Meditation

Meditation is the practice is getting quiet, directing your conciousness and listening. Listening to your body, your spirit, your guides, God or the God force energy. Through meditation you can heal, deepen your concentration, develop your intuition and creativity, listen to your inner guidance, bring about changes to you and your life, and explore higher realities.

Don't try to hard

There is no one way to meditate. Meditation is simply quieting the daily 'buzz' and listening to your own thoughts, instead of your boss, husband/wife, children, TV ... . So the first thing to do is to get off by yourself, arranged not to be interrupted (it's OK if you miss a phone call or two!), and get comfortable. You do NOT want to try to force or over-analyze anything or try to hard to do it 'right'.

Getting comfortable for me meant laying flat on the floor with a towel under my head as a pillow. It can also mean sitting in a chair, sitting on the floor, or laying on your bed. Just loosen (or remove) your clothing and do not cross your legs or arms.

Breathe

Breathing is also very important. Start with two or three DEEP breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Then slow, deep breaths through your nose. You also want to practice directing your breaths to different parts of your body.

Then you want to be quiet. As thoughts about your bills, kids, boss or husband/wife come through your mind, gently push them away and concentrate on the breaths flowing in and out of your body. After you are quiet, you can devote a meditation session to a particular problem, but you have to get quiet and relax first.

Since quieting your mind is much easier said than done, you may want to start with a tape. I have tapes that lead me on a walk on the beach, one that helps me direct light to my chakras, or chants to help me relax. You could also meditate on colors, symbols or a favorite mantra. Start with one that you think you would enjoy and use it for at least a week before moving on. Start with a 20 minute tape and work up from there at your own pace.

Then practice. Your first (second, third, fourth ...) session will be boring and it will be very difficult to quiet your mind. But it gets easier and then it gets pleasant and then you begin to look forward to your sessions. Each time I meditate I get even more relaxed or I feel a different sensation that I had not felt before.

10 minutes

I urge you to commit to at least 10 minutes of meditation, three times a week. You can find 10 minutes that the rest of the world can function without you. Do this for two weeks and then you will not feel guilty about the time or feel it is being wasted, I promise. Meditation is doing something for YOU, and you deserve it.