In the beginning, learn to simply be present in the moment, with your body and breath. On the one hand, it is very easy to do: a seasoned meditator gets to this stage in seconds. However, for the beginner, it is not so easy, especially since the mind is used to running around in a distracted state most of the time.
Sit still, and simply start observing your breath. Remember, you intention is not to make commentary on the breath, or to start thinking about it. Simply observe it. Is it deep, or is it shallow? Is it regular, or is it irregular? Is it smooth, or is it jerky? Simply watch. Pay attention to how the breath feels when it touches your nostrils, at the point when the breath enters your nose. Pay attention to the feeling of breath leaving your nostrils. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. There is a rhythm to the breath. Do not try to control the breath is any way. Put aside everything you have been told about what kind of breathing is good, and what kind is bad. You are here to meditate, not to write a treatise on breathing. Simply breathe in the way that comes most naturally to you, in this moment, this time, this day. That is all.
Follow the movement of the breath. In, out, in, out. As long as you are following the breath, your thoughts will automatically come to a stop. It really is that simple. If you find yourself thinking, you will catch yourself thinking, and at that moment, you realise: you are no longer paying attention to the breath! Gently, kindly, bring your attention back to the breath, without any judgement on why you got distracted. In, out, in, out. The Universe breathes with you.
Initially, the attention may not last more than a few seconds at a time. Use this as an indicator: the mind is so distracted, it cannot pay attention more than a few seconds at a time to anything! Now imagine, what can a person who is so distracted achieve in the world? Be it academics, a job, a business, relationships: everything is built on attention and concentration. This exercise shows how weak the mind’s concentration is, and yet, even with such a distracted mind, we achieve so much in the world! Now imagine what can be done with a focused mind!
Rome was not built in a day. A journey of a thousand miles beings with but one step. This is your first step: paying attention to the breath. Do this for at least one month. Make notes of your experiences every day. Don’t try to ‘remember’: the mind is already distracted, and unable to remember much! Make written notes, and at the end of the month, see how things changed over the period you have been practising.