Meditating On A Regular Basis

By Ted Hanulak

Meditation. Everyone knows that it is good for you. Lowers blood pressure, fights stress, helps one to be centered and more peaceful. There are 1000's of books out there on meditation. Books on how to meditate, the benefits of meditating, martial arts and meditation, Zen, etc.... Books are how many of us first learned of "sitting" in the first place. You can only read so much. Eventually you have to do it, and you have to do it on a regular basis.

Here are a few ideas that can help you keep that commitment to "sit" everyday. The first and perhaps most important tool is a good "zafu". The zafu is a round meditation cushion, usually filled with kapok or buckwheat hull. Kapok provides a firm zafu and buckwheat hull provides a softer zafu. It is a personal choice. Choose whichever helps you sit longer. A soft zafu may feel good at first but it may cause problems as your mediation period continues.

Another important tool is the actual place you sit. Take a small area in your house and make it your "meditation place". This will remind you to meditate every time you walk by the area. If you sit with a group a couple of times a week, burn the same incense and play the same music that the group uses. This will create the illusion that you are with the group.

Try and sit the same time every day. This way you won't forget to sit. Early morning or late at night is best because it is usually more quite at those times. Less distractions. Sit for shorter periods at first, 10 minutes or so. Quality is more important than quantity. Also, if you know your facing 45 minutes of meditation, you probably won't do it.

You must make meditation as natural as eating and going to the bathroom. You do those things everyday, now it is time to also meditate everyday.

Ted Hanulak is the head instructor / Sensei of the Japanese martial art of Senso-Ryu Aikijutsu. He teaches Aikijutsu and Zen meditation out of the Aikijutsu Academy of Indianapolis http://www.aiki-jutsu.com

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Enjoy Meditation to Remain Fit

By Tom Chuong

What is meditation? It is a process of thought and concentration, which reduces stress, worries and obesity. People, who are conscious about their weight, do meditation to the fat of their body. Meditation is safe, healthy and affordable. Meditation is a component of yoga from past 50000 years.

Meditation increases the energy level present in the human body. There are many people who meditate in the morning to reduce their anxieties, stress and like to remain strong and fit. It is both complex and simple. Meditation is about looking at an object and then describing about it.
Some of the steps one should follow while meditating:

• Kneel or sit comfortably.

• The hands to be kept loose and opened with the palms, one on the top of other and the thumb touching lightly.

• The head should be upright, eyes must be closed or open and if they are opened, they should be focused either on your hands or a spot.

• While meditating, a person should breathe in a relaxed and natural way. The beginner meditators should count the number of times they exhale. This is to be repeated again and again.

• This process needs to be continued for at least 15 minutes.

Here are some benefits of meditation:

• It reduces stress.

• Cures diseases like diabetics, blood pressure, obesity and hypertension.

• The quality of sleep gets improved.

• Improves concentration, chronological aging, visual acuity heightens immunity level and increases alertness.

Meditation bestows fruitful results if followed in an appropriate way and an encouraging force. Always begin meditation with reason- Plan a reason in your life for doing meditation such as reducing weight, anxieties or diseases. Explore the benefits of meditation by doing a research on mediation techniques.

• Begin it with dedication- if you serious want to get rid of your problems in life, start meditating with concentration, respect and seriousness. You will experience the results immediately in your life.

• Meditation should be done with an objective or a goal in life. If an objective is set behind mediation, it will lead to the steps of success.

Tom Chuong works as an Health Consultant for Clay Media Group, LLC. Currently, he's writing health articles on topics related to Hoodia Diet Pills, Hoodia, and Herbal Remedies. If you need an experienced SEO expert to work on your commercial website, please contact him.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Chuong

Meditation - The Antidote for Tension and Worries

By Remez Sasson

Meditation has always been recognized as the antidote and remedy for tension, worry and fear. It is not a magical medicine, and results do not show overnight, but they are assured if you commit yourself to meditate each day.

We are living in a world full of tensions and worries. Work, relationships, financial conditions, health, dangers and fears provide enough fuel for tension and worries. They prevent inner peace, produce toxics in the body, injure the health and disturb life. They weaken both mind and body, and bring all kinds of problems.

