How to Practice Meditation & Mindfulness for Free
How to Practice Meditation & Mindfulness for Free
Table of Contents
What are Meditation & Mindfulness?
9 Benefits of Meditation & Mindfulness
How to Practice Meditation for Free
How to Practice Mindfulness for Free
Your Take – Comments
What is Meditation & Mindfulness?
Meditation is the practice of being still and focussed, observing thoughts and obtaining a calm and clear mental state.
Mindfulness is being focussed on the present & being aware of our thoughts, feelings, sensations in the body and surroundings. Mindfulness can be achieved through mindfulness meditation however there are also a number of other exercises and ways to practice.
Read on for some of the benefits of meditation and mindfulness and how to practice for free.
9 Benefits of Meditation & Mindfulness
Meditation and mindfulness are free to practice and are scientifically proven to bring many benefits including;
- Lowered stress levels
- Lowered anxiety levels
- Improved sleep
- Lower blood pressure
- Improves mood
- Enhanced positive emotions
- Reduced biases including race and age
- Improved mental health and wellbeing
- Improved physical health and wellbeing
How to Practice Meditation for Free
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A Basic Meditation Practice
Free Meditation Tutorials
Free Meditation Apps
Free Meditation Courses & Teachings
A Basic Meditation Practice
A basic meditation doesn’t really need anything. Just a place to sit and be still. Some simple steps
- Find a quiet and peaceful space where you will not be disturbed
- Sit or lay down
- Set a timer for 5 – 10 minutes
- Close your eyes
- Focus on your breathing
- Observe your thoughts – don’t try to stop them
- When your mind wanders just bring your focus back to the breath
- Repeat until the timer runs out
- Get up and go about your day : )
Meditation Tutorials
Video: 'How to Meditate' for Beginners
Video from Sadhguru, Indian yoga guru and proponent of spirituality, going in depth about what meditation really is and clarifies common misunderstandings that meditation is a practice.
Video: 10-Minute Meditation For Beginners
A simple 10 meditation practice on the Goodful Youtube Channel narrated by John Davisi, a mindfulness life coach, teacher, and speaker.
Article: How to Meditate (with Pictures) - wikiHow
How to meditate guide from wikiHow split into 4 areas; Sample Techniques, Getting Comfortable before You Meditate, Trying Basic Meditation Practices and Incorporating Meditation into Your Everyday Life
Article: How to Meditate When You Have No Idea Where to Start
Article from Anna Borges on Self discussing the basics of meditation, what it is, the benefits, why you should do it, how to start, how to make it a habit and how to know when you're doing it right.
Free Meditation Apps
Insight Timer
Insight Timer is a free app for sleep, anxiety and stress with more than 100k guided meditations led by the best teachers from Great Britain and the world.
Smiling Mind
Practice your daily meditation and mindfulness exercises from any device.
Smiling Mind is a unique tool developed by psychologists and educators to help bring balance to your life.
Oak Meditation and Breathing
Oak helps you decompress by transforming your meditation practice from an experiment into a habit. They support you from your first session to your 500th, with mindful, loving-kindness, and sleep meditations as well as unguided sessions and breathing exercises. Individualize your meditations by duration, and customize with silence or calming background sounds. Oak tracks your progress and encourages you to continue building a healthy meditation practice.
Free Meditation Courses & Teachings
Udemy - Free Meditation Courses and Tutorials
Multiple free meditation classes from Udemy including how to run a meditation class in your local community, learn meditation - theory and practice and the science & practice of mindfulness meditation.
Free Online Meditation Courses
Free meditation classes from Alison including; Meditation and consciousness for teachers and practitioners, Higher chakras and mindful meditation.
10 Free Meditation Classes & Courses - Learn Meditation online
10 free online meditation including; 3 Easy Meditation Techniques To Reduce Stress, Free Meditation Tutorial - Beginners Guide to Meditation and Free Mindset Tutorial - Mindset Makeover Training
Peaceful Soul - Meditation
Peaceful Soul's own guide to meditation including the basics, the benefits, types, how it works and a simple practice.
Free Meditation
The Free Meditation site containing a wealth of free meditation information including online meditation courses and classes
Completely Free Online Meditation Teacher Training Course
Free meditation teacher training course from thedailymeditation.com including; training yourself in meditation first, creating a meditation studio, marketing, certification and making money.
How to Practice Mindfulness for Free
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5 Basic Mindfulness Exercises
Mindfulness is all about being present and focussing on the now rather than getting caught up. 5 exercises to help bring you in to the present below and many more in the articles listed below.
- Breathe: Concentrating on the breath can help ground us and bring us back to the present moment. Try taking 10 deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. Some further breathing exercise
- Mindful Walking: Take a walk and take in your surroundings. Notice the ground beneath and all of the sights and sounds. Be aware of everything that is going on around you. Be present as you walk.
- Examine a Raisin (Yes really!): Take a single raisin and study it closely. What does it look like, what does it feel like and how does it smell. This exercise helps to bring the mind to focus on the present moment
- Body Scan Meditation: Lie down in a quiet place. Focus your attention on each part of the body, working slowly from head to toe (or toe to head), pausing briefly on each area. Feel the sensations and emotions as you work your way through the body.
- Mindful Eating: Observe your food before you eat. Take in the colour, texture and smell of what you are about to eat. When you put it in your mouth, chew slowly and deliberately, noticing the flavours and textures as you eat.
Free Mindfulness Tutorials
Video: How to Practice Mindfulness
Psych hub video showing ways to practice mindfulness through meditation and other techniques.
Video: How to practice mindfulness in everyday life: 10 simple exercises
The psych show provides 10 ways to practice mindfulness in everyday life including; drawing, getting your hands and taking a bath or shower
Article: Mindfulness
Article from the UK National Health Service (NHS) looking at what mindfulness is, how it helps mental wellbeing and how to be more mindful.
Article: 21 Mindfulness Exercises & Activities For Adults (+ PDF)
21 Mindfulness exercises from Positive Psychology including a body scan, mindful seeing and mountain meditation.
Free Mindfulness Apps
UCLA Mindful App
The UCLA mindful app offers; basic meditations, wellness meditations, informative videos including the science of mindfulness and weekly podcasts.
Mindfulness Coach
Developed to help Veterans, Service members, and others learn how to practice mindfulness, Mindfulness Coach provides a gradual, self-guided training program designed to help you understand and adopt a simple mindfulness practice.
Healthy Minds
Your Path to Well-Being. Powered by Science. With a combination of podcast-style lessons and both seated and active meditations, you’ll learn what the science says about the brain while developing skills to tap into these learnings for a healthier, happier you.
Free Mindfulness Courses and Teaching
Free Online Mindfulness Courses - Mindfulness Exercises
11 free online mindfulness courses from Mindfulness Exercises including; The 28 Day Mindfulness Challenge, Mindfulness Made Easy and Living with Gratitude.
Online Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
Mindfulness based street reduction (MBSR) has been shown to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and pain. This free MBSR course from Palouse Meditation is created by a fully certified MBSR instructor, and is based on the program founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn (founder of MBSR) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
The Power of Mindfulness: What You Practice Grows Stronger
TEDx talk from Dr. Shauna Shapiro drawing on draws on modern neuroscience and ancient wisdom "to demonstrate how mindfulness can help us make positive changes in our brains and our lives."
Peaceful Soul Shop
Meditation & Mindfulness Products
Meditation and mindfulness are completely free however if you would like to take a look at some products that can help support your practice take a look here!
Further Mental Wellbeing Guides from Peaceful Soul
Mind Guides
Click here for the latest guides to enhance mental wellbeing