Now, I realize some of the beginners reading this are probably saying, “Aw, come on, meditation? You mean I have to sit cross-legged on the floor and chant some weird stuff for hours on end?” Uh, no. There are many different forms of meditation, and there is no reason one need take such a dedicated approach unless they are, well, dedicated. For the rest of us, simple meditation exercises work just fine.
Here's an example of a simple meditation approach: sit in a comfortable place and position, whatever that happens to be. Crossed legs are not required. You can lie down if you're sure you won't fall asleep. The position does not matter so long as you are comfortable.
Make sure you are sufficiently warm. Once you're good at meditation, your body temperature will drop a bit while you are in the trance state, and this can make meditation a bit uncomfortable if you aren't prepared for it. An extra sweater or a blanket should do.
Now, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and slowly release it. Take another deep breath, and slowly release it. Take yet another deep breath, and slowly release it. Allow yourself to relax more and more as you breathe. Focus only on your breathing and nothing else. Nothing else matters at the moment. All your outside problems can stay outside during your meditation session. You will get back to them in a few minutes, so give yourself permission to take care of you for the time being. If a foreign thought creeps in, shrug it off and go back to concentrating on your breathing.
You may notice after a while that your body begins to rock in a circular motion. This is common, though not everybody does this. If you reach this state, rest assured that you are going into a good trance and flow with it. By this point, whether you're rocking or not, it should be feeling quite good.
Shortly after this point, you may enter a dream-like state where images or voices flash through your mind for a split second before they vanish again. This is normal as well, though not everyone will reach this state, especially not right away. A trance is a state similar to sleep, and therefore you are likely to have dreams while remaining conscious if you go deep enough into one. If you are fortunate enough to reach this state of meditation, go with it, and pay as much attention to what you are experiencing as you can. If you wake up, shrug it off and continue meditating. You might go right back into the dream state. I tend to go back and forth frequently.
After a period of time, whenever you decide you've spent enough time meditating, slowly will yourself to wake up and open your eyes. Focus on something in front of you for a few moments before trying to move, as you may be ungrounded if you went deep, and you need to give yourself time to readjust before standing up.
When you feel ready, stand up, stretch, and move your body. You should feel relaxed, refreshed, and be eager to do it again in the near future. If so, wonderful! Even if you didn't experience everything I indicated here, just the feeling of relaxation and refreshment indicates you've done this correctly. If you didn't, try again later, and do your best to relax.
So how often should you meditate? As often as you want, really. I would say the ideal would be once a day, but some do it more and some do it less. Some only meditate when they really need it, though as a beginner, you should pick a schedule and stick with it until you're good at it, or that metaphysical door won't unlock any time soon.
You may notice a side benefit of meditating often, that of your dreams becoming more vivid than before. I will discuss dreams more in the future, but for now, if you get an interesting dream, pay attention to it. Write it down to help you remember it or tell a friend. It's possible the dream is trying to tell you something about your life, and now that the dreams are vivid, you actually have a chance of paying attention to whatever they have to say.
So, now you've been meditating on a regular schedule and you're getting good at it, but you'd like to spice it up a bit and make it different. No problem. There are a zillion ways to meditate, though it's best to learn the most basic way first so you don't turn props into crutches. Once you've mastered the basic way, feel free to experiment. Finding new ways to meditate can be fun.
- Play some soft music in the background while you're meditating. Certain kinds of instrumental New Age music are especially good, as they cater it specifically toward meditation. Go to your local library and look through their New Age music CDs. If you find any you like, you can buy them later at the book store or wherever you regularly buy music. Using your library first will save you a lot of money here.
- Find a health food store or metaphysical store that sells essential oils and buy a vial or two of some scent you find has a calming effect on you. I personally enjoy sage oil, some people like lavender, and there are other good candidates for meditation if you simply ask the sellers what they recommend. Whatever you choose, sprinkle a few drops in the area where you will meditate, whether that be on your chair, your clothes, your pillow, or even in your bath water.
- Light a stick or cone of incense in the room you will be meditating in, and let the smoke relax you as you breathe in the scent. Don't inhale it directly, as that might make you choke. Put the incense in a place where it isn't so close so as to make you choke, isn't so far away you can't smell it, and not near anything flammable. Also make sure to have something underneath it to catch the ashes, or you'll have a little coating of gray dust all over your nice table.
- Have a change in scenery. Go to a park or some other soothing place and let the sounds of nature relax you. The sounds of wind playing with the leaves, the birds chirping, and the brook rippling over rocks can be more soothing than the most beautiful music created by man.
There are other things you can do, but I trust you have enough of an imagination to think up some on your own. If you don't have one, get one. You need it for metaphysical experiences.
So, I hope this helped to clarify meditation a bit for you, and that you will have many wonderful meditation experiences. All the best to those who try this. I'm sure you will succeed, if not the first time, then some time soon. Just remember to keep trying, and have fun doing it.
See you in the next article!