The mind and the body need something to relax and calm them down, and this is one of the roles of meditation. Its effects last not only during the actual period devoted to it, but throughout the whole day, but for that to happen it has to be practiced earnestly and correctly for some time.

You might find it is difficult to start to meditate, because you do not have the motivation to do so, and you feel the need for proof of the benefits of meditation before you begin. The best proof you can gather is through your personal, direct experience. It is good to read about other people's experiences, but it is much better to gain first hand experience.

If you approach meditation with interest and love you will develop the patience and persistence necessary for success. Soon the twenty minutes will extend to thirty minutes and even longer. As in every other area, here too, when you start to see results your ambition and desire to succeed would grow.

There are many meditation techniques, and you may follow any one that attracts you, and with which you feel comfortable. Do not force yourself to do something that you do not like to do. This produces tension, which you are trying to avoid.

After practicing for some time you will see how your inner peace level grows, and situations that previously caused you worry and tension lose their power to affect you. You will find that physical, emotional and mental tensions gradually start to diminish, and the door to peace of mind opens for you.

The process of meditating gradually takes your mind, thoughts and senses away from your immediate environment. The flow of stimulus from the environment and mind diminishes gradually, and both mind and body relax. This affects the metabolism of the body, cleanses it from toxics, and provides renewed energy and peace of mind.

Meditation is the antidote for tensions, fears and worries that most people go through. Its accumulated effects make it easier to stay calm under difficult situations, and thus get over them or steer away from them. It gives you not only peace of mind, but it also increases your inner strength, will power and self discipline. It is an important tool for a happier and more relaxed life for everyone, no matter where he lives and what he does.

Meditation is a great tool not only for the seeker after spiritual awakening and enlightenment, but for the ordinary person who wishes to live a calm and peaceful life and to preserve his sanity. It bestows the ability to be free from tension and unnecessary thinking, and opens the door to happiness and peace of mind. In its higher levels it opens the door to spiritual awakening.

Article Source: http://www.successconsciousness.com/index_000046.htm

Meditation Explained

By Winsome Coutts

Why Meditate?

Scientists and doctors study meditation and recommend it. Meditation is now proven to be more than just a ‘warm and fuzzy’ feeling. It works. So there are many reasons why people begin to meditate. Some learn meditation to become more relaxed, for improvement in health, to reduce stress, for clearer thinking, to become more creative, to sleep better and to improve mental strength. There are physical, emotional and spiritual Benefits of Meditation. It’s safe, it’s simple and it’s free.

People who are not familiar with meditation may consider it to be prayer or worship, but this is far from the truth. Meditation can be described as concentrated awareness, so as you overcome distractions and focus your mind on something you are becoming aware; you are meditating when you maintain a continued state of awareness. There are a wide range of disciplines taught for bringing your attention on to some object or thought or awareness. In fact what happens in the process is that meditation moves your brainwaves into an alpha state. This is a relaxed state with a level of consciousness where you are still aware. In the alpha state learning and healing are promoted.

Brainwaves Brainwaves are electrical activity emanating from the brain. There are four categories of brainwaves as shown below: Beta (alert/working): 15 to 40 hertz, Alpha (relaxed/reflecting): 9 to 14 hertz, Theta (drowsy): 5 to 8 hertz, Delta (sleep/dreaming): 3 to 4 hertz, Delta (deep dreamless sleep): 1.5 to 3 hertz *Hertz = cycles per second.

In the alpha state your brainwaves run between 9 to 14 cycles per second or hertz, compared with your normal waking state beta: of 15 to 40 hertz. Deeper states of relaxation move through theta, delta to the deepest delta, which is a highly creative state of relaxation.

In fact you are meditating when you focus on birds singing, to the exclusion of all other thoughts, or staring into the fire, just focusing on that, or concentrating on your breath coming in and out, thinking of nothing else.
Traditionally Eastern cultures have practiced meditation for centuries as part of their spiritual teachings, and until recently, say the last 30 or 40 years, Westerners viewed meditation with a bit of suspicion. Now, the benefits are so well documented and experienced by so many that it has become common practice for many doctors and health practitioners to recommend meditation as part of their healing plan.

