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Suggestions On How To Meditate

When we first beginning to meditate, there are many habits that we fall into that prevent us from achieving a peaceful, state to make any real progress. There are habits of worry, restlessness, judging ourselves or our practice of meditation, excessive movement which can become distracting, overeating, overindulging in smoking or drinking, complaining, and finding fault. There also are certain habits that we can do to assist our mind to get into a place of meditation, and to begin to make some progress in your practice. Here are some hints:

Consistency of Time: It is better to meditate at the same time every day. It is also usually easier to meditate early in the morning because the Earth is more still, your mind is quieter and the day-to-day activities have not started yet. But if you can’t do it early in the morning, be consistence with the time that you meditate during your day, and do this every day if you are able.

Consistency of Place: It is also beneficial to have the same place, so that your mind can make recognition of familiar things that are around and begin to feel secure there. The mind is like a small child that needs routine. Chose a certain corner of a room or room of your house that you will consider your meditation space. If you cannot leave out your props each day, collect them and then with each time you can display and use them in that space once again. Consistency of time and place assists the mind with that feeling of safety and security.

"Silence is the eloquent expression of the inexpressible.”

Familiar Props: Having the same things that you use consistently helps greatly in your meditation process. Again it is a sense of trust, safety and familiar that aids the mind to become quiet. A suggestion of some props includes your choice of prayer cloth, which can be draped over your person. Drape cloth for an alter that you set up. An alter, or table that will have all of your meditation items on it, a bell or chime, or Tibetan bowls to announce the beginning and end of your meditation, prayer beads or mala beads, inspirational books, or prayer books, candle or small light, incense, a mediation pillow, mat, or roll, special pictures of landscapes or saints or spiritual leaders, or special items like a feather, or blessed materials, shells, small stones etc, small tickless alarm clock.

Creating a Routine of Actions: In creating habits for meditation, a routine says to your mind that it is time to meditate and get quiet. The routine might include, first a preparation of purification. This could include a bath, or simply washing your face and your hands with cool water, and then patting your face dry prior to starting your meditation. Next an acknowledgement to your higher self, or god, is appropriate. You could do this by putting your hands together in prayer position over your heart, which indicates you are centering your heart, and opening your heart, then lift your hands to your forehead, to acknowledge your third eye or center of perception, and then bring your hands back down to touch your heart. It is an indication that you are coming back to your center and that is where you will begin your meditation. It is also an intention of purification of heart and mind. After purifying yourself physically and mentally, you might chose to light an incense, set out your props, and light a candle. You could ring a chime or a bell and let the sound resonate in your ears and through your body. If you enjoy meditation with music it is appropriate to turn on your music softly prior to your beginning. Next you may begin your breathing to center your mind, and cover yourself with your prayer shawl or blanket.

Meditation is the stillness of the mind and a reconnection with your inner spirit. It could be a time of reflection, and a period of question and answers, or simple a time of less thoughts to offer you peace. Here are some tools to help you get to that quiet place.

First for the novice, an appropriate duration of time is 5-10 minutes. Do not overtax yourself when you first begin. As you progress the duration of time can increase to 10-30 or 40 minutes, or for an hour or more. When meditating, we try to shut out the outside stimulus and force the mind inward. This is one reason that you try to sit as still as possible in the session. You are discarding all physical distraction and sensations. It is important to sit in the most comfortable position that you are able so that you will be able to sit still for a period of time. Prior to beginning your meditation, you could stretch your neck and move your head up and down and to either side, stretch your back a little and your shoulders. When you prepare in this way it is more likely that you will not be distracted by physical tension.

As you begin to meditate watch and observe your thoughts without any judgments or condemnation. When you have observed your thoughts for a while, begin to call the mind back like a little child. “We are breathing, we are letting go of these thoughts now.” Refocus on the breath coming in through your nose again, if you become disturbed or distracted. If you are fearful be assured that nothing here can hurt you, this is a discovery of your inner self and a return to your TRUE nature. Once you have become accustomed to meditating you will be more comfortable with your true nature and realize that you are created to be naturally peaceful, and joyful, and that is the natural state of your being.

There are different techniques to get you to that silent and still place. Breathing is very important for trans- porting you to that place, a sound mantra like OM i s helpful, a guided meditation, an open eye meditation that lets you have a focus on one particular object, point, or picture or candle can immediately take you to the still place, focusing on music, or particular elements of the music can accomplish that stillness. You can chose one or more of these techniques to get you there.

