Maybe you feel that you’re just too busy. Maybe you just keep putting your meditation off until it’s bedtime, and then you’re too tired, and you say, “Well, I’ll do it tomorrow.” Or maybe things just seem to crop up when you are about to meditate… things that seem out of your control, like family emergencies, phone calls from needy friends, unexpected visitors, etc. These unexpected events may seem out of your control… but are they? Being overly busy may also seem out of your control… but is it?

There’s an underlying force at work here. Not only can this force produce endless daily tasks and logical reasons for not meditating, but it can miraculously create all sorts of unplanned events that just happen to occur at meditation time. “Well, I was about to meditate, and the phone rang, and it was my friend who needed to talk about a crisis, and by the time we finished talking, I had to take off for work and couldn’t meditate.” Sure your friend’s crisis was real, but why did the call come just when you were about to meditate?

Two Cosmic Forces There are actually two opposing forces within you. Force one, is the “Force of Evolution.” It pulls you toward growth… toward attaining your highest possibilities… toward greater freedom, peace, joy, and love… toward the light and your true spiritual home. This cosmic force is quite likely what led you to seek out meditation in the first place… even though it may have seemed as though you were just looking for a little clarity or stress relief.

Force two is the “Force of Stagnation.” This is the force that resists growth… resists any kind of change. And because meditation catalyzes growth and positive change, it poses a real threat to the Force of Stagnation. This force works through our unconscious mind, so we are usually not aware of its covert operations.

When you start to grow and make positive changes in your life, and when you begin to evolve beyond your old limitations, the Force of Stagnation kicks in. That’s when many of these “coincidences” begin to occur. These distracting events may appear to be coincidences, but they’re not. The Force of Stagnation is very adept at creating things. That doesn’t mean that you are in any way responsible for events like a friend’s crisis. But your unconscious mind can cooperate with the time-line… for example, by forgetting to turn off the phone ringer, or finding a little task to delay your meditation for an extra ten minutes. That leaves the door open for all sorts of things to pop up and interfere with your meditation.

Devil or Angel? Have you seen those cartoons where a person has a little angel on one shoulder telling them to do the right thing, and a little devil on the other shoulder, persuading them to do the opposite? Symbolically, that’s what’s happening here. Your Evolutionary Angel is always whispering in one ear… encouraging you to grow… to become your highest self. Meanwhile, the little Stagnation Devil whispers in the other ear, providing you with a fantastic list of ways to avoid meditating. Which one will you listen to?

Of course the purpose of knowing that there’s a force behind the problem is not to supply you with the ultimate excuse to skip meditation. The purpose of understanding the hidden workings of this force, is so you won’t be so easily controlled by it. Also, I don’t mean to convey that these forces represent good and evil. They are merely two cosmic forces… each has a necessary role to play in the big cosmic picture.

Out-Maneuvering The Force There are practical steps you can take to out-maneuver the Force of Stagnation. The most effective one is to set aside a specific period each day for meditation… making the commitment to yourself that no matter what happens, this 15 minutes is your meditation time. Then do whatever you can to avoid distractions… remember to turn off the phone ringer, inform other household members this time is for you, put a “do not disturb” sign on the door, if necessary. I used to go out and meditate in the car (parked, of course) when it was too noisy do it at home.

After you’ve demonstrated your commitment to regular meditation for awhile, it becomes much easier… the stagnant force seems to get the message. However, keeping your commitment does require a bit of courage… the courage to leave your familiar old limitations behind, and the courage to open new doors that lead to the unknown. I can assure you that behind those mysterious doors lie great treasures, but you’ll have to discover them for yourself. If you have the courage to stay on your spiritual path, and follow your Evolutionary Angel, you will indeed find the treasure.

Meditation during pregnancy is a great way to make you stronger emotionally and mentally. With the help of meditation, you get the capacity to endure pain which helps during labor in pregnancy. It is never easy if you try to practice meditation on your own during pregnancy. Your mind has the tendency to waver to all places and people with whom you are concerned when you sit with your eyes closed. The thoughts of your depleting finances or some concern at office, the thought of some meddling family member, the thought of living in ramshackle surroundings and the like are so overpowering that they devour any other thought you wish to put in its place. Meditation is one of the most important exercises during pregnancy. As you gain spiritual health, it is reflected in your good behavior, your tolerant attitude and greater affection for your near and dear ones.