There are two basic techniques of meditating and the different practices fall in to either of these two categories, with some variations possible. In mindfulness meditation the meditator sits in a comfortable position and focuses his attention and awareness on an object or activity; such as a candle, breathing, a visualization or a mantra, keeping an open focus and awareness of the present moment as he does so. This method allows for free flowing and observing of his thoughts while using the focus as an ‘anchor’ he constantly brings his mind back to the focus, when he starts to wander off in to different thoughts.

With concentration meditation which is used by most spiritual and religious traditions, the meditator keeps his attention on a particular object like repetition of a prayer or a mantra to minimize distractions, and continually brings his mind back to the chosen object. Lawrence LeShan defined meditation in ‘How to Meditate’ as “doing one thing at a time with your whole being”.

In some traditions both mindful and concentration meditation are combined.
It is possible to practice meditation even while walking or doing simple repetitive tasks. It is in moments when your mind is clear that you get that ‘realization’, ‘inspiration’ or ‘BFO’ (blinding flash of the obvious). “AHA” you say, as something miraculously pops in to your head.

Learn How to Meditate You can attend sessions somewhere in your city, usually free, to learn how to meditate. There are many books and tapes to help you, most of them excellent aids. It is easy and simple to learn. There are many tools to help you move into a meditative state. The one I absolutely love is the Holosync audio tapes from Centrepointe (centerpointe.com) (I don’t lightly recommend products, but this advanced Neuro technology is light years ahead of anything else I have tried and read about. I use it daily).

When you practice meditation regularly you begin to liberate the energy in your mind and the quality of your consciousness will expand. You will become more relaxed and happy, experiencing a sense of control of your life. You tend to approach life in a much more peaceful manner, not stressing in ways you might have done previously. This is not just a generalized statement, but is now being proven by empirical research.

I maintain wholeheartedly that meditation is truly beneficial. Do try it.

Winsome Coutts is co-owner of Global Secrets International and writes stories and articles for personal development, The Law of Attraction and The Secret Movie. Visit her website for heaps of info, free downloads & self-help tools. http://www.the-secret-dvd.net/

About Meditation to Improve Mental and Physical Health

By: Knut Holt

Meditation is a group of mental training techniques. You can use meditation to improve mental health and capacities, to improve your motivation for your goals and also to help improve the physical health. Some of these techniques are very simple, so you can learn them from a book or an article; others require guidance by a qualified meditation teacher.

WHAT IS MEDITATION

Most techniques called meditation include these components:

1. You sit or lie in a relaxed position with closed eyes.
2. You breathe regularly. You breathe in deep enough to get enough oxygen. When you breathe out, you relax your muscles so that your lungs are well emptied, but without straining.
3. You stop thinking about everyday problems and matters.
4. You concentrate your thoughts upon some sound, some word you repeat, some image, some abstract concept or some feeling. Your whole attention should be pointed at the object you have chosen to concentrate upon.
5. If some foreign thoughts creep in, you just stop this foreign thought, and go back to the object of meditation.

The different meditation techniques differ according to the degree of concentration, and how foreign thoughts are handled. By some techniques, the objective is to concentrate so intensely that no foreign thoughts occur at all.

In other techniques, the concentration is more relaxed so that foreign thoughts easily pop up. When these foreign thoughts are discovered, one stops these and goes back to the pure meditation in a relaxed manner. Thoughts coming up, will often be about things you have forgotten or suppressed, and allow you to rediscover hidden memory material. This rediscovery will have a psychotherapeutic effect.

THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION

Meditation has the following effects:

1. Meditation will give you rest and recreation.
2. You learn to relax.
3. You learn to concentrate better on problem solving.
4. Meditation often has a good effect upon the blood pressure.
5. Meditation has beneficial effects upon inner body processes, like circulation, respiration and digestion.
6. Regular meditation will have a psychotherapeutically effect.
7. Regular meditation will facilitate the immune system.
8. Meditation is usually pleasant.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HYPNOSIS AND MEDITATION

Hypnosis may have some of the same relaxing and psychotherapeutic effects as meditation. However, when you meditate you are in control yourself; by hypnosis you let some other person or some mechanical device control you. Also hypnosis will not have a training effect upon the ability to concentrate.

