Meditation has been proven to have many benefits for people, whether they’re struggling with anxiety, depression, or other forms of stress in their lives. However, getting started with meditation can often be challenging for some, especially if you’ve never done anything like this type of practice before. Luckily, there are things you can do that can make the idea of meditation less intimidating and to help you feel like you’re really accomplishing something during this time. So to help ensure that you’re getting positive results for the time you devote to meditating, here are three ways you can improve your meditation practice.

Focus On Your Breathing

One of the best ways you can relax and prepare yourself for a good session of meditation is to focus on your breathing. For many people, the hardest part of meditation is keeping your mind focused on something specific that is calming and relaxing. It’s so easy for your mind to wander and for you to soon realize that you’ve been overthinking throughout your entire practice. But according to Agapi Stassinopoulos, a contributor to Medium.com, by focusing on your breathing for just five minutes a day when you’re meditating, you’ll be able to relax and be more observant about your body and your mind rather than actively participating in where your body and mind are going while you’re trying to meditate.

Start With Small Increments Of Time

Having the desire to meditate each day is a great step in the right direction for having a successful practice in meditation. However, if you try to jump into the deep end right away by attempting to devote too much time to your practice, you might find yourself feeling disappointed or discouraged. To avoid these feelings, Donna Cardillo, a contributor to Mind Body Green, advises that you start with small increments of time for your meditation. And as you begin to meditate for longer, you should still be striving for quality over quantity.

Be Consistent and Gracious To Yourself

Meditation is called a practice because it takes practice. WIth this in mind, Jennie Lee, a contributor to Yogapedia.com, advises that you be gracious with yourself as you’re learning and growing in this way and that the only results you strive for are consistency. By sticking with your practice of meditation even after a session where your mind wanders off constantly or you aren’t able to relax how you wanted do, you’ll be slowing building a solid foundation for more positive meditation practices in the future.

If you’re wanting to improve your ability to practice meditation and feel the benefits of this study in your life, consider using the tips mentioned above to show you how this can be done.