When I first started meditating, there were so many apps and articles and videos to sift through, I didn’t know where to start. It took some time, but now, years later, I’m meditating daily, seeing changes in the way I respond to challenges (among many other things), and trying to learn as much as I can so that I can one day teach others.

Below is a list of resources that have stuck out to me over the years. It’s not comprehensive (there’s a ton of information out there), but it’s a useful primer for anyone digging into mindfulness for the first time.

Pick whatever sounds interesting. Jump around. Explore, and have fun!

Before we start: 2 short videos worth watching

Mindfulness explained simply:

And meditation explained simply:

From there, I suggest tumbling down the internets (youtube, google, apps) and digging into whatever interests you.

Or you can try these:

Option 1: Apps

I started off with Headspace and Calm about 5 years ago. I liked Calm for its audio-only 7 Days of Calm, and I liked Headspace for its animated videos. One of the Headspace founders did a TED talk here.

Insight Timer has exploded in features over the years. It has a library with tons of guided meditations and teachers to choose from.

These days, I use Zazn (ios only) for how lightweight it is and the easy timer and bell functions. If I need a timer with a recurring bell, I’ll use Calm.

Other apps you can try: 10% Happier, Stop, Breathe & Think

Option 2: Books (or audiobooks)

Books are great for knowledge. The bigger challenge is putting in time, energy, and attention into applying what you learn.

Search Inside Yourself is the book I recommend most often (and the one that got me into meditation). It’s light, not too serious, and it’s written for data/sciencey types. A Google engineer wrote it after he built a course on emotional intelligence using meditation as a training tool. Very practical.

10% Happier is Dan Harris’s story of how he got into meditation after having a panic attack on live tv. He also did a follow-up book called Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics.

Other useful books: One Second Ahead, Real Happiness at Work, Mindfulness in Plain English

Option 3: Podcasts

Podcasts are great for commutes and traveling.

Dan Harris started his podcast somewhere after he wrote his book and app. I cut some short clips from his podcast here.

Tim Ferriss has also done few episodes on meditation and mindfulness here, here, and here.

Option 4: Guided audios

Over the years, I kept guided audios I came across in a folder. These are guided meditations that I liked and wanted to keep in case they got removed or changed from apps (some were).

Some are from apps. Some are from books. Some are cut up made up of different guided audios that I stitched together.

You can get them here.

Option 5: Classes

Search Inside Yourself is one of the first classes I took. It’s a 2 day condensed version of the book. For exposing you to the topic quickly, the class works. But for getting practice time in, that’s on you to do after the course is over. You can get the entire class in video lecture form here too. In terms of value, I prefer the book or the videos but it always depends on how you learn best.

Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a multi-session class that talks about how to use mindfulness to reduce stress in your life. No religious stuff, and no mystical stuff. Just practical advice rooted in science.

I have mixed feelings about classes. Classes have exposed me to knowledge I didn’t know I didn’t know and have given me the opportunity to talk with teachers about questions I’ve had. The class setting also offers you some form of accountability. On the other hand, there have been times I’ve slacked off on getting through the content or on practice at home (especially for online/home courses). It will depend on how dedicated you are to learn.

Option 6: Retreats

Retreats are…challenging.

They’re residential courses that you stay at for a week or longer while you learn a specific style of meditation. No technology, no talking, no meat. Some are free and run on donations.

By the end of the retreat, you get so much practice that (ideally) you stumble into learnings about yourself, about meditation, and maybe even about life.

The analogy I use is working out intensely everyday for a month. You spend so much time building your muscles that eventually, when you inevitably come across some heavy obstacle in your way, you’ll surprise yourself at how easily you lift it.

This same thing happens with meditation retreats, but the obstacles you end up lifting are mental obstacles you didn’t realize you had (and didn’t realize you could overcome), like fear or sadness or emotional triggers.

The first retreat I went to, I thought I was signing up for some spa/resort-like thing. Definitely not the case, but I still describe the experience to people as either one of best mistakes I’ve ever made or as one of the most difficult, most valuable experiences I’ve been through.

On this retreat, I ended up getting a firsthand experience of the value and potential of meditation (kind of like understanding the value of exercise for the first time), and that experience made me want to learn as much as I could about meditation ever since.

A common pitfall to watch out for: going in with expectations. The 2nd retreat I went on, I thought I knew how everything was “supposed to happen.” This ended up making me get in my own way with all the extra thinking I was doing, and my retreat was much less productive as a result.

“Go in with no expectations! The quantity of your expectations will be inversely proportional to what you will learn,” says one of my teachers.

A final note

Whatever options you do choose, don’t forget that you can have fun with it. You can play with it. You can explore.

But if you try to force yourself to like it, you may end up hating it or giving up (like I did at least a few times).

Meditation is a skill, yes, but, you don’t have to stress over “getting it right.”

It will take time, like any skill, and if you don’t get it on the first or second try (or the third or the fourth), don’t sweat it. You have a whole lifetime to learn.