Applying The Technique For Beginners

In case you are a beginner, you have two options of meditation during pregnancy. One is to join a meditation class for the first few months and then practice on your own. The other is to take the challenge of practicing on your own. If you join a class, you get to meet other expecting mothers and share each other’s experiences. You can learn the nuances faster as you have a teacher to guide you and check you if slip somewhere. Reiki and Vipasana are two popular groups of meditation. If you decide to meditate on your own, you can take the help of the following techniques.

First, search for a place that is peaceful and serene. A place with pin drop silence would be perfect. Make sure no one is allowed to disturb your peace for the stipulated period. Then sit on the floor with legs folded and concentrate on any one object with your eyes closed. Generally, people concentrate on their god or place of worship. While concentrating, take deep breaths as well in perfect rhythm. It will take some time; do not be distracted or discouraged if you do not see results immediately. You will eventually see the results of meditation during pregnancy.

Imagine sitting down with your dog. As you both begin to relax, your breaths become longer, less hurried. Your thoughts slow down until it seems like you are not thinking at all.

If you and your dog already share moments like these, then you’ve glimpsed the bliss of meditation.

Meditation is great for dogs. Not only does it improve a dog’s health and well-being, but excitable dogs become calmer, aggressive dogs become more loving, and dogs that once whined and howled for attention become quieter and more content. Meditation is great for you, too. It relieves stress and sharpens your mental focus.

Here are five ways to get started on a non-dogmatic meditation practice.

Schedule a regular time
First thing in the morning is a great time, or right after you get home from work but before you get into your evening activities. The more consistent you are, the more you and your dog will be able to ease into meditation.

Develop a ritual
Ritual helps to prepare you and dog for meditation. Light a candle, burn incense, put on quiet music, or sit in the same place and position each day.

Let go of expectation
If you have a pre-conceived idea of what your meditation experience will be, you’ll just get frustrated. Your experience will not be the same as someone else’s and chances are, will be different for you from day to day. Enjoy your meditation, however it turns out.

Connect with your dog
When you sit down to meditate, your dog should be either lying next to you or on your lap. Put one or both hands on your dog. This connection is soothing to him. Your dog may get up. That’s okay. Just stay quiet, and when your dog returns, put your hand or hands back on him.

Conclude your meditation the same way each time
This signals your body and mind, as well as your dog, that it’s time to move on to the next part of your day. The transition should be gentle rather than jarring. Pet your dog slowly, lengthening the stroke from short to long; whisper or say aloud an affirmation, quote, or prayer; or roll your head from side to side.

Meditating with your dog is as individual as your relationship with your dog. Be patient. Try different things. There are few rules about meditation. The perfect meditation is whatever brings you and your pooch bow wow bliss.

Yama
Niyama
Asana
Pranayam
Pratyahara
Dharana
Dhyana
Samadhi

• Yama, Niyama and Asana- these are the first steps in practicing meditation. One has to practice them with proper postures in achieving meditative state.  
• Pranayam is the next step in meditation. Sitting straight with the spine erect for perfecting the posture is taught. It is called as Asana Jay. Pranayam as the name suggests aims with the control of breath or prana. 
• Pratyahara is related with the senses. It aims at withdrawal of senses inwards.
• Dharana is meant with concentration. It intends with developing and fixing attention on a single entity.
• Dhyana is submerging deep into meditative state.
• Samadhi is the state when a being attains a super conscious state. It is the most sublime experience where a person feels united close to god.

It is a well-known fact that meditation is a wonderful technique that could be used to calm the mind body and soul. It could be practiced any time and any place and people all over the world are making most of it by practicing it. Outward life gets manifested and it produces orderliness in a confused mind. One can take control of life and can become happy and lead a healthy life.

In today’s fast paced life, stress gets accumulated that leads to other kinds of illness. Meditation with the help of yoga postures and techniques helps in overcoming all kinds of stress. The wide range of health related problem also gets cured, leading to longetivity of mind and body. Meditation along with yoga strengthens the body and improves the state of mind.

By practicing meditation twice daily can prevent regression and ageing process. These two are thousand times better than any kind of medication. It has been said that the depth of meditation is directly proportional to the depth of healing. Just like the mind and body are connected similarly the relationship of meditation to the yoga is interesting.

To concentrate is an inherent mental capability. No one can teach you how to meditate; instead you have the ability to remove the thoughts. Generally your mind is trained to focus externally. Meditation teaches your mind to focus internally, which develops a positive attitude in you.

