10 misconceptions you might have about meditation, according to experts

• Before I started meditating daily, I – like many people – had misconceptions about the practice.
• Meditation experts debunked some common misconceptions.
• It doesn't have to be a solitary activity, and it's OK if your mind doesn't go blank.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Since mid-January, I have been meditating nearly every day.

The coronavirus pandemic forced me to move back home with my parents and work remotely, and I felt it impacted my mental health. I started meditating as an unspoken New Year's resolution with the hopes of correcting some of the mental and emotional imbalances caused by the pandemic during the past year.

I had tried meditation before and thought it wasn't for me. But it turned out I had some incorrect assumptions about the practice, like that I had to stop thinking completely. On my second try, as I followed along with the Headspace app every day, I quickly learned about the benefits of meditation and noticed an immediate improvement in my happiness, kindness, and gratefulness.

I also learned that my assumptions were false.

If you have some misconceptions about meditation like I did don't worry, it's common. Insider spoke to meditation experts who debunked some of the common misconceptions about meditation.

There isn't one kind of meditation - there are numerous different variations

From mindfulness to transcendental meditation and yoga meditation, there are numerous kinds of meditation practiced around the world.

Barry Boyce, founding editor of Mindful Magazine, who has practiced meditation for more than 40 years, told Insider the form of meditation he practices - and that most apps like Headspace teach - is mindfulness.

Mindfulness "enables us to survive and to thrive," he said. "And to the extent that our mindfulness is weakened or depleted, we can get ourselves into more trouble and difficulties. So mindfulness meditation practice helps to enhance this basic capability."

Eve Lewis Prieto, director of meditation and mindfulness teacher at Headspace, said mindfulness can be broken down into even more granular sections. The Headspace app has eight different mindfulness techniques, from focusing on the breath to visualization and noting. She said each of the techniques can be used to deal with various obstacles from addiction to grief or even getting better sleep.

Meditation isn't mysterious

Boyce said that people commonly think that meditation is a mysterious esoteric practice that will take them somewhere far off in the mind when, "in fact, mindfulness and awareness are basic human capabilities that we all have already," he said. "And mindfulness meditation practice cultivates that innate capability."

In 2018, Tibetan Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard shared a similar sentiment when he spoke with Insider.

"There's nothing mysterious," he said. "You don't need to be sitting trying to empty your mind with incense around you under the mango tree."

It's OK if you have doubt over whether you're meditating correctly at first

Lewis Prieto said many beginners experience doubt when they start meditating.

Doubt is considered one of the five hindrances to meditation and it can cause a lot of people to question whether or not they're meditating correctly, she said. But she reassured beginners that experiencing doubt is normal.

"Our mind is going to be different every single day," Lewis Prieto said. "Some days, the mind seems to feel very, very busy, there's going to be a lot of activity there and it will probably feel like you aren't getting into the flow of the meditation, but you're not doing anything wrong. Other days, the mind will feel much calmer and much clearer and it will feel like you were more engaged in the meditation. So doubt is gonna come up. Don't worry about it."

Your mind doesn't go completely blank while meditating, and it's OK to have thoughts come and go

Diana Winston, director of mindfulness education at UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center, said beginners often incorrectly try to empty every thought from their minds. Thoughts are actually an essential part of meditation.

"That's one of the biggest things that I deal with is letting people know that no, no, your mind is not supposed to go blank," Winston said. "In fact, what your mind will do is exactly what it did the moment before you were meditating, which is, we'll keep thinking of other things but what we do is we teach ourselves. It's a training and learning to come back to the present moment."

Lewis Prieto added that it's impossible to be completely absent of thought and when people try to think of nothing, they often think more. She says it's important to remember that while meditating, "rather than tuning out, you're really tuning in to what's happening in the mind."

You don't have to meditate for hours

Winston said some people are hesitant to begin meditation because they're afraid of being alone with their thoughts for long periods of time. For this reason, she starts beginners with short five-minute meditations.

She points to a 2014 article by Science Magazine which explains how volunteers in 11 studies had to put away their cell phones and other belongings and spend between six and 15 minutes alone in a lab room with a button capable of shocking the volunteer. The study found that 67% of men and 25% of women would rather shock themselves than be alone with their thoughts.

"It's hard for people to just kind of be with themselves and also it's understandable. Everybody's going through such a hard time this year and it is hard to sit with yourself," Winston said. "But the good news is if you develop the meditation practices ... you have more skills for handling the difficult emotions that arise but that takes a little bit of practice."

Ricard also believes you can learn to meditate five minutes at a time.

"We all have unconditional love for a child or someone dear," he told Insider in 2018. Such moments of love usually "last 10, 15 seconds, one minute, then we'd do something else, we go to about our work. But suppose you take that as a beautiful strong warm feeling and instead of letting it disappear for 15 seconds you cultivate it for five, 10 minutes, by reviving it. Coming back if you are distracted, keeping the clarity, the vividity, the vividness of that."

Meditation doesn't have to end when you formally stop the act of meditating

Its practices can be carried on throughout the day.

Winston told Insider there's formal and informal meditation. Formal is the time you carve out to sit and do the act of meditation. Informal is when you, for example, get a frustrating email and opt to pause, take a few deep breaths, and refocus instead of getting angry.

You don't have to be sitting cross-legged to meditate

There are a variety of positions you can meditate in, from sitting on the couch to lying on the ground. In fact, Winston said there are walking and movement meditations that are perfect for people who find it difficult to sit still for a long period of time.

Meditation can be secular

Some archaeologists traced the origins of meditation to as early as 5,000 BCE, according to Psychology Today. It is deeply rooted in spirituality and has been an essential facet of many religions throughout history, whether it be Tibetan Buddhism, Hinduism, or the Kabalah in Judaism.

In fact, Headspace co-founder Andy Puddicombe trained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk before creating the app.

These factors led Lewis Prieto to originally dismiss meditation when she started her mindfulness journey 10 years ago because she thought it had to involve religion. But she told Insider that unless the religious aspects of a certain meditation interest you, there's no need to explore them - mindfulness can be secular.

She added that due to the proliferation of meditation apps over the past decade and the integration of the practice into schools and the workplace, some people have started to associate meditation less with spirituality.

Meditation doesn't just have to take place in classes

There are myriad ways to enjoy meditation, from books to apps to in-person classes.

Lewis Prieto said Headspace is one of thousands of apps that people can use to meditate, not to mention instructional books and videos. She emphasized that what's important is finding what works for you and knowing that you don't have to do it alone.

Meditation doesn't only have to be practiced in solitude

It can also be beneficial to meditate with a partner or in a group and talk about the experience with one another.

Boyce told Insider that most of the meditation he's done over the years has been with other people. He said that as you meditate more, you'll begin to notice patterns and habits that are part of your regular life. If you choose to explore or change those habits, Boyce said having some fellow travelers to share experiences with can be beneficial.

Winston added that every Thursday, UCLA holds a Zoom meditation event that attracts over 500 participants. She says that when practicing meditation in a group setting, there's a field of energy that's created that makes it easier for people to meditate.

Lewis Prieto encourages people to think of meditation as dropping a pebble in a lake. There's the initial ripple, which is your own life, but then the subsequent ripples are you passing on the benefits of meditation to your relationships, work, and the rest of your life. Not only is meditating with others beneficial but by simply meditating you positively impact your own community.