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Meditation really is the most wonderful tool, once you learn how to work with it. There are a variety of methods of meditating and even more purposes for which meditation can be used. During this article, you will learn a very simple method of meditating. You will also be instructed on several uses of meditation including The Stillness Exercise and Guided Meditation.

Let’s begin with setting the scene. Although with some practice, you can meditation just about anywhere, to begin with at least, it is best to choose a quiet, peaceful place where it’s not likely you will be disturbed. If you have a room designed for sacred space with an altar and so on, then that is ideal. You can however use any part of your home as long as it is quiet, or even a garden, park, or similar.

It is good to set a little ritual in preparation for the meditation, this acts as an anchor, i.e., a practice that, after a few times, helps to bring your mind into the state of meditation. Actions like taking the phone off the hook, hanging a sign on the door, lighting a candle and some incense, are good examples of such a ritual. You can also say a prayer affirming that you are about to meditate and that you want this meditation to be clear, peaceful and healing/empowering/informing depending on your meditational goals.

It is best to meditate sitting up with your back straight, however, you can lie down if you need to.

Once you’ve chosen your meditation area and performed your ritual, it is then time to meditate.

1. Sit comfortably, with a straight back, feet flat on the ground, (use a pillow under your feet if you are too short),
2. Focus on your breathing. Feel the breath moving in and out of your body. Do this for a few minutes, until you feel yourself relax,

3. Check over your body for any areas of tension or tightness, then focus on that area and drop it, relax it, focus on your breath pouring into that area, releasing any tension,
4. Slow your breathing right down, so that you are very, very relaxed,
5. When you are ready, begin your meditation, examples are given later in the article,
6. When you have completed the meditation, return your attention to the room or garden where you are meditating from. Notice the clothes on your skin, the chair beneath you, your feet on the floor. Then wiggle your fingers and toes to bring yourself back completely.
7. Make sure you keep a journal of your meditative experiences, as sometimes things that show up in your meditations (just like dreams) will make more sense further down the track than they do now.
8. Finally you may need to do some grounding exercises if you are feeling a bit lightheaded or vague. Examples of Grounding Exercises include walking around barefoot on grass, eating or drinking something, washing the dishes and stretching exercises.

This is the Meditation framework within which you can work. It may take a bit of practice, but it is worth the effort. From here, you need a few ideas on what to do with this meditational space you’ve created for yourself.

The Stillness Exercise

The first method of meditation is sitting in stillness. This is done by simply emptying your mind. Not thinking anything. Anytime you notice a thought entering your mind, just let it go and return to stillness. This takes practice, but it’s a wonderful exercise. You can start with 10 minutes per meditation and build from there. Many people meditate using this practice for 2 hours per day!

Guided Meditation

This practice is done by using your imagination to follow a journey from beginning to end. It can be done many ways including having the journey recorded on tape or cd, following a guided meditation in a group, with an instructor guiding you, reading it through just like you do a book, remember it and take yourself through it, just as examples.

A lot can be done with this meditation, everything from spiritual journeys, quests, healing, chakra balancing and much more. One simple example, designed by the author, is given below.

Full Moon Meditation

You are lying on your back, floating in a beautiful pool of water. All around you is ancient forest, and above you, lighting your way is grandmother moon, full and glowing brightly. The water supports you completely, the perfect temperature, you feel completely safe. You stare up at the moon, feeling relaxed and comfortable, and you begin to feel her becconing you, drawing you up to her. The feeling is lovely, and as you enjoy her calling you, you suddenly realise that you are in fact no longer floating in the water, instead, you are moving upward, gently, flowing, upwards, you look beneath you and see the canopy of trees. You feel free! You feel as though you can do anything, go anywhere. Gently, you try to somersault, and it works! Take some time to play with your new skill. Fly off to wherever you want to go. Or just twist and turn where you are.

When you are finished, thank Grandmother Moon for your new skill and tell her you wish to return to the earth. Slowly you move back down, until you find yourself standing on solid ground. Now return to the room you are in.

How To Use This Meditation

To make use of this meditation, you can read it and use your imagination to follow it, commit it to memory and follow the journey in your mind, or you can record it.

Recording A Guided Meditation

If you decide to record a meditation, there are a few important points to make.

1. Keep the meditation in third tense (using words like ‘you’ and ‘your’) don’t change the wording to first tense (’me’ or ‘mine’). It doesn’t matter that you are speaking to yourself, you will be listening to this from a recorded device, you need to feel as though it is speaking to you.
2. Speak slowly, rhythmically, read out one phrase or instruction, e.g., “You are lying on your back, floating in a beautiful pool of water…” and then leave a few seconds space. This is time for you to process, and experience the bliss of this part of the journey. Usually 10-15 seconds is enough for the short instructions, in the more complex instructions you can leave a longer break. For the flying and exploration instruction in the above meditation, for example, you can leave a full 5 minute break so that you can really explore.

There are many books, internet sites and meditation groups that give great examples of Guided meditations. After practicing meditation for a while, you may even feel drawn to designing your own meditations.