You could also have a meditation of questions and answers. It is important to write down the questions that you wish to ask before you begin, so that there is a flow and a direction of the meditation process. Have a note pad so that you can write down the answers that come to you. Usually it is the first answer that comes to you. Write that down, even it you do not understand the reference. Write down everything until it feels complete and then move on to the next question. The question and answer period may go on for a few meditation sessions so do not become discouraged if you don’t get all of the answers immediately.

Ring the bell, to signal the conclusion of your meditation session, or turn off your alarm when it rings. After the time is up and your meditation has ended, begin to stretch and loosen your neck and shoulders, and your back and perhaps your arms and legs. Breathe big breaths in to bring you from that deep place. Do not force yourself beyond your time that you told yourself would be the amount of time for that day. There are other days to extend the time.

Meditation takes a lot of practice and time. There are many mental and physical obstacles to over- come. The mind is always active and always condemning. It judges you harshly without cause, it holds you guilty, it keeps you in a fearful place, it believes that it is under attack, it says empathically that you can never change, it is full of resistance and self loathing. The mind never speaks of your true nature, which is joy, love, compassion for all creatures, kindness, deep wisdom, abundance, and the unlimited free flowing capacity.

It is also helpful to keep a journal of your spiritual progress and your meditations. Which techniques work best for you, how often do you get to a still place, is there anything that came up that you did not expect, are you causing yourself stress in a process that is designed to bring more peace and stillness for you, are you judging yourself? Can you make a change to comfort yourself, are you receiving your answers during a Q & A period.

A Note On Meditation And Breathing. Breathing can start out big and full and then gradually become diminished and more silent. It is part of your focus that leads you to that still place. When you are meditating you are letting the mind rest on a new focal point other than a million thoughts of worry, anxiety, fear and what you will do in the next moment or the evening.

Remember a funnel, it has a great capacity coming into the top but it is coming down through a progressively narrower opening, until it passes through only a tiny opening. The same actions are occurring when you are limiting your thoughts to one or more focal points. Letting go of distracting thoughts, worry, and fear, and focusing on less and less until you are at a still place.

Focus: Earlier I told you that there are steps to get you to that still place, the focal points that draw your mind into a still and quiet place. One focus is the present moment, only this moment is what you are focusing on at this time. Another focus is the steady breathing coming into your physical form, or the OM sounds resonating through your mind and body, still other focuses include the elements of the music like running water that you are training your ears to pick out, or the music itself, in a guided meditation you are letting images form in your mind and that becomes a focal point, and in an open eye meditation you are letting your eyes become trained on a physical point that you can see, and gradually you let your mind come to an internal focal point. All of the focal points are designed to assist you to get into the resting place of the mind where the mind becomes secondary. When the mind is resting and not complaining, condemning or judging then you become aware of your unlimited nature, of your gentleness, and divine essence. It is a place of realization of your TRUE SELF and in knowing and remember that you become so comfortable with your expanding and unlimited nature that you only wish to rest in that place.

My suggestions to you are practice, get relaxed, get settled, don’t judge, do not compare yourself to others, allow yourself to learn and progress at your own pace, encourage yourself, and reassure yourself when you need to, and keep on practicing and challenging yourself out of your comfort zone. Do not listen to the mind’s condemnation of you. It is only false ramblings.

Reward yourself for your effort. Be good to yourself. katscoolcorner@yahoo.com 201 970-9340

Yoga Kat-aka Katheryn Hoban is a yoga instructor with twelve years of experience. She teaches children's yoga ages 3-6,7-12 and adults privately in NJ. She is the Author of the Book DAUGHTER BELOVED which is coming out next year. She has created a children's affirmation CD (ages 3-6) and an adult affirmation CD. She is available for speaking or writing engagements. Yoga Kat can be reached at katscoolcorner@yahoo.com or 201 970-9340

Also do not judge yourself or call yourself inadequate if you are not getting the responses that you want. Mediation takes practice and intention to do it well. Also one needs to become accustomed to how s/he receives that information personally.

Health Benefits of Meditation

Meditation is one of the top-10 alternative therapies used by the U. S. population. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine reports that 8% of Americans use meditation as a health tool. No longer just for Buddhist monks and New-Age types, meditation is now appealing to mainstream business professionals, medical doctors and even health care companies. This is a result of the growing evidence which supports that meditation can promote physical healing.