A SIMPLE FORM OF MEDITATION

Here is a simple form of meditation. By this meditation technique, you should concentrate in an easy manner. This will allow foreign thoughts to pop up. These are handled one by one as they appear. You proceed as follows:

1. Sit in a good chair in a comfortable position.
2. Close your eyes and relax all your muscles as well as you can.
3. Stop thinking about anything, or at least try not to think about anything.
4. Breath out, relaxing all the muscles in your breathing apparatus.
5. Repeat the following in 10 - 20 minutes:

-- Breath in so deep that you feel you get enough oxygen.-- Breath out, relaxing your chest and diaphragm completely.-- Every time you breathe out, think the word "one" or another simple word inside yourself. You should think the word in a prolonged manner, and so that you hear it inside you, but you should try to avoid using your mouth or voice.

6. If foreign thoughts come in, just stop these thoughts in a relaxed manner, and keep on concentrating upon the breathing and the word you repeat.

As you proceed through this meditation, you should feel steadily more relaxed in your mind and body, feel that you breathe steadily more effectively, and that the blood circulation throughout your body gets more efficient. You may also feel an increasing mental pleasure throughout the meditation.

THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION UPON DISEASES

As any kind of training, meditation may be exaggerated so that you get tired and worn out. Therefore you should not meditate so long or so concentrated that you feel tired or mentally emptied.

Meditation may sometimes give problems for people suffering from mental diseases, epilepsy, serious heart problems or neurological diseases. On the other hand, meditation may be of help in the treatment of these and other conditions.

People suffering from such conditions should check out what effects the different kinds of meditation have on their own kind of health problems, before beginning to practise meditation, and be cautious if they choose to begin to meditate. It may be wise to learn meditation from an experienced teacher, psychologist or health worker that use meditation as a treatment module for the actual disease.

Article Source: http://physicalfitnessarticles.net

Knut Holt is an IT consultant and marketer focusing on health items. -----TO FIND natural help against aging symptoms, acne, skin problems, hypothyroidism, hemorrhoids, heart problems, joint pain, over-weight and much more, PLEASE VISIT:---- www.abicana.com ----Free to reprint with the author's name and link.

3 Keys to Creating a Sacred Meditation Space

By: Anmol Mehta

We all know the profound benefits that meditation practice bestows. The two important aspects though, in order to extract the wonderful benefits from meditation, is that the practice needs to be consistent and long term. To that end, one of the biggest obstacles to a long term, daily meditation practice, is the lack of a meditation space in your home.

This article will help you overcome this issue by providing helpful insights on how to set up your personal meditation space. Having such a meditation space, vastly increases the chances that you will develop a consistent and deep practice. The space helps counteract some of the resistance that thoughts will no doubt put up in your efforts to practice meditation on a daily basis. Having an inviting, inspiring meditation space ready to go, allows you to get busy with your session as soon as it's time or as soon as inspiration strikes.

Here are the 3 key components for setting up this important, sacred space in your home.

1. Find a Quiet Space: Try to find a quiet, peaceful place in your home to set up your meditation space. Meditation and spiritual growth can be called the business of silence. Although, the silence you will encounter in meditation practice is that of the infinite creative force, silence in the environment will help you with the concentration required to penetrate into these depths. So, as best you can, ensure that the area is situated such as to minimize sounds and distractions.

2. Get the Right Equipment: Yes, just like a professional tennis player needs the right equipment in order to perform at his maximum potential, so will the right equipment help you achieve your highest spiritual potential. This equipment includes important items such as a Zafu or meditation cushion, loose clothing that will not cut off your circulation, a chair if necessary, and a meditation timer to set your meditation time with.

Don't underestimate the benefits of the above items. When your meditation practice deepens, you will like to sit for longer periods of time, and this can prove to be uncomfortable on your knees and back. A Zafu or chair will go a long way in helping curb this problem. Proper clothing, for similar reasons, is also very helpful. One of the most common complaints in sitting meditation, is that one's legs tend to fall asleep and having proper meditative attire will help prevent this.

