A Guide to Building a Meditation Practice
Some important things to consider, and what to ditch
I have entered my 27th year of meditation, and my 12th year of teaching and I know this to be true - a steady meditation practice can be absolutely life changing. I would like to also say that you don’t necessarily ‘need a technique’. For me there is too much pushing and marketing of meditation as a ‘silver bullet’ and a cure all for modern living - which it is not. Meditation is a about a commitment, it’s a discipline and is integrated with other practices and lifestyle for optimal results. That is not to say that you can’t just sit in silence, eyes closed and see where that takes you!
And as it’s that time of the year with all its ‘new year new me energy’ whereby people get really keen to build a meditation practice. And frequently get overwhelmed pretty quickly. So I wanted outline so key things I am always sharing with people. It’s going to be helpful if you’re a brand new beginner, or if you’ve been dabbling and want to take it to the next level, and also if you re-establish a steady practice. And if you’re nailing your practice, I hope theres a few things here that can help you can do to deepen it! Now when I host Meditation Teacher Training we spend a LOT of hours breaking this down, but I don’t want to overwhelm you so I am going to distill this to make it as accessible as possible.
COMMITMENT
Dabbling can be a lot of fun, sampling different types of meditation, but if you really want to have an expansive meditation practice, find one technique, and then commit to it for at least six months to see how it works for you. It doesn’t mean you have to exclusively use that practice alone - you can layer in a weekly Guided Meditation session for example. A once or twice daily steady practice with one technique will see you really experience the benefits.
A FEW THINGS TO CONSIDER
Do you want to just learn to practice meditation or do you want a whole lineage to engage with such as Buddhism and Zen Buddhism offers?
How much time a day can you put aside to practice? Once a day or twice? How many minutes a sit?
What type of technique will work with your mind and body type? Are you fidgety (like me!) or a very still person? Can you sit cross legged on the floor, or do you need a chair and back support?
Where will you meditate each day? Do you have a specific spot at home for your practice eg another room or a little nook or do you need a practice that can be portable and done anywhere?
SELF DIRECTED PRACTICE vs LEARNING WITH A TEACHER
Apps can be fun, yes there is Youtube, and ChatGPT, but for me, nothing beats working with an actual teacher, one with experience and wisdom who can breathe life into what you study, to be there to help you adjust as you go, and help you continue your learning and deepen your experience. I think this applies to everything in life, not just meditation. But I especially believe in the power of studying with a teacher in regards to meditation. I have been studying and practicing meditation for 27 years - and have tried SO many different lineages and styles, have self studied and also learned with many teachers. The most impactful has always been when I have learned live with a teacher, and been able to follow up and ask questions - which is why I choose to teach this way the majority of the time myself, it’s far more impactful and empowering.
WHAT TYPE OF MEDITATION WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO WORK WITH?
I will break it down as simply as I can. But please know there are overlaps between these three and also far more that could be added in, but this will give you a simple yet solid overview.
CONTEMPLATION TECHNIQUES
In essence this is where you are using the mind to create an experience, where you are going on a little journey. The most familiar meditation practices to the majority of people are Guided Meditations, and they sit here. Body scans sit in here, and visualisation techniques sit here too. We could add Yoga Nidra in here too - but this might be up for debate!
Generally, contemplation techniques involve listening to a teacher or guide, either recorded, or live. So they are not what we call ‘an independent practice’. A lot of people use apps for Contemplation Meditations, think Headspace and Waking Up - they are a great place for a brand new beginner. Personally whilst I think these meditations can be incredibly powerful experiences, I don’t recommend them on the daily for an extended period of time. In modern society our minds are already quite ‘full’ and adding in more stimulus and activity can become a lot for a daily meditation practice. They are usually practiced sitting comfortably and you can use back support (chair, up in bed etc) and are anywhere from 5-30 mins in length.
(NOTE ; We have a whole library of Guided Meditations in our Portal Membership, and a series of Philosophy Talks with a Guided Meditation here in our Substack that you can access as a Paid Subscriber).
CONCENTRATION TECHNIQUES
These are very focussed meditation techniques and are usually what you see when you see an image of someone sitting bolt upright, eyes closed, sitting cross legged. Zazen (this can be practiced 15-90 minutes per sitting and is the key practice of Zen Buddhism), following the breath, bringing the mind to a one pointed focus, candle meditation (eyes are open focussed on a candle) - these fall into concentration, as does Vipassana (you get initiated into this technique on a 10 day silent retreat, and then practice an hour twice a day afterwards. Now technically, some mantra’s are focussed upon or chanted, and this would fall into Concentration also. Generally speaking, a nice quiet space and 30 minutes at least is required, and you usually sit cross legged without back support.
