10 Helpful Lessons From My Training That Will Inspire You To Begin Meditation

Last week marked the completion of my year-long meditation course. It felt like a huge achievement. The lessons I learned during my experience were so valuable that they deserved broader sharing.

In this post, you will hear what I learned in my meditation training from a beginner’s point of view. It will inspire you to learn meditation and help clarify misconceptions about it. 

Over a year ago, I was looking for ways to deepen my meditation practice. I wanted to know how to train my mind so I was not swept away by every obstacle that came my way.

My search led to the Tibetan monk Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. I found his talks funny and relatable, So I signed up for the beginner meditation course called Joy Of Living.

This self-paced online course involved reading, practicing daily, and listening to teachings from Mingyur Rinpoche. Unlike other classes, I knew I wasn’t getting a grade. But, the highest reward I would receive was the life-changing impact meditation would have on me. 

It is impossible to summarize everything I learned in one article, but I want to share high-level learnings relatable to everyone.

1. Understanding Meditation

Though I had some understanding of meditation, my course taught me fundamental concepts of what meditation is and why we meditate. 

According to Mingyur Rinpoche, the main essence of meditation is awareness. Awareness is knowing what we are thinking, experiencing, hearing, and doing.

Meditation is not about concentrating but training our minds to bring awareness to the present moment. 

All that we are looking for in life — all the happiness, contentment, and peace of mind — is right here in the present moment. Our very own awareness is itself fundamentally pure and good. The only problem is that we get so caught up in the ups and downs of life that we don’t take the time to pause and notice what we already have.

Mingyur Rinpoche

2. More Than One Technique To Meditate

When we think of meditation, we think about focusing on our breath. In my practice, I learned that we could rely on several techniques. We can use our breath, sounds, or a mantra to meditate. The main idea is to rely on these techniques to learn how to work with our minds. 

When meditating with sounds, for instance, we listen for any sounds we hear, like music or sounds in our natural environment. When our mind wanders, which it is supposed to do, we gently bring it back to listening to sounds. 

This method of bringing awareness to the object (sound or breath) helps us understand all thoughts or emotions are fleeting and that we are training ourselves to let our thoughts go and come back to ourselves. 

3. What To Expect While Meditating

When we are new to meditating, we come in with many expectations. We expect it to be calm and peaceful. In my experience, I learned that it’s ok to have thoughts. Whether it was too many or too few, it was all normal. 

There are days when I have too many thoughts and others when I notice longer gaps between my thoughts. There are happy thoughts, angry thoughts, and sometimes sad thoughts. You learn to be ok with whatever state your mind is in that day. There are no judgments. 

The expectations you bring to meditation practice are often the greatest obstacles you will encounter.

Mingyur Rinpoche

4. Frequency Matters, Not Duration

During my training, Rinpoche advises us to practice for less time than we are able. So I practiced for short times but multiple times. 

This saved me from meditation fatigue which can happen if you are new and sitting for long periods. I started with 10 minutes and increased it gradually. Meditating daily for as little as 5 minutes leaves me feeling fresh to tackle the rest of the day. 

5. Making Meditation A Daily Habit

During my training, I learned how to make meditating a daily habit. Sitting down at the same time and practicing daily helped me form a habit. In addition, meditating for short durations and setting the right expectations set me up for success. 

6. Anytime, Anywhere

After immersing myself in various meditation practices, I learned that I could meditate anytime and anywhere. It doesn’t have to be a quiet space in solitude. 

Learning how to meditate with sounds allowed me to use everything I hear as a support to my meditation practice. It equipped me to meditate anywhere I like, regardless of the location. 

When the goal is to pay attention to sounds, it doesn’t matter if that sound is a dog’s bark, the noise of the traffic, or just conversations. The trained mind welcomes them all. 

7. Meditating On My Own

Meditating can be intimidating when you are new to it. However, I can now meditate on my own after attending so many guided meditations. I have enough tools that I can rely on for my individual meditation.

I always start by paying attention to body sensations, followed by meditating by breathing, sound, or something else. Being able to meditate on your own and not worrying about doing it the right way is a big deal. I am grateful that the course has equipped me to in being able to do so. 

Whether your practice is good or not doesn’t really matter. The important point is the intention to meditate. That alone is enough.

Mingyur Rinpoche

8. Dealing With Thoughts And Emotions

I learned how to work with our thoughts and emotions during my training. I have learned to pay attention to what happens in my body while experiencing difficult emotions. I hope that one day, I can respond rather than react. Although I am still ways to go, I am glad I am developing self-awareness around difficult situations. 

When you transform your mind, everything you experience is transformed.

Mingyur Rinpoche

9. Accepting The Situation As Is

Meditation has taught me to accept situations for what they are. Mingyur Rinpoche talks about how he had the panic of having a panic attack as a child. It aggravated his situation and made it a lot worse. 

So, If I am sick, I can be ok with being sick and deal with the situation rather than being frustrated or anxious about being sick. 

If we get caught up in our afflictions or try to repress them, we just end up creating more problems for ourselves. If, instead, we look at them directly, the things we fear will kill us gradually transform into the strongest supports for meditation we could ever hope for. Mental afflictions are not enemies. They are our friends.

Mingyur Rinpoche

10. Applying The Practice To Daily Life

Throughout the course, they teach how to integrate meditation into our daily lives—for instance, setting reminders to pay attention to sensations within the body. Can we pay attention during everyday tasks like dishwashing, brushing, or cooking? Can we return to our task while our minds continuously wander? 

The only difference between meditation and ordinary social interaction is that the friend you’re gradually coming to know is yourself.

Mingyur Rinpoche

Investing in meditation is a life-changing experience. It equips you to deal with life like no other. I hope my learnings inspire you to take up meditation more seriously. It’s a service you would be doing to yourself in knowing yourself better and living meaningfully.