A meditation timer is also a must. Once you commit to sitting for a particular period of time, you need to see that through. Early in your practice, the body and mind will greatly dislike being told what to do in this way. They are both used to running the show, and all of a sudden being told to be still and concentrate on a particular thing is going to greatly upset them. The timer should be the only factor determining the end of your meditation session. Until it goes off, you should remain frozen in time and attentive to your practice. The timer will also be of value in helping you gauge your capacity to sit in meditation for long periods of time.

3. Add Inspirational Items: Place items in this location that inspire and uplift you. They can be anything from pictures, idols, symbols to books. You may also wish to keep some incense or a candle handy, as that can greatly enhance the ambiance of a meditative space.

Summary:

A personal meditative space is a must. There is very little chance of establishing a strong and significant practice without it. Over time, you will find this space filled with positive vibrations and just entering it will uplift your spirit. Try to keep this space clean and exclusively for meditation, this might just become your favorite place on Earth.

Article Source: http://physicalfitnessarticles.net

Anmol Mehta is a Yoga & Zen Expert. His site, Free Guided Meditation & Kundalini Yoga Video Instruction, offers Prosperity Meditation Technique. Find lively discussions on the Free Guided Chakra Meditation, Kundalini Yoga Illustrated Poses & Zen Meditation Blog.

A Meditation Technique for Dealing with Headaches

By: Jimmy Cox

De-stress yourself. This is particularly true for those who suffer from tension headaches. Below I have included some tips on how to distress your self.

Meditation brings with it peace of mind as we learn to observe our surroundings. We become one with it and it helps us to focus our mental energy on one thing at a time.A lot of it is lost on extraneous things. Through the process of meditation we can harness this energy and use it for constructive purposes.

In the initial stages you may find your mind drifting but gradually you will learn to focus more and more.

Try to focus on the "here" and the "now" and not on the tomorrow or the yesterday. After all we all live in todays and not in yesterdays and tomorrows!
The Mind Settling Procedure:

Sit comfortably in silence with your eyes closed for 30 seconds.

Perform a brief body massage. (Some meditation traditions recommend that the massage be executed slightly differently for men and women, and I would like to describe these recommendations here.)

The massage begins by gently pressing the hands against the face, then upward on the top of the head, back down the neck, and towards the heart. (By the way, all massage elements move towards, and finish at the heart.)

Then, men continue by gently using the left hand to press and massage, first the right hand, and then up the arm, and back down towards the heart. Again, this is all done with the left hand.

Women do the same, but they begin by massaging the left hand and arm (back toward the heart) with the right hand. Then both men and women switch arms and massage the other hand and arm, again, back toward the heart. Then men continue by massaging the right foot and leg, upward toward the heart. This is done by pressing with both hands gently.

Then, massage the left foot and leg, again, upward toward the heart. Women do the same, but they begin with the left foot and leg, upward toward the heart, before repeating the process for the right foot and leg. This is best done with the eyes closed. The total time for the massage is about a minute.

While sitting comfortably with the back straight, perform a breathing technique that is called "pranayama." Begin with 10 seconds of fast pranayama. This is done using very short, gentle breaths, closing one nostril at a time after each outward and inward breath.

Close the nostrils (one at a time) with the thumb and the middle fingers (alternately) of one hand. Men use their right hand to do this while women use their left. The mechanics of the procedure are similar to slow pranayama (see below), except that the breaths are very short and rapid (although still gentle).

This is best done with the eyes closed. The procedure should be effortless and easy, and if someone is experiencing any problems like dizziness or hyperventilation, it is being performed incorrectly and its practice should be discontinued until getting personal instructions in this technique.

While sitting comfortably with the back straight, perform 9 to 10 minutes of slow pranayama. This is done similarly as with the fast pranayama, but using normal breaths (not short or long ones), closing one nostril at a time after each outward and inward breath. Be sure to complete both the outward and inward breath before switching nostrils. On exhaling, let the breath flow out naturally, not forcing it. The inhaling breath should take about half the time as the exhaling breath.