MANTRA BASED TECHNIQUES
If we divide this up, there are Concentration based mantra practices - where they are focussed on or chanted and need to stay in the mind’s eye, and there are transcending based mantra practices such as Transcendental Meditation, Integrated Meditation (what I teach) and Vedic Meditation (these are more or less all the same practices) as well as a slew of other mantra based practices, including Mindfit Meditation (our signature online self paced mantra course). So what is transcendence? It’s when the mind moves into deeper levels of consciousness.
Generally speaking these are practiced with back support, can be done in noisy settings (which is helpful) and are 15-20 minute sits twice daily. This is why I teach Integrated and Mindfit, most of our students are on the go, and need a portable, flexible practice that they can take with them anywhere!
WHAT IS MINDFULNESS
Mindfulness is the RESULT of a meditation practice and wasn’t originally a practice unto itself without meditation, but in the modern world it is now practiced as such. Mindfulness is about cultivating a present moment awareness, and I believe should be practiced (there are lots of skills that can be practiced including kin hin, working with the senses etc) in tandem with a steady meditation.
A NOTE ON NEURODIVERGENCE
I have found that Integrated Meditation and Mindfit Meditation works a treat for anyone with ADHD, OCD and ASD. It’s an expansive practice that allows the mind to settle with a mantra, but isn’t about focus or controlling the mind. It was transformational for me with the anxiety I had from my neurodivergence when I first learned, and I teach SO many people who have intense anxiety, or can’t sit still for 15 seconds and discover with intense relief and joy they can actually meditate with success for 20 mins twice a day once they’re learnt.
A NOTE ON PARENTING AND MEDITATION
Meditation can be an absolute saviour when you have babies and young kids and also REALLY challenging to fit in. Being as flexible as possible and ensuring your mindset includes your parenting is included in your spiritual practice, not just segregating off meditation is really helpful.
I teach a lot of parents Integrated Meditation as you can do it with noise, and also breastfeeding and it’s incredibly nourishing for mind, body and the energy of both mum and baby.
STUDYING WITH THE BROAD PLACE
It would be amiss of me not to mention how you might study with us. Teaching meditation is one of the greatest honours I have ever experienced and if I get the opportunity to share meditation with you, it will bring me a lot of joy.
GUIDED MEDITATION LIBRARY
We have a large Guided Meditation Library as part of The Portal Annual Membership that you can access alongside a library of our Monthly Calls where we discuss meditation, philosophy and practice.
STUDY MINDFIT MEDITATION AT YOUR OWN PACE FROM HOME
Mindfit Meditation is a short 10 day beginners mantra meditation course, where you receive 2 mantras, and will know all you need to meditate for 15 minutes a day ongoing. You can enrol in this course as a standalone course, or it’s also part of The Portal Membership and then you can access lots more learning with courses and programs, as well as join our Monthly Live Calls (or access the recording).
LEARN LIVE WITH INTEGRATED MEDITATION
Integrated Meditation is a 3 session course over 3 consecutive days that is a deeper dive into mantra based meditation (and is from the lineage of Transcendental Meditation). There are Group Courses and One on One Courses available and you will receive an intense training and lots of follow up support. I teach this live online and in person around the world, and you can contact us for upcoming dates.
And, I have a course starting this Wednesday through Friday with two places left on it and wanted to offer those at 40% off for anyone that has been pondering this beautiful course! Just email info@thebroadplace.com.au to take that up. We will do a one on one session on the Wed at a custom time, then two group sessions Thurs and Fri evenings Sydney time.
MEDITATION TEACHER TRAINING
We offer a bi-annual Meditation Immersion that spans three months for anyone wanting to learn a tonne, but not actually teach, and the next one is 2026. We also have a 6 month Meditation Teacher Training that teaches you how to teach from each category of meditation and is very dense. If you want to join the waitlist for this please email us.
And this February we have our Guided Meditation and Mindfulness Certified Meditation Teacher Training which is 8 weeks in length and will be an excellent way to begin sharing meditation with others and be of service in the world!
Ultimately don’t hesitate to reach out to have a chat about how we might help you build a steady practice and ask any questions you have.
With love,
Jac x