Meditation is practiced all over the world, by people of different beliefs, faiths and cultures. This is a tool that can transform and empower your life even if you only use it for as little as five minutes a day, although the greatest rewards are to be had by committing to meditation as an important part of your spiritual and self empowerment practice.

Daniella Breen B.Sc. (Psych) has been practicing meditation for most of her life and has been a Meditation Instructor for 9 years. You will find some of her Guided Meditations available free to copy at http://www.shamangoddess.com, and there are more to be found at the Shaman Goddess Meditation forum at this address http://p097.ezboard.com/bshamangoddess. Finally, Daniella does design personal meditation for specific issues or focuses. This service is also available at her site.

Tags: guided, healing, meditation, relaxation, stress, visualisationguided, healing, meditation, relaxation, stress, visualisation

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In this segment, we’ll be looking at helpful ways to encourage that medative state of mind, ready for when we start work on different meditation techniques, which will be covered in subsequent lessons.

Meditation is a discipline that coaches relaxation in the body and calms the mind which I believe, leads to discovering our divine, true self that has no beginning and no end.

When we first start on the path of meditation we can encounter many difficulties. Finding the right time or *fitting it into our daily routines* is typically the first difficulty. The second, is how to relax the body and calming the mind is the third most common difficulty. This is by far the most common difficulty people encounter. This is a tricky technique to accomplish because when we first try and relax the mind, we are attacked by thoughts on every day subjects and worries. Pantanjali, a wise eastern sage likens the mind to a pond into which is thrown a continuous stream of stones, causing ripples upon the ponds surface. The pond represents the mind, the stones, thoughts and the ripples, the disturbances that these thoughts cause. Unless we stop throwing stones, allowing the ripples to become still, we will never see the bottom. In other words, if we are unable to quieten the mind and free it from thoughts we will never see our own true self.

Establishing time

It is important to set aside the same time each day to meditate. This then becomes a discipline, as it’s so easy to have the intentions to meditate every single day, but if a fixed time is not organised, the day then becomes night and then we just simply *can’t be bothered*.Therefore we should ideally set aside fifteen minutes daily for stilling the mind and attaining inner peace. You might find you actually look forward to these moments that are just for you. Let me assure you now, that this time you set aside will definitely not be wasted time.

I suggest, when starting meditation for the first time, you do two fifteen minute meditations daily. But be sure to leave at least six hours in-between each meditation, dusk and dawn are excellent times to meditate. More importantly, try to give your mind some notice that it is about to meditate. Once you have decided your time for meditation it does help to stick to it as previously mentioned in this article, discipline. This should not be hurried or done whilst you should be doing your washing or you won’t settle. If you meditate before going to sleep in the evening, the serenity produced will help sleeps become better quality, often recommended for insomniacs to try. If you sleep with worries or active thoughts on your mind you will have poor quality of rest, but if you go to bed with a peaceful mind, you should sleep like a child and hopefully awaken in the morning revitalised and refreshed ready for the new day.

If you meditate in the mornings, the inner peace you reach first thing will carry you through the day, with a sense of calm and cope-ability. Again, take your time and do no worry. I find it helpful to set the alarm clock just twenty minutes earlier than normal. I allow five minutes to prepare the room for mediation and then I settle down in peace, because the rest of my family is still sleeping. This is my usual time for positive affirmations as they prepare me for the day. It’s comparable to setting your mind to the right frequency, if we affirm often enough.

Meditation is a perfect way to bring in affirmations, especially morning ones. Leave an hour after a meal, or you will still be in digestion mode. You can meditate anytime of the day, you must find what suits you and your way of life best.

Establishing location

Think of any meditation centres, Yoga rooms or indeed churches that you may have visited in the past and remember how the room felt, how you felt as you entered the room. Most people can feel the space as soon as they walk in to the room. Similar to when you meet a person and you know instantly if you like them or not. This is because the people, who have prayed or meditated previously in that room, have instilled their lingering thoughts and energies there and, as we know, energy cannot be destroyed. That’s one great reason to think about using the same room for each mediation session. Find a place which is quiet, warm and where you know you will not be disturbed.

The more a space is used for meditation the more peaceful the vibrations become there and accordingly, easier to slip into that meditative state of mind. If, like most people, you do not have the room for a ’special meditation room’ in your home, you can utilise another room such as your living room. In this case, before you meditate, you can soften the energy vibrations created by the normal hustle and bustle that will have been created throughout the day, several ways. Most commonly, by thoroughly airing the room and the burning of incense or Aromatherapy oils, but my favourite way is with fresh flowers. Fresh flowers not only contribute their own gentle fragrance, but also provide objects for contemplation if you are working with gazing meditation. Another way to enhance the atmosphere ready for meditation is by playing a tape of soft new age or classical music, but its imperative that I mention here that although music can be a useful aid, many do prefer complete silence during mediation so trial and error to find what suits you best. Lighting should be soft, wear clothes that are warm, comfortable and of course none restrictive, I’d also suggest that you remove your shoes, simply because the more comfortable you are, the easier it will be for you to relax in preparation for mediation.