There are many meditative approaches but regardless of the technique, medical research indicates that the practice of meditation tends to evoke a state of physiological relaxation: blood pressure drops, heart beats slower and breathing is quieter, other biochemical changes can also occur. Scientists do not understand why the changes happen but understanding the physical effects can explain the potential health benefits of meditation.

Meditation may be spiritual for some, but the practice is not necessarily religious in nature.

Twenty minutes of daily meditation can provide relief for ailments such as low back pain, headaches, depression and anxiety. Suffers of these chronic conditions should attempt to incorporate the meditation practice into their daily routine. If meditation can lower blood pressure, it could be a useful tool in helping patients with hypertension. If scientists uncover exactly how meditation works to relieve these symptoms, they may be able to apply that understanding to treat a variety of other disorders.

Research on meditation began back in the late 1960s. Herbert Benson, MD, began studying the physiological impact of Transcendental Meditation on individuals. In recent years, the scope of studies has focused on how the practice can reduce symptoms of chronic illnesses from cardiovascular disease to cancer. Critics indicate some of the research is been on small study populations and has not had adequate control groups for comparison. But some studies have shown promising results.

Meditation can relax the body. Promote more restful sleep and boost the body’s immune system. This will help fight illness and better manage the symptoms of chronic conditions. Meditation can relax the mind and help us better deal with the stress of our daily lives. The popular interest in meditation and its health benefits may help drive more research in the future.

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Allison Preston owns http://www.fitness-web.com where she runs a health & fitness blog covering different diet, health, and fitness related topics. Fitness-Web.com also provides staff and consumer reviews on fitness infomercials.

Learning to Meditate Receptivity

When learning to meditate, it is important to try different meditation techniques, some will work better for you than others. For example different techniques may involve breathing exercises, visualisations and exercises of concentration. However it is important to bear in mind that meditation is not just a mechanical process. In meditation what is important is the ability to be receptive to the silence of the soul. To have more successful meditation we can try to increase our receptivity through various things.

Firstly the environment of our meditation is important. To meditate we should ideally choose a certain room or sanctified corner which we can use just for meditation. This will help create a meditative vibration. If we meditate in a busy place like a bus it will be very difficult to feel this meditative peace.

Using objects like candles and beautiful flowers can also inspire us. A candle is particularly symbolic; the flame represents our aspiration, our yearning for something higher. A flame also represents light, which is a spiritual quality of meditation. When we see a beautiful flower it also helps raise our consciousness. For meditation it is also advisable to shower before and wear light, clean clothes. All these aspects are not essential to meditation but they do help and are particularly helpful for a beginner.

Meditation is a dynamic activity, it is not just about relaxation. As Sri Chinmoy says:

“Meditation is silence, energizing and fulfilling. Silence is the eloquent expression of the inexpressible.”

To be receptive in meditation it is important to be fully awake and alert. For this reason it is advisable not to eat a heavy meal 2 hours prior to meditation. If we eat a meal the body will be more lethargic because it is digesting the meal. We can increase our receptivity during meditation by cultivating a feeling of gratitude. When we have a feeling of gratitude it means we value our meditation and therefore we will give it our focused attention.

In meditation we seek to go beyond the mind, we are using the energy of our heart and soul. Therefore to be receptive in meditation we should not use the mind. In particular the mind can be distracting when it expects a certain experience. If we expect a certain outcome we will be disappointed. It is also the case that the mind cannot comprehend the real effects of meditation because it is something that is not easily expressed.

Music can play a vital role in creating the right environment for meditation. Soulful spiritual music creates the right vibration and consciousness. Our heart naturally responds to soul-stirring music. Meditative music can make us aware of a hidden reality deep within side ourselves. Thus we will aspire with great intensity, our meditation will have more concentration and one pointed ness.

If we cannot meditate well in the beginning we should not be discouraged. Through practise we can develop our receptivity and enable a more fruitful meditation.

Richard is an economics teacher in Oxford and is a member of the Sri Chinmoy Centre Richard edits a site of spiritual Poems and the poetry of Sri Chinmoy.

How to Meditate With a Mantra

These days whenever a politician repeats a promise over and over again commentators say that this promise has become a “mantra” for that politician. For the journalists, the word “mantra” means a meaningless phrase that is repeated endlessly. For yogis however, a mantra is a word or collection of words, which has the power of liberating a human being from all limitations.

How can the repetition of a word or a few words have the capacity to bring about such miraculous results? It is all based on a simple psychological principle, “as you think, so you become.”

