If you can breathe, you can meditate. That is the only requirement.
By Abi Beri | Somatic Therapist & Mindfulness Guide
[Reading time: 8 minutes]
Let me guess. You have tried meditation before and thought you could not do it. Or you have been meaning to try but keep putting it off because it seems complicated, uncomfortable, or like something only calm people do.
Maybe you sat down, closed your eyes, and your mind immediately started racing — shopping lists, work emails, that awkward thing you said years ago. After three minutes of this chaos, you decided meditation was not for you.
Sound familiar?
Here is what nobody told you: that busy mind? That is normal. That is everyone. And it does not mean you cannot meditate — it means you are human.
The Myth of the Empty Mind
Somewhere along the line, we got this idea that meditation means achieving a state of perfect stillness. No thoughts. Total silence. Blissful emptiness.
Let me be clear: that is not meditation. That is a coma.
Your brain’s job is to think. It is not going to stop just because you sat down and closed your eyes. And that is completely fine. Meditation is not about stopping your thoughts — it is about changing your relationship with them.
Instead of getting swept away by every thought that arises, you learn to notice them. Oh, there is a thought. And another one. Interesting. And then you gently return your attention to something simple — like your breath, or your body.
That is it. That is the whole practice. Wandering and returning. Again and again.
Why Body Scan Meditation Is Perfect for Beginners
When you are new to meditation, sitting and watching your breath can feel impossibly vague. Your mind needs something more concrete to focus on.
That is why body scan meditation is such a brilliant starting point. Instead of trying to focus on nothing, you focus on something specific: the physical sensations in your body, one area at a time.
This works for several reasons. It gives your busy mind a job to do — moving attention from feet to head, noticing sensations along the way. It grounds you in the present moment, because your body is always here, now. It helps you reconnect with physical sensations you might normally ignore. And it naturally calms the nervous system.
Body scan meditation is also surprisingly practical. You do not need any special equipment, beliefs, or flexibility. You can do it sitting in a chair, lying in bed, or even on a park bench in Dublin. Ten minutes is enough to feel a difference.
What Happens When You Meditate
Let me demystify what is actually happening when you practice meditation, especially body scan meditation.
When you bring attention to your body, you activate what is called interoception — your sense of your internal physical state. Most of us spend our days lost in thought, completely disconnected from what is happening below the neck. We only notice the body when something hurts.
Regular meditation practice strengthens this body awareness. And that has profound effects. When you are more aware of your body, you notice stress earlier — before it becomes a full-blown anxiety attack. You catch tension in your shoulders before it becomes a headache. You feel tiredness before you are utterly depleted.
From a nervous system perspective, meditation activates the parasympathetic response — the rest and digest mode. Your heart rate slows, your breathing deepens, your muscles relax. This is the opposite of the stress response, and it is exactly what most of us need more of.
A Simple 10-Minute Body Scan for Beginners
I have created a guided body scan meditation specifically designed for people who think they cannot meditate. It is just 10 minutes — short enough to fit into any day, long enough to actually feel the benefits.
The practice is simple: you move your attention slowly through your body, from feet to head, just noticing what is there. No special breathing. No mantras. No need to feel anything in particular.
If your mind wanders — and it will — you simply notice that it wandered, and bring it back. No judgment. No frustration. That returning is the practice.
Tips for Your First Meditation
Here are some things I wish someone had told me when I started:
Start small. Ten minutes is plenty. You can always do more later. Trying to meditate for 30 minutes as a beginner is like trying to run a marathon on your first day of exercise.
Get comfortable. You do not need to sit cross-legged on the floor. A chair works perfectly. Lying down is fine too, though you might fall asleep, which honestly is not the worst thing.
Expect distraction. Your mind will wander. Probably a lot. This is not failure — it is the whole point. Every time you notice your mind has wandered and bring it back, you are building the muscle of attention.
Be kind to yourself. If you spend the whole ten minutes lost in thought and only notice at the very end — that counts. You noticed. That is awareness. That is meditation.
Try it for a week. Meditation is like exercise: the benefits come with consistency. One session probably will not change your life. Seven days might start to shift something.
When to Meditate
There is no perfect time. Some people swear by morning meditation — it sets a calm tone for the day. Others prefer evening — it helps them wind down before sleep.
The best time is whenever you will actually do it. If you are not a morning person, do not set yourself up to fail by planning a 6am practice. If your evenings are chaotic with kids and cooking, maybe your lunch break is more realistic.
I work with clients in Dublin, Naas, and Newbridge who have built meditation into commutes, coffee breaks, and even waiting rooms. The practice adapts to your life, not the other way around.
Beyond Body Scan: What Comes Next
Once you have got the hang of body scan meditation, a whole world opens up. Breath-focused meditation, loving-kindness practice, open awareness, walking meditation — there are countless approaches, and different ones suit different people.
Body scan is gateway content — it introduces you to the basic skills of attention and awareness in an accessible way. From there, you can explore what resonates.
And if you find you want to go deeper — to use meditation as part of healing from anxiety, trauma, or chronic stress — that is where somatic therapy comes in. We can work with what arises in meditation, helping your nervous system release what it has been holding.
You Can Do This
If you have made it this far, you are already more ready than you think.
Meditation is not about being a certain kind of person — calm, spiritual, patient. It is a skill anyone can learn. The busiest minds often benefit the most, because they have the most to gain from learning to pause.
Ten minutes. One body scan. Your only job is to follow along.
And if your mind wanders a hundred times? That is a hundred opportunities to practice returning. Each return is a small victory. Each return is the practice working.
You have got this.
Somatic Therapy & Mindfulness: Dublin | Naas | Newbridge | Onlinehttps://blissfulevolution.com/contact-us/
