Trouble Meditating? Try These Tips

By Jhanna Dawson

Years ago, I remember reading about meditation and how people would have life altering experiences including reaching Nirvana, discovering their purpose on earth, and astral traveling to far off countries and even other planets.

And yet, whenever I tried it, I would barely manage to get myself settled in before thoughts of my day would come to mind. 'Gently let those thoughts go and return to your meditation', I had people tell me. What did that mean?

After many years of attempts, and reading books about Kundalini, Transcedental, and other meditation types, I'm finally comfortable with meditating. I have learned to create the meditation around my needs, not the needs of the teachers, authors, or whomever.

From this, I have discovered several tips that have helped me get from the days of squirming around and finally giving up after five minutes, to someone who meditates regularly, sometimes for five minutes sometimes for as long as my children allow for it.

Many will argue that it's not true meditation if one doesn't follow the traditional styles of meditation, but two things that one needs to remember are, what are you trying to accomplish during meditation, and it's your meditation, so there is no right or wrong way.

Needless to say, when meditating, try to find a quiet place. Someplace that is away from the television, computer, cell phone, etc. Why be near obvious distractions? If possible, close the shades, or blinds, so it's a somewhat dimly lit room. The dimmer the better, in my book.

Even though the idea of one meditating conjures visions of sitting in the lotus position, many people actually meditate while sitting upright in a straight back chair. With feet flat on the floor, one is able to 'ground' themselves or connect with the earth, allowing energy to flow up and down the body.

The rest of the body is relaxed, and sitting erect with the back straight, and against the back of the chair. My personal preference is to be lying down. I'm more comfortable this way, and if I drift off to sleep I can carry that meditation thought and mindset into my subconscious.

Some people prefer music, choosing relaxing and soft tunes to carry them through their meditation. However, I recommend meditating in silence. If you're used to the usual busy buzzing of constant background noise from the radio, television, or other white noise, this may be a hard one to do. Suddenly being in absolute silence can be a bit 'loud' but eventually, you will learn to welcome the silence and appreciate it.

I recommend when meditating that you wear comfortable clothing. If you're at home be comfy and change into sweats, yoga attire or, pajamas (my personal favorite). If you happen to be able to catch a few minutes, meditating at work is achievable but at least take off the tie, or belt or heels. If you're sitting there trying to create a peaceful space in your mind and heart, it's going to be a more difficult if a piece of clothing is pinching or binding you.

Now you're ready for the meat of the matter, meditating! Many people make attempts only to have their 'inner silence' bombarded by persistent chattering of the mind. 'Did I pay the garbage bill? Speaking of garbage, I wonder how so and so is doing? I always liked his sister, Sarah. That is such a beautiful name, reminds me of butterflies...' and so on.

This is where the mantra, which allows for one pointed concentration, becomes handy. It brings focus to only that word or syllable, and helps shut out other thoughts. Granted, thoughts tend to work their way in, but just by returning to the mantra we are able to tone the other thoughts way, way down. It gives our minds something else to focus on instead of everything else.

Along with the focus on the mantra, the vibration itself of the mantra that is chanted allows for deeper meditation by raising the vibration of the body.

If chanting a mantra isn't your style but you still need help with quieting the mind, then try one of my favorite tips. Focus on breathing. Now, when I first started meditating this tip didn't help me at all.

Then I had it explained to me a bit differently in a book by John Selby. He put it this way: focus on air coming into your nose, what does it feel like? Is the air cold when you inhale? Is it warm? If the air feels cold, can you feel the air rushing through the hairs in your nose?

Once you've mastered the focus on just your nose, then also focus on your chest as it rises and falls with each breathe. By focusing only on these two areas, your mind won't have time to fit the other outside thoughts in. And, as always mentioned, if you find your mind starting to wander to other thoughts, don't fret. Just come back to the mantra or re-focus on the breath coming in and out of your nose.

How long you meditate is entirely up to you. If you only have a few minutes, then a few minutes it is. If you have the luxury of an hour, then by all means take the time, relax and dive into the beauty of a nice, long, meditation and see what effects it has on your body and mind.

Finally, as you come out of meditation, feel being in your body. Give each part of your body a smile, and take a moment to stretch, and really feel it.

The bottom line is, everyone can achieve the benefits of meditation. Once we realize that meditation isn't an all or nothing practice, we are able to let down our guard about not doing it perfectly right from the start and every time. Just by taking the time to relax and quiet our minds, we can produce results we never thought possible before.

I hope these tips have given you the encouragement needed to give meditation a go, whether it's for the first time or the 100th time.

Jhanna Dawson
Mia Bella's Diamond Team Leaderhttp://www.creatinglight.net775.530.1097

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