All the happiness which is experienced by you is momentary. If you want to attain a state of long lasting happiness and absolute inner peace then firstly you have to calm your mind. This state is easily achievable with the help of meditation.

How Does Meditation Works on Your Body?

The closest similar condition to meditation that you can experience is deep sleep. However meditation is different from deep sleep as meditation works profoundly to change your consciousness. The meditative state exceeds all the restriction of your mind.

Meditation tries to decrease and stabilizes the agitations of your mind and generates mental peace. Meditation delays the anabolic process of body aging and growth. However meditation significantly reduces the catabolic decline. This is because of the inborn receptiveness of the body cells.

Every cell of your body is governed by your intuitive subconscious mind. When your thoughts and needs come together then your body cells are activated. Scientifically it is being proved that positive thinking brings out positive results from your body cells. Meditation generates a positive phase of mind, which helps in rejuvenation of the cells and in retardation of the decay.

Important Points of Meditation

As you cannot learn to sleep in the same way you cannot learn to meditate instead you fall in that state. But there are few important points you need to remember about the meditation techniques and its stage.

• Regularity of practice, time and place are very important points. Regularity sets your mind to reduce the pace of activities.
• Dawn and dusk are the best time of the day to do meditation. If it is not possible then select the time when least activities are involved.
• It’s better to have a separate mediation room because when you will repeat meditation an atmosphere of purity and peace would be developed.
• While sitting remember to sit facing either north or east side. This sitting position will give you an additional advantage of positive magnetic vibrations.
• Before you start with your meditation it is better to relax your mind first. Just don’t think about your future, present or past.
• Try to regulate your breathing movement. Keep them slow and in the beginning concentrate on the air flow.
• Try to keep your breathing movements rhythmic as it a source of vital energy. Rhythmic means inhaling of the air is for 5 seconds then the exhaling should also be for 5 seconds.
• Don’t try hard to halt your mind and its thought process as this may hinder the meditation process.
• Try to concentrate on an uplifting or a neutral object. You can even use a Mantra, repeat the Mantra mentally. But remember that don’t change the Mantra.
• Vocal repetition combined with the thought process will lead you to relax your mind completely and develops positive thoughts.
• Gradually with practice you will be able to achieve the state of super consciousness or Samadhi. To achieve this state you need to be patient as it may take long time.
• The state of super consciousness is the phase where the known and knowledge becomes one.

Daily only half an hour of meditation will make your life more peaceful and happy. It will give the strength to face all the day-to-day difficulties with peace. Meditation acts as a nerve and mental tonic. During meditation you will feel the free flow of divine energy which influences your nerves, mind, sense organs and the whole body. Meditation calms your mind and helps in opening the knowledge doors and the empire of endless ecstasy.

A relaxation technique known as Transcendental Meditation. It may decrease blood pressure and reduce insulin resistance among patients with coronary heart disease.

Transcendental Meditation is an ancient Vedic therepy of India. It is taught through a standard protocol involving lectures, personal instruction and group meetings. It has previously been shown to lower blood pressure but its effect on other risk factors associated with coronary heart disease, including those linked to the metabolic syndrome, has not been thoroughly examined.

The metabolic syndrome refers to a cluster of symptoms that increase cardiac risk, including high blood pressure (hypertension), abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and insulin resistance, which occurs when the body is unable to use the insulin produced by the pancreas to process sugar into energy.

A 16-week trial of Transcendental Meditation conducted on the patients with coronary heart disease. 52 participants (average age 67.7 years) were instructed in transcendental meditation and 51 control patients (average age 67.1 years) received health education.

At the beginning and end of the trial, the patients fasted overnight and then gave a blood sample, participated in a medical history review and underwent tests of blood vessel function and heart rate variability. Heart rate variability testing assesses the functioning of the autonomic nervous system, which controls the heart and other involuntary muscles.

In 103 participants who were enrolled, 84 completed the study. At the end of the trial, patients in the Transcendental Meditation group had significantly lower blood pressure; improved fasting blood glucose and insulin levels, which signify reduced insulin resistance; and more stable functioning of the autonomic nervous system.

These physiological effects were accomplished without changes in body weight, medication or psychosocial variables and despite a marginally statistically significant increase in physical activity in the health education group.

