How Do I Know If I’m Meditating Properly?

This is an interesting question, because, how would you know?

I meditate a lot, but do I experience the same and do it same way as a Buddhist monk? No, of course not, as I don’t meditate as a religious practice. But who is to say which one of us is doing it properly?

Well, my view is very simple – we both are.

How it works

• Meditation is highly personal and no two people will have the same experience.
• Focus on looking at the results rather than the process: if you are achieving the results you want then you are doing it properly.
• So keep on meditating and become aware of your changing perspectives and new insights that you attain.

Each of us is individual and our minds, thoughts, emotions, hopes and fears differ to everyone else’s. There are no two people with identical minds and thought processes, so it stands to reason that everyone’s experience of meditation will differ. But that isn’t to say one person’s experience is any less beneficial, real or valid than anyone else’s.

Take this as an example; think of the colour red. How do you know that everyone else sees the same colour as you, when they describe something as red? Do their eyes and brain process the inputs exactly the same way as yours and display to them the exact same image of red as you see? The answer very simply, is we don’t know, because we can’t see red from their perspective, we can only see it from ours. Having said that, both of your interpretations of red are equally valid, even if they do differ.

The same applies with meditation. We can’t see inside the mind of a Buddhist monk and witness what they experience when they meditate, just as we can’t see how the colour red appears in their mind. Their experience is individual and unique and solely their domain, just as yours is when you meditate.

The easier way to answer the question “how do I know if I’m meditating properly” is to measure its effects upon you.

Do you feel less stressed, more relaxed, happier, more positive and mentally and emotionally stronger? If you can say yes to some or all of those, then you’re meditating properly, because meditation should be about the outcomes, not the technique.

I have, over the years, managed to have some incredibly deep and profound meditations and each one has been a unique and individual experience. With time and practice, you will also reach deeper meditative states and have profound experiences, but they will be different to mine and that’s absolutely fine, because they’re yours and yours alone.

So my advice is this; don’t worry about whether you’re doing properly, just enjoy it and look for the little signs that it’s having a positive effect on you, such as a calmer mind, less reactionary emotions and maybe, a slightly different outlook on life itself.