Hold your breath after inhaling for a brief moment (a second or two) while alternatively closing the other nostril with the other finger, and prepare to exhale. The entire procedure should be effortless and gentle. If you feel you need more air, simply take deeper breaths, but do not hyperventilate. You should be breathing normally, just alternating nostrils after exhaling and inhaling. This is best done with the eyes closed.

Sit quietly and comfortably for 5 minutes with the eyes closed.

Article Source: http://physicalfitnessarticles.net

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Basic Meditation Exercises

By: Robert Morgen

The following exercises range from pretty simple to pretty complicated, but as you develop your abilities you'll eventually find that you can do them all at once and effortlessly. It can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few years to develop this ability, so remember what I said about expectations.

You'll eventually be able to remember how to do these exercises by memory, and then after that you'll get to the point where you just do them without having to think about them.

Grounding

Grounding will always be an important skill, no matter how advanced you become, so take the time to learn this now and to be able to do it effortlessly.
Stand in the "Standing Stake" pose described above. Go through the breathing and Full Body Awareness exercises. Visualize roots growing from your feet down through the core of the earth, just like a tree. In later meditations you can add some variety by seeing the roots flow down to a large crystal at the earth's core. Depending on the effect you want you can vary the crystals and access different energies, but that obviously beyond the scope of the exercise at this point.

As you inhale feel the energy of the earth being drawn up through your roots and up through your body and out through the top of your head. On your exhale, let that energy drop back down through your body and feel all the accumulated stress of your life flow out with it and back down through your roots and into the earth. Feel your muscles relax as the stress flows out. This is a good way to release all your stresses, fears, angers and feelings of inadequacy. Repeat this exercise for awhile, as many times as necessary to clean yourself out.

There's nothing wrong (and a lot of benefit) to stopping at this point and just doing these exercises that I've gone over up to this point, until they become completely effortless. Whenever you feel yourself becoming stressed or angry learn to take a moment and ground yourself and let those feelings just flow out.

Progressive Relaxation

Progressive Relaxation is easy to do and you can do it anywhere and anytime. Assume your meditation position of choice (I like the half-lotus on a zafu) and go through all the exercises I've covered up to this point. Just take a moment and feel the relaxed energy that you should have after grounding and releasing all your stress. Are you ready to get deeper into this feeling?

Feel the energy that flows up through your roots and into your feet. Make fists with your feet by curling your toes in as far as you can until it hurts, then relax. Let that relaxed feeling flow from your toes back over your feet and feel them relax. As you inhale draw that relaxed feeling up over your ankles and feel them relax completely. On the exhale let any residual stress flow back out and down through the earth.

On your next inhale draw that relaxed feeling back up over your calves, letting them relax after walking all day. Draw that relaxed energy up over your thighs with the next inhale. They're the biggest muscles in the body, so let them relax and rest now.

As you inhale feel that relaxed feeling flow up over your hips and buttocks. Feel the stress bleed away. We store a lost of stress here, so take a moment and let this area relax. Draw that relaxed feeling up over your stomach and lower back. Feel the muscles in your back relax and feel your stomach move with your inhale.

Bring the energy up over your chest and the middle of your back. Feel your heart area expand with the relaxed energy and feel all the accumulated stress in between your shoulder blades release and flow out and back down with your exhale.

Draw the feeling of relaxation up over your shoulders and neck. Feel any residual tension flow out with your exhale. Let that relaxed energy flow up and over your head. Let the muscles of your face and those at the base of your skull relax.

Just sit here and feel this relaxed body that you have. Remember this feeling as its how you should feel all the time. Tense muscles store energy, which means that your energy isn't flowing through you, but rather sticking in certain places in your body.

When your muscles are relaxed then your energy flows unimpeded and is continually renewed, leaving you feeling much lighter and more refreshed.

Article Source: http://physicalfitnessarticles.net/

Basic Meditation Exercises is an excerpt from Robert Morgen's book Kundalini Awakening for Personal Mastery (ISBN: 0-9773801-0-6) His new book Easy Meditation for Martial Artists (ISBN: 978-0-9773801-3-8 ) is also now available.