As I’ve mentioned, we are not all lucky enough to have our own mediation room, but there are alternatives. Use of your bedroom (try not to fall asleep though), the garden (find a tree or plant you feel most connected to and use that as your own personal mediation space during the warmer months) or by finding any room that is not being utilized in the evenings or mornings. (I have known people to use the cupboard under their stairs to find that peace and personal space that’s just theirs! Any space will do, as long as you feel safe and comfortable there.

Establishing posture

It’s alright, I’m not about to dictate to you, strange and weird postures that only the most athletic or subtle bodies can manage, but I do need to point out that you should get your posture right for you before contemplating a meditation. Otherwise you may find the whole exercise ruined by uncomfortable fidgets. Not only for comfort, but if you have got the posture right you should feel grounded and safe.

Which ever posture you choose, you must insure that your spine is straight, as this is the main channel in which your energy flows from the earth and through your spiritual body towards the higher realms of consciousness. Not only that, but you don’t want to injure your back by sitting slumped for long periods of time. Find what suits you by trying a few things out, lying down, sitting up in a high back chair, or on a sofa. Perhaps you can use props around your home to adjust your comfort levels, such as big floor cushions or yoga mats.

Have a play and see what you feel most comfortable with. Try each position by staying in it for five minutes at a time and seeing how your body feels in that space. Don’t worry, you don’t need to have a set posture, you can swop and change the more you practise meditation, and soon you’ll have it down to a fine art. You’ll know exactly what feels good and what does not.

Words to think about until our next lessons “Trial and error, find what suits you and don’t be afraid to try new things. You never know, the grass could actually be greener on the other side, if not then no harm done.”.

Hayley Jo-Anne Kenwright is presenter of ‘Meditation Time’ @ http://www.spiritualconnextions.com radio Every Friday and Monday evening (GMT)

Having now contributed articles to leading magazines such as Rainbow News, Chat Its Fate, Take 5 and PS magazine, Hayley Jo-Anne has been interviewed on the radio about her spirit and healing work and even has her own psychic column with the exciting new woman’s magazine ‘Skylar’.
For more information please visit the following site http://www.exorcisms.co.uk (team member Hayley Jo-Anne) and http://www.myspace.com/hayleyjoanne

Tags: beginners, development, holistic, meditation, psychic, reflection, relaxation, spiritual, stressbeginners, development, holistic, meditation, psychic, reflection, relaxation, spiritual, stress

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Meditation is an incredible tool capable of bringing peace of mind and creating solace in our hearts during challenging times. It has been used since ancient times to facilitate human connection to a source that we have felt to be unreachable.

There are many forms of meditation. I feel that meditation happens when we sit silently in a garden in the presence of nature or when we are perfectly still in the silence of prayer. Meditation gives us the opportunity to understand ourselves better as it is within us that we find what we are seeking to make our lives happy.

Oddly enough, men and women meditate in different ways. Women may sit in a bath with candles, essential oils and soothing music to create a calm environment within themselves. Men, on the other hand, literally “get away from it all” and go fishing. When they journey out into the water and sit in their boats, waiting for the fish to bite, the time spent on the water is a form of calming the mind and soothing the spirit.

I feel that any repetitive activity that creates calm within is a form of meditation.

From this calm of meditation comes control of the mind and ease in visualizing our goals. Being calm in our mind gives us the power of intense focus. This intense focus give us so much opportunity to figure it all out. In addition, visualization during meditation is an incredible way to use our imagination to affect healing in our bodies. Many have used meditation to travel into past lives, balance their chakras and connect with inner guidance.

The easiest way to meditate is to sit comfortably in a quiet place. Use music if it works for you. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Make it a game. Feel your breath enter through your mouth and leave your nostrils. Keep focusing and allow your body to relax. Soon you will feel weightlessness. I encourage you to set your intention before you enter into meditation. Is it mental quiet that you seek? or connection to your heart? or maybe it is to fall through time and visit a past life?

A complaint I have heard, time and again, is that most people find it a challenge to keep the mind still. Thoughts seem to fill their heads faster than they are able to remove them. My solution is to allow your thoughts to flow. Watch your thoughts flow through your mind and then watch them disappear in the distance. If you do not fight the thoughts flowing through your mind, you will achieve stillness much faster.

Remember, your ability to meditate will become easier with time. It takes some work at the beginning so don’t feel discouraged right away. Simply begin with a basic grounding meditation and soon enough you will find yourself on the path to inner peace.

To listen to a free snippet of such a meditation, http://www.soniahaynes.com/page/page/2433134.htm

Article by Sonia Haynes, intuitive counsellor, author & spiritual healer.

Tags: Calm, Freedom, Goals, healing, meditation, peace, relaxation, spirit, stress, successCalm, Freedom, Goals, healing, meditation, peace, relaxation, spirit, stress, success

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