These current results also expand the causal understanding of the role of stress in the rising epidemic of the metabolic syndrome, although current low levels of physical activity, unhealthy eating habits and resultant obesity are triggers for this epidemic, the demands of modern society may also be responsible for higher levels of chronic stress.” Such stress causes the release of cortisol and other hormones and neurotransmitters, which over time damage the cardiovascular system.

The results, demonstrating beneficial physiological effects of Transcendental Meditation in the absence of effects on psychosocial variables, suggest that Transcendental Meditation may modulate response to stress rather than alter the stress itself, similar to the physiological impact of exercise conditioning. This method of controlling the body’s response to stress may provide a new target for the treatment and prevention of coronary heart disease.

People who meditate say the practice restores their energy, and some claim they need less sleep as a result. Many studies have reported that the brain works differently during meditation – brainwave patterns change and neuronal firing patterns synchronise. But whether meditation actually brings any of the restorative benefits of sleep has remained largely unexplored.

So Bruce O’Hara and colleagues at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, US, decided to investigate. They used a well-established “psychomotor vigilance task”, which has long been used to quantify the effects of sleepiness on mental acuity. The test involves staring at an LCD screen and pressing a button as soon as an image pops up. Typically, people take 200 to 300 milliseconds to respond, but sleep-deprived people take much longer, and sometimes miss the stimulus altogether.

Ten volunteers were tested before and after 40 minutes of either sleep, meditation, reading or light conversation, with all subjects trying all conditions. The 40-minute nap was known to improve performance (after an hour or so to recover from grogginess). But what astonished the researchers was that meditation was the only intervention that immediately led to superior performance, despite none of the volunteers being experienced at meditation.

“Every single subject showed improvement,” says O’Hara. The improvement was even more dramatic after a night without sleep. But, he admits: “Why it improves performance, we do not know.” The team is now studying experienced meditators, who spend several hours each day in practice.

Brain builder

What effect meditating has on the structure of the brain has also been a matter of some debate. Now Sara Lazar at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, US, and colleagues have used MRI to compare 15 meditators, with experience ranging from 1 to 30 years, and 15 non-meditators.

They found that meditating actually increases the thickness of the cortex in areas involved in attention and sensory processing, such as the prefrontal cortex and the right anterior insula.

“You are exercising it while you meditate, and it gets bigger,” she says. The finding is in line with studies showing that accomplished musicians, athletes and linguists all have thickening in relevant areas of the cortex. It is further evidence, says Lazar, that yogis “aren’t just sitting there doing nothing”.

The growth of the cortex is not due to the growth of new neurons, she points out, but results from wider blood vessels, more supporting structures such as glia and astrocytes, and increased branching and connections.

The new studies were presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, in Washington DC, US.

After you have learned the basics of meditation you can begin to experiment with other sometimes more complicated methods.

Walking Meditation

One other type of meditation that you can easily incorporate into your daily lifestyle is that of Walking Meditation. The process seems much simpler than it is, but it’s worth the try because it can allow you to enter into a new enlightenment no matter where you are.

Walking meditation does take practice so plan on giving it a few chances before you write it off as something that’s not working for you.

Here’s how walking meditation works.

Start by paying attention to your body as you walk. You should take note of the way it feels, not just walking but how it affects each part of your body. You should feel the ground hitting the bottom of your foot. You should feel the muscles in your legs and back tighten with each step that you take. Pay attention to these things.

Focus your attention, now on each of your feet. Start with just one foot. As it hits the ground, take notice of it. Feel the next foot come up and go down, notice how it feels too. Continue to do this over and over again until it almost becomes a mantra that you are saying to yourself.

If your mind begins to wander off, force yourself to focus on your movements again. Your eyes should be watching in front of you, without really looking at anything in particular. Don’t focus on anything else. This will help you to take your meditation to the next level of meditation.

Why should you use walking meditation? Its simple. When was the last time that you paid attention to the actually walking part of your movements?

You think about the countless things you have to do, where you are going and who’s talking to you, but not the movements of walking itself, which can offer a high level of relaxation when focused on.

By concentrating on walking itself, you can better experience relaxation and the movements of walking itself. Through this, you can enter into a new awareness of the world around you and of your physical self.

Transcendental Meditation

If you have come to learn meditation, it is likely that you want to learn transcendental meditation or TM for short. There are many people that have set their sights on this type of meditation and with good reason. 

First, it’s easy to learn. Second, you can actually find countless benefits from this type of meditation.