If you someone tells you “You’re stupid,” that’s of course a bad insult and will hurt you. However if you start to think “I am stupid,” and keep repeating this phrase over and over, then that is far worse. When someone tells you that you are stupid, then this is a negative outer-suggestion. When you start to think about it, then you are giving yourself, a negative auto-suggestion. If you keep thinking in a negative way, then your personal development will be harmed.

Meditation mantras have a positive meaning. They remind you that your true nature is something great: pure consciousness and boundless love. If you start to think about the best part of your being, you will begin to have more confidence in yourself and this will become apparent in your actions.

However, many people have read philosophical, spiritual or self-help books explaining these ideas, and yet they never realize these great truths in their everyday reality. It is not enough to just think about a good idea once, and then close the book. You need to think in a concentrated and systematic manner over a period of time in order to get results.

Meditation mantras have a special quality that helps in the task of concentrated, positive thinking: their very vibration has the capacity to concentrate and focus your mind. Some sounds, such as power drill breaking a pavement, can upset you greatly, while other sounds, like soothing music, can transport you to another world.

The syllables and words used in meditation mantras have been chosen according their sonic capacity, and they greatly aid the task of concentration and contemplation, as well as carrying a positive meaning.

In order to get the benefits from mantra meditation, you need to meditate regularly with a mantra that has a positive meaning and the capacity to help you concentrate. You need to do it on a regular basis, sitting silently two times a day for a period of 10 to 30 minutes.

It sounds easy, but the common experience of most people is that as you sit and try to think about one word or one phrase, your mind is quickly filled with many other thoughts; thoughts about work, financial problems, disputes with people and all kinds of other matters. When this happens, and it certainly will, then you have to bring your mind back to the mantra. Meditation is a process where you concentrate on the mantra and its meaning for as long as you can, and when you mind wanders, you bring it back.

Keep doing it, and you will attain an improved capacity to concentrate and deep inner peace.

It may still sound too good to be true, and some intellectuals scoff at the alleged power of a mantra. Once, a renowned Indian yogi came to America and delivered many lectures on this subject. In one of the lectures he was challenged by someone in the audience who said that it was not possible for a single word to deliver the results that the yogi promised. The yogi turned to the man, who was a distinguished professor and said “You fool!”

The professor turned red, and began to shout at the yogi, who calmly watched the professor unwind.

The yogi then addressed the professor and said: “Now can you understand the power of a single word? All I did was utter the word “fool” and your behavior was changed in an instant!

Dada Vedaprajinananda has been practicing and teaching yoga and meditation for the past 35 years. He is the webmaster of the Ananda Marga meditation society’s website, and is the author of Start Meditation, Stop Smoking and Yoga Weight Loss Secrets

Learning to Meditate

I love to meditate and have done so as long as I can remember. I fall into a natural meditation usually when I am half-awake, half-asleep.

If you have never meditated or have not been able to, try doing it the following way and see if it helps. The times when I have trouble falling into it naturally, I will clear my mind and concentrate only on one object (mine being Jesus). If any thoughts interrupt me, I'll push them aside and return to concentrating on my object.

Don't get frustrated if you have to repeatedly push aside thoughts-- especially if you have had a hectic or troubling day. Also, this exercise usually gets easier over time. Soon you'll find all the days' problems will start to leave you and you'll start thinking or getting a picture of something you know is not of the ordinary. Go with this thought and try not to concentrate on it too hard, or if it's a picture, try not to see more into the future than what you're seeing; this can interrupt the meditation. If this happens, just start concentrating on your object again.

There is one meditation that stands out above the rest. I found myself in the middle of no where. All scenery was a grayish tan. There was all flat land and one huge mountain. I found myself on top of the mountain taking in all the beauty of being so high above everything. Then I remember just doing a perfect backward dive and having the most serene feeling. About half way down the mountain I turned into an eagle and soared straight up and circled around the area. My meditation then ended.

You will find that meditation gets easier with practise. Just like learning anything new, you have to teach your mind to send your body the correct instructions. Soon, it will become second nature to you. If you find you are having a hard time learning to relax, try to do something which helps you relax before-hand, like: taking a soothing bath, reading, listening to music, etc ...

I have had a lot of unique experiences while meditating. They have all been so pleasant. It's so nice to be able to relax and clear your mind of all the days' troubles. Just that in itself is enough to try meditation. If you decide to try it, I hope you find it as relaxing, tranquil and cleansing as I do.

Tracey Wilson is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Creative Writing. Some of Tracey's writings can be found at http://www.writing.com/authors/intuey.

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