HOW TO MEDITATE : A SHORT LESSON

It isn't very difficult to learn how to meditate. For beginners, a simple breath watching meditation is often recommended. An example is below. Then an even easier way follows that.

How To Meditate - Breath Watching

Relax, close your eyes and pay attention to your breath - that's the whole meditation. The idea of this meditation is to let go of your thoughts. Of course this is easier said than done, so here are some tips to make this more effective.

1. Tense to relax. If you have difficulty relaxing or letting go of the tension in some particular part of your body, it sometimes helps to first tense up and then release. Pay attention to the feeling of the tension draining away when you release, and you essentially train yourself how to relax more deeply.

2. Choose a comfortable position. Sitting with legs crossed is the most common meditation posture, but if you can remain awake, laying down works fine as well. I even enjoy doing this while standing.

3. Breath deeply through your nose. You'll notice that your diaphragm is more engaged when you breath through your nose (notice how your abdomen expands more). This brings air deep into your lungs. Let your chest expand as well.

4. Return to the breath. Your thoughts will intrude again and again.

This isn't necessarily a problem though. You just keep returning your attention to the air coming and going through your nose.

Simply meditate like this for at least five minutes, working up to twenty minutes in subsequent sessions.

How To Meditate - The Easiest Way For Beginners

The easiest way to meditate is to simply listen to a meditation CD that uses brainwave entrainment technology. These products usually have background music (or other sounds) in which beats are embedded. These "binaural beats," as they are sometimes called, affect your brainwaves, slowing them down. This quickly brings you to a meditative state with no real effort on your part.

Do they work? Yes. Having tried many different types of meditation CDs, I can report that they are powerful tools. I use them for meditation as well as sleep-inducers (just lay down while listening).