Once you learn to practice Transcendental Meditation, you’ll find results and benefits right away. Through a bit of practice, you could be doing this within a week or so, especially if you have practiced the other types of meditations prior to this.

During Transcendental Meditation, you will work closely with an instructor. This instructor not only will walk you through the process of entering into this type of meditation, but he or she will also provide you with a unique mantra to use during the process.

Remember that a mantra is a word or a few syllables of a word that you will say over and over again. In this type of meditation, your instructor will give you a specific mantra to say that is chosen specifically for you. This type of selection is based on your body’s needs and your nervous system specifically.

Once you have been given this type of meditation mantra, you can then begin the process of meditation. You must promise not to tell anyone what your mantra is as that’s part of the process.

From this point, you will sit down quietly and clear your mind of anything that is going through it. Then, you’ll close your eyes gently and relax your muscles throughout your body, much like that of a simple meditation. From here, you’ll begin repeating your mantra over and over again. The goal is to completely focus on those words.

When you do this, over and over again, you’ll want to dispel any other thoughts that come into your mind. Clearing your mind and bring it back to the mantra is going to allow you to find benefits in meditation.

You should practice this type of meditation at least two times per day, every day.

In this type of meditation, your goal is to find an “oneness” with the universe. By repeating this one word or idea over and over again, you enter into a state of consciousness that is elevated. You are creating a one between you and the universe.

During the process, you’ll use your passive attitude to easily dispel any distractions that come into your mind. Remember, when your mind wanders, a simple, “oh well” will allow you to come back to your mantra and therefore refocus your meditation exercises.

There are many benefits to Transcendental Meditation. If you will be practicing this type of meditation for any purpose, you should still clear your mind of all of those thoughts prior to getting started otherwise it may not actually work well for you. This type of mediation is the most profound type of meditation in the way of relaxation and health and mental benefits.

Mindfulness Meditation

There is another type of meditation that should be mentioned because of its many benefits on your lifestyle as well as just how unique it is.

In the other meditations that we’ve selected to tell you about, your goal will be to use a mantra or a breathing focus to help you enter into a state of meditation. But, that’s not necessarily the only method to do so. In Mindfulness Meditation, which is also known as Vipassana, you don’t focus on something around you but rather on inside meditation.

In Mindfulness Meditation, you are not paying attention to the physical aspects of what is happening around you. Instead, you are focusing on what is happening in the present moment, not the future or the past. You will learn how to focus on what is happening right now, at this very second.

You’ll find that the Mindfulness Meditation is one that can help to turn the brain down to low. If you are one that has constant thoughts racing through your head and often finds that there’s just too much noise happening in your brain at any time, then this type of meditation may be one of the best types for you.

In Mindfulness Meditation, you will not focus on any one thing. You are not even going to look at this factor yet. Instead, you are going to concentrate on the quality of your awareness.

You will be what is called a “silent witness” which simply means that you need to be aware of what is happening around you at that very moment silently. You are witnessing what’s happening around you.

Don’t mistake this type of meditation for a mediation that allows you to be passive in what happens in your daily life. Rather, Mindfulness Meditation helps you to stop and make decisions based on reality rather than making impulse decisions.

So, how do you do Mindfulness Meditation? You may have heard of it before, actually. There are two ways to do it. One is informal. The other is formal and a good example of this is through Yoga.

Yoga works as a method of meditation because of the concentration that is paid to the here and now. You are mindful of the movements and positions of your body. Each movement is done slowly and carefully as planned. You are fully aware of each move you are making and thus you are mindful. When you practice in this manner, you are mindfully aware of your feelings, your physical movements and what’s happening in your mind.

You are taught through this type of meditation to allow breathing to enter into your body and then to leave your body taking with it your stress, your anxiety and other elements. Through methods like yoga, you can focus your attention on removing these toxins from your body and live a more mindful lifestyle.

The other type of Mindfulness Meditation is that of informal means. In the informal meditation, you take in the world around you through just each thing that you do. Each thing that you do or encounter is fully experienced in a very unique way.

For example, if you are hungry and grab an apple for a snack, you bite it, chew and swallow while probably watching television or even sitting on the web. But, when you use Mindfulness Meditation when you are consuming that apple, things change considerably.

Now, you are not just taking a bite. You are observing the apple in all ways. What does it feel like in your hand? What does the apple smell like? Take in its color and its weight. As you take a bite, hear the crunch of the apple’s skin, the texture of the apple’s inside and the way that the juices come out of the apple as you chew.

