How does meditation work?

Does it seem like everyone from celebrities to your co-workers to your next door neighbour is raving about meditation? While there’s a lot of positive information on this age-old mindfulness practice (and rightfully so!), there’s also a fair amount of confusion. If you’ve ever wondered, how does meditation work?, you’re in good company.

In this article, we’ll dive deep into 10 burning questions about meditation that you may have been afraid to ask. There’s no judgement here! Just straight talk from years of experience as both a teacher and student.

Meditation and the brain: 10 common questions 

Whether you’ve tried meditation before or you’re new to the practice, these questions and answers will shed some light on this incredible tool for your self-care kit.

1. Why is it so hard to meditate?

Meditation has gotten some bad press over the years. People often think you need to clear your mind completely in order to practice it, but this is a meditation myth. Here’s the real talk.

The reason why meditation is hard is that many of us live busy, fast-paced, full lives. Meditation asks us to be still and quiet. This can cause unresolved issues to surface in our minds, and it’s why working with a teacher who can guide you is often helpful, so that bumps in the process don’t turn into roadblocks.

Another reason why meditation is hard is that many of us suffer from ‘time famine’ — the feeling that there’s too much to do and not enough time. This is a product of our thoughts rather than reality, and we can shift into ‘time affluence’, but it requires slowing down first.

2. How can I stay focused during meditation?

This is a common follow-up to the question ‘how does meditation work?’ The good news is that you can use tools known as anchors to help you stay focused. 

Anchors can be as simple as counting your breath, or repeating a short phrase or even two words as you meditate (one on the inhale breath and one on the exhale). These anchors encourage your mind to stay present. 

If you find focusing difficult, that’s not a reason you shouldn’t meditate — it’s a reason you should. Think about it like lifting a weight: when you lift it close to your body, your muscle gets stronger. However, the weight must move away from your body in order to come back. Your mind works the same way. When your thoughts wander and you bring yourself back to the here and now, you’re strengthening your focus.

3. How long does it take to see the benefits?

Some students see positive changes within a few weeks of beginning to meditate. Studies show that measurable benefits often occur within 6 to 8 weeks of regular (daily-ish) practice. We’ll talk more about what that means later on in the article.

You wouldn’t go to the gym once and expect to have a 6-pack. So, try to focus more on the action and the habit of developing a meditation practice than the benefit. We often get so hung up on outcomes in all areas of life that we forget to take the small daily actions that will actually help us achieve our goals.

4. How does meditation work to reduce stress?

We all have stressors in our lives. We can’t control whether a stressful moment will occur, but we can control how much we dwell and agonize over it when it does. Meditation helps by teaching us to keep our mind in the present moment. 

A meditation teacher once asked me if I really had a stressful day, or if it was a stressful 10 minutes that I replayed in my head over and over. This is a good question for all of us.

5. How does meditation work to impact sleep quality?

Many people struggle to fall asleep because their mind keeps them awake, dwelling and overthinking. Meditation not only reduces the mind’s habit of ruminating, but studies show it also helps us calm our parasympathetic nervous system. This puts us in a ‘rest and relaxation’ response so we can sleep better, and our immune and digestive systems can function more optimally.

In addition, meditation teaches us about “being” vs. “doing”. If you want to get to sleep, trying really hard to do a good job of it isn’t the answer. Instead, you have to relax and let it happen.

6. What is the best way to get started with meditation?

There are a lot of ways to get started, and in my opinion as both a teacher and student, it doesn’t really matter if you work with someone in person or remotely over audio or video. I’ve tried it all. The most impactful way for me was to immerse myself in a course and have a teacher to ask questions of and run things by.

I also recommend choosing one method and sticking with it. There is a saying that if you hop around between a bunch of meditation styles, it’s kind of like trying to learn to play music but picking up a different instrument every day. You won’t be able to deeply practice any of them. So, choose one method and you will see the benefits faster.

7. How long should I aim to meditate for to start?

In the mindfulness meditation method that I teach, there is no minimum or maximum amount of time. If you’re totally new to meditation, start with 1 minute. Create the habit first. This approach is supported by behaviour change science. Get yourself in the routine, then later on you can cross the bridge of adding on extra time.

8. How frequently should I increase the time I meditate, and by how much?

You’ll know when to increase the time because what often happens is that practitioners set their timer for a minute, then the timer goes off and they’re thinking they could have meditated  longer. When the time comes, you can increase by as little as a minute. Don’t worry about all of this for now — the key is just to get started.

9. What are some key tips for a better meditation experience?

• Be comfortable. You can sit on the floor or a chair, or lie down. 

• Be kind to yourself. Don't expect perfection. Just like a weight might be heavy to lift, it might be challenging for your mind to focus. You’re totally normal and human.

• Make it a daily-ish habit. If we say we’re going to do something every day then mess up, we’ll be critical. So aim to practice daily-ish. You could decide not to miss two days in a row. This is regular enough to see benefits, but not too rigid.

10. How will I know if I’m ‘doing it right’?

Meditation is elusive because it occurs inside of our minds. However, a teacher will have a vocabulary to ask you what’s happening and whether you’re approaching the challenges in the best way possible. When it comes to meditation, if you're doing it, you're doing it right. There may be little tweaks you can implement, but the only ‘bad’ meditation is the one you don't do.

Learn to meditate with non-judgemental guidance

In my Modern Meditation Level One Course, you’ll learn how to meditate anywhere, anytime and you’ll have it forever — no matter where you are or what changes you experience in your life. Sound better than going it alone? Explore the course and sign up for the next start date.