haven’t done it for years now, but the relaxation response that I learned has stayed with me - just a couple of mindful breaths still calms me down and relaxes me. Meditation doesn’t have to be any more complicated than sitting in a quiet place and trying to concentrate on your breathing. Every time your mind starts wandering off to worrying about tomorrow or making shopping lists or whatever else your monkey brain can come up with, you just drag it back to your breath. Having your mind scampering around is not a failure; the real exercise of meditation is to keep turning your mind back to your breath - that’s the point of it. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-learn-to-meditate/511835/7 "2009-09-28T17:20:13Z")
I feel I understood the concept of meditation based on reading a long time ago. But until I started doing yoga, I didn’t fully grasp the words. When I do yoga, I can become winded - ah, but if I focus on my breathing and keep it measured and controlled, I do better. Well - it turns out that my improved breathing is _much_ more conducive to meditation - but if I didn’t push up against the physical issues I found in yoga, I may not have understood that. The more I continue with yoga, the more I find I “slip into” better levels of relaxation and control, which I believe is also the point to meditation… My only point is that “just do it” is good advice - and if you include the physical component of yoga (“flexible meditation” ;)) you can learn more about what your body is capable of… My $.02 and best of luck… ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-learn-to-meditate/511835/8 "2009-09-28T17:29:40Z")
Guided meditation is easier to perform in my experience. > **[A Moment of Calm](https://www.beliefnet.com/wellness/health/1999/12/a-moment-of-calm.aspx)** > > Come into the present moment with this 10-minute mindfulness meditation. Meditation itself is pretty easy (assuming you are doing mindfulness). There are other meditations like compassion meditation, but I assume you mean mindfulness. Also you can try some binaural beat CDs, those help me with meditation too. > **[Dr. Jeffrey Thompson - Gamma Meditation System - Amazon.com Music](https://www.amazon.com/Gamma-Meditation-System-JEFFREY-THOMPSON/dp/B000G1R4KM)** > > Product Description EXPERIENCE THE BRAIWNAVE STATES OF ADVANCED MEDITATORS In cooperation with the Dalai Lama, researchers have investigated the brainwave patterns of Tibetan Buddhist monks in states of deep meditation. The studies reveal...