As you can see, with Mindfulness Meditation, you are fully aware of everything to do with the task at hand. It doesn’t just have to do with your foods, either. The same goes for everything that you are doing.

Your hand on the mouse of your computer, the putting on of your shoes, and the movement of your pen on the paper are all activities that you can use Mindfulness Meditation on.

Why do this type of meditation in an informal way? When you do this type of activity, over and over again, you gain benefits of meditation at a basic level over and over again throughout your day. That means that you’ll enter into a relaxed state often, probably dozens of times each day.

There Are More

One thing to take away from this book is the fact that there are many ways to enter into a state of meditation. Here are a few more examples of meditation methods that you can learn and practice for benefits.

Journey Meditation

In this type of meditation, you will take yourself to a new location through meditation. You gain meditation by taking yourself to a different location where peace is the focus of the trip.

To do this type of meditation, sit up in a proper posture yet comfortably. Keep some paper and pen near you so that you can write down anything that you worry about during this type of meditation. Breathe in slowly and deeply for about five counts to cleanse your mind and thoughts. Then, find your peaceful place. It’s generally a location that helps you to feel relaxed and at peace. Keep distractions out of your mind and enjoy the peace that’s offered to you.

Sound Meditation

In this type of meditation, also known as vibrating meditation, you’ll use the sound of your mantra to move you. Stand up while doing this type of meditation and allow deep breathing to cleanse your thoughts. Then, pick a word that sounds good and showcases peace for you. Repeat it over and over again, in a chant like method. Relax your muscles and enjoy what this method has to offer to you.

Even thought we’ve covered many of the best types of meditation, especially for the beginner, there are plenty more. Make it your experience to learn more of them.

Conclusion

As you can see, meditation is a very complex process that really can be brought down into a few simple things. By finding an element to concentrate on and then clearing your mind of all that is happening around you, you can enter into a state of meditation.

Why do it? Why should you meditate? Although it can be difficult for anyone to really understand the benefits of meditation without first giving it a try, the fact is that meditation can take you to a new level of consciousness.

Not only will it help to improve your stress levels, often helping you to reduce them to healthy levels, but it helps you to feel good, too. You will feel more collected and organized in your thoughts. When this alone happens, you’ll be able to make better decisions, work harder without working too much and you’ll accomplish more each and every day.

Meditation has many health benefits and has been helpful in improving the quality of life for many. But, don’t take our word for it. You know have the ability to learn how to take your own life to a new level through meditation. Enlightenment truly can happen through this process of experiencing meditation. Most individuals can master is quickly and therefore will improve their life easily.

Meditation is something to experience, with your full heart and your empty mind.

With meditation, everything is built from the simplest of methods up to more complex types. To enter into enlightenment, then, you need to first take baby steps. Our first meditation is one that’s simple, straightforward and honesty is something you can master in a few tries at it, if you do it correctly.

Let’s go through the process now. In this meditation, our goal is to introduce you with the relaxation response. This is a great type of meditation to do daily, even when you are busy.

To get started, put aside time to meditate. You need to try and do this daily to fully learn through practice how to accomplish it as well as to benefit from all that meditation can offer to you.

Simple Mediation

Simple mediation can start like this.

1. Find a location that’s quiet and where you know you won’t be bothered. You are looking for ten to twenty minutes of undisturbed meditation here. Turn off all telephones and anything else that could become a distraction.
2. Now, sit comfortably and quietly. Keep your back in position with your spine vertically aligned. Remember that posture is something that you need to make happen.
3. Commit to what you are doing right now. That means not allowing distraction to play a role now. Commit to not being interrupted by anything happening in the world around you. Most importantly, remove anything from the room or from your line of view that could be a potential distraction. Commit to performing meditation.
4. Select a word that fits into your natural belief system. For example, use “love” “peace” or others. If you are religious, select a work of a short phrase that signifies what you blieve. “Hallelujah” or “Om” make good choices. Close your eyes once you’ve selected the right word. Closing your eyes helps you to enter into relaxation.
5. Now, we’ll go through the body and relax each of the muscles in it. Start with your toes. Consciously think to yourself that your toes should relax and feel them relax. Next, move to your feet, your legs and so on. You want to allow each of your muscles to relax. Make sure to include your neck, your jaw, your pelvis, back, your arms, fingers and hands, and shoulders. As this happens, feel the tension leave your body.
6. Continue to breathe through the process in deep, long breathes and repeat your mediation word over and over again. Breathe in, say your word, breathe out, and repeat. You don’t need to say the word out loud, but rather mentally pronounce it.
7. Use the passive attitude that we’ve talked about. If any thoughts come into your mind while you are sitting, relaxing, let them go out simply by telling yourself “oh well.” Most people will have trouble with this at first, so don’t worry about how well you are doing. Just let go of those words the best that you can. Keep repeating your meditation word, too.
8. Keep this going for ten minutes at least and strive for twenty. Don’t use any alarm to warn you, just open your eyes for a moment to check.
9. Sit and relax for several minutes once you’ve come out of your meditation. Keep your eyes closed for a couple of minutes before opening them. Don’t stand up just yet. Allow yourself time to come back into reality before doing so.

You should try to do this simple meditation at least once a day but two or more times per day really can have a positive effect on your daily stresses. Many people find that this simple meditation works well before they get their day started, when they are fully rested and before they have eaten breakfast.

When you have practiced this type of mediation for several days or even longer, you should learn the benefits of meditation and what it can offer. If you don’t feel any different, you may not be following each step appropriately. You need to focus on relaxation not on whether or not meditation is going to heal all of you.

There are four big things to consider. First, you need to have the right attitude. For that, you need what is called a passive attitude. This attitude allows for the right experience because it takes away some of the lesser and often negative aspects that you may have towards meditation.

Attitude isn’t everything, though. The next element that you need is the right location. The best location for meditation is one that is quiet and relaxing to you. Whatever it takes to get into the right setting, make it happen.

Next, you need the right physical posture. Your body must be in the right stage so that you are both comfortable and relaxed to the level that meditation requires. When you enter this stage, meditation is easier to accomplish.

Finally, you need something to meditate on. As we’ve already discussed, there is importance in what this is as it should be something that is relaxing and something that allows you to remain still and quiet while meditating with that element.

Now, we’ll go into detail about each of these aspects. Each is a very important part to the meditation process.

Location

First, we need to help you to find the right location to meditate. As you can probably imagine, you need a location that is quiet and calm. If you wish to experience meditation, being in the correct surroundings will make all of the difference to you.

The best locations for you to select are those that will allow not only your mind to relax but also your body’s muscles.

This is generally done in a sitting or a lying position, so make sure that the location you choose offers that.

The location should be one that does not offer many distractions. This is crucial to the ability to filter these things out of your mind. Those that are just starting to learn meditation need the least distractions possible. Once you hone your skills, though, you’ll be able to meditate is more busy locations including in public locations where you can’t control the distraction and noise levels. First, though, look for quiet!

The Right Position

Just like the right location, being in the right position for meditation is crucial. Actually, what we are looking for here is the right posture for your body that provides for the best abilities to meditate.

The posture in which your body is in is very much a role player in the type of experience that you have. This is believed in many forms of alternative medicine and wellness. In Yoga, there are a number of postures performed to get the desired results.

If you are practicing Kum Ney, which is a type of Islamic prayer, there are postures beneficial here. In Buddhist religious ceremonies, the posture of the body is very critical to the experience that the individual has in the prayer that they lead.

One of the most important elements in maintaining your posture is to keep your spine straight. Although there is no proof medically speaking, it is believed that when the spine is correctly aligned, in a straight line, which it helps to benefit the state of mind that you are in.

If you have a problem with your spine and this is not comfortable for you, do not insist on it. Most individuals will experience some discomfort during their first few experiences with this type of straightening of the back. For most, this will go away after you get used to it. If it is pain, though, don’t force yourself to do this.

You may be tempted to meditate in a lying down position. Although this position does work, it often causes individuals that are new to meditation to fall asleep. Therefore, unless you know that you can refrain from sleeping; try to use the sitting up position.

Semi Poised

The semi poised posture is another choice. In a semi poised posture, you are not sitting straight up and you are not lying down flat. You are reclining to a point. This is often done by those that can’t sit well straight up. It can be done on your sofa for additional comfort. Make sure that your head is supported in this position. You should not put yourself in a position that allows you to fall asleep, though.

Poised Posture

The most common and the most beneficial type of posture is that of poised. The poised posture is one in which the back and spine is upright and straight, but is not rigidly so. The reasoning behind this benefit is actually important to understand.

When you are in the poised posture, your body is alert. Your state of mind is that of being aware and poised, ready for attention. By keeping your back straight, you are keeping your mind alert.

Lotus Posture

Another option is that of the lotus posture. This is actually the most common and well liked posture in the Eastern forms of meditation. In this position, you will sit with your legs crossed and the back and spine in a vertical line. Your legs are crossed with the feet placed on the thighs.

The problem with the lotus posture is that it can be somewhat painful for those that aren’t flexible. It can be something learned and even mastered after a few tries.

There are other postures that can be used as well. If you would like to learn a posture that allows you to sit in a specific position, look towards your meditation guide to help you to find one that works for you.

Passiveness In Your Attitude

The next key ingredient in meditation is your attitude. Often, the attitude that is most commonly required and talked about is that of poised awareness. Your attitude is probably the most important element in this entire process. It is called poised awareness because that’s just what you are. You are relaxed but alert in such a way that is the perfect balance between the two.

When you enter this type of awareness, you notice what is happening around you but you are not focusing on it. You are casually aware of these things and yet you are detached from them.

When new thoughts enter your mind, you must let them just pass through, knowing that they have come but not caring much about them. As you gaze at your meditation object, you’ll want to allow your mind the ability to notice what is happening around you.

But, when your mind wanders away and you begin to add additional thoughts onto that original one, developing an interest in them, come back to that meditation object and readdress your methods of entering into meditation.

When you learn to keep your mind focused and relaxed, you can realize that your mind has gone off into another direction and bring it back to where we want it to be for meditation.

When you enter poised awareness, you will at first need to fight to stay there. Yet, over time, you’ll find yourself being able to stay in focus throughout your meditation experience. You don’t have to fight it as much.

A passive attitude is one in which your mind can notice that there are other thoughts passing through, but that stays relaxed and doesn’t focus on those thoughts. When you can do this, you’ll be able to notice but not react to those distractions that come your way, therefore allowing your
body and mind to enter into meditation easier.

Your Meditation Object

There is one more piece of the puzzle to enter into meditation through practicing yourself. You need to have a meditation object to use to help direct and focus your attention on.

The object that you use is generally called a mantra, which is actually a specific word or even a syllable.

Sometimes, like in Buddhism meditation, you’ll focus on your breathing movements as your object for meditation. If you do decide to use breathing as your method for entering into meditation, then do so correctly. You need to make your meditation method use the rise and fall of your abdomen rather than the presence of inhaling air.

In addition, make sure to use breathing that comes you’re your diaphragm rather than from your stomach. Proper posture will help this as will practicing how to use it. Once you get into a meditation state, you’ll find that the rhythm of your breathing in the movement of your body will help to
promote deep relaxation.

Either of these, mantra or breathing, can be used as your meditation object so long as they provide for relaxation.

You can also use various other elements in the room you are in. If you choose to do this, make sure that the element you select is something that provides for relaxation. Some individuals like to close their eyes in order to relax and then to induce meditation. This is up to you and your preferences for meditation.

Should you go with a mantra for your method of inducing meditation, do so with careful thought. Although some meditation therapists will tell you that a specific selection of sounds should be used for your mantra as determined by your nervous system, there isn’t a lot of noticeable benefit
from this. You can use any word that is neutral and that allows you to stay focused. It should not be something that easily brings another thought to your mind.

It doesn’t have to be a word either. It can be a nonsensical sound or a grouping of sounds.

Remember that your mind needs to enter into a phase in which no thoughts or very few thoughts and no thoughts of meaning are passing through it. When this happens, the deepest level of thought and consciousness are found and only then can it happen.

Put It Together

Once you have learned each of these four very important elements to the meditation process, you can begin to develop a pattern for yourself. Most of the time, it does take some practice and just trying out different methods to actually find the process that works the best for you. The goal is to remember what you are after. You want a state of mind that is clear from other thoughts and you want to put yourself both your mind and your body in a relaxed state.

For you, this may be different from what it is for others that meditate. We recommend starting with those methods described here and practicing with them until you have achieved them. Later, if you find that something works better for you, such as with your posture or your meditation object, you can then change it to match the benefits that you’ve found.

Most commonly, though, meditation involves a trial and error. Don’t assume that just one try of a mantra will work. If you don’t fully learn how to do something, this too can lead to the wrong experience. For example, if you don’t breathe correctly, you can’t know that breathing doesn’t
work for you.