Meditate Techniques

A Simple Meditation
This meditation process is good to induce relaxation response. Plan to make meditation a regular part of your daily routine. Set aside 10 to 20 minutes each day at the same time, if possible. Before breakfast is a good time.

• Choose a quiet spot where you will not be disturbed by other people or by the telephone.
  
  
• Sit quietly in a comfortable position. Refer to the section on postures for recommendations on sitting positions.
  
  
• Eliminate distractions and interruptions during the period you'll be meditating.
  
  
• Commit yourself to a specific length of time and try to stick to it.
  
  
• Pick a focus word or short phrase that's firmly rooted in your personal belief system. A non-religious person might choose a neutral word like one, peace, or love. Others might use the opening words of a favorite prayer from their religion such as 'Hail Mary full of Grace', "I surrender all to you", "Hallelujah", "Om", etc.
  
  
• Close your eyes. This makes it easy to concentrate.
  
  
• Relax your muscles sequentially from head to feet. This helps to break the connection between stressful thoughts and a tense body. Starting with your forehead, become aware of tension as you breathe in. Let go of any obvious tension as you breathe out. Go through the rest of your body in this way, proceeding down through your eyes, jaws, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, chest, upper back, middle back and midriff, lower back, belly, pelvis, buttocks, thighs, calves, and feet.
  
  
• Breathe slowly and naturally, repeating your focus word or phrase silently as you exhale.
  

• Assume a passive attitude. Don't worry about how well you're doing. When other thoughts come to mind, simply say, "Oh, well," and gently return to the repetition.
  
  
• Continue for 10 to 20 minutes. You may open your eyes to check the time, but do not use an alarm. After you finish: Sit quietly for a minute or so, at first with your eyes closed and later with your eyes open. Do not stand for one or two minutes.
  
  
•  Plan for a session once or twice a day.

Walking Meditation
One simple way to bring awareness into your life is through walking meditation. This brings your attention to the actual experience of walking as you are doing it, focusing on the sensations in your feet and legs, feeling your whole body moving, You can also integrate awareness of your breathing with the experience.

To do this exercise, focus the attention on each foot as it contacts the ground. When the mind wanders away from the feet or legs, or the feeling of the body walking, refocus your attention. To deepen your concentration, don't look around, but keep your gaze in front of you.

One thing that you find out when you have been practicing mindfulness for a while is that nothing is quite as simple as it appears. This is as true for walking as it is for anything else. For one thing, we carry our mind around with us when we walk, so we are usually absorbed in our own thoughts to one extent or another. We are hardly ever just walking, even when we are just going out for a walk. Walking meditation involves intentionally attending to the experience of walking itself.

 

Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation is easy to learn and practice. Anyone can learn it within a few days and can begin to experience beneficial results almost immediately.

TM is one of the easiest meditation techniques to learn. When you learn TM, you will use a word or phrase-your personal mantra-which you do not divulge. You sit quietly with your eyes closed and repeat the mantra over and over again for 20 minutes at a time once or twice a day.

The mantra functions to focus your mind on a single idea, representing the "oneness" of the universe. You're assume a passive, accepting attitude while repeating your mantra. When distracting thoughts intrude, you're instructed to simply observe them, accept them and gently return your mental focus to repeating your mantra.

Physiological research shows that during TM, the body gains a deeper state of relaxation than during ordinary rest. EEG (electroencephelogram) changes indicate a state of heightened awareness and coherence. Regular practice of TM has been found to produce a state of increased stability, adaptability, and integration during all phases of activity. Also, TM has been found to increase intelligence, creativity, and perceptual ability and to reduce high blood pressure and illness rates by more than 50 percent. Analysis of large numbers of research studies on TM have found that it is one of the most effective techniques known for reducing drug and alcohol abuse, decreasing anxiety and increasing self-actualization.

 

Vibrational Meditation
Can also be used as sounding meditation, this technique uses the repetition of a word or sound as its focal point. Vibrational meditation has appeal to those who find that making noise is a path to inner quiet.

We're taught to be nice and quiet as little children. Releasing sound and noise helps us release stress.

Here's the technique for Vibrational Meditation.

If you do this standing, get on your feet. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, your knees slightly bent and your hips centered, as though you're about to squat.

Or, sit or lie down. Keep your body loose and comfortable with your arms at your sides or on your hips. Begin by taking a few cleansing breaths.

Pick a word, any word. Choose a word that alternates vowels and consonants-like "serenity." The word that you select doesn't necessarily have to be a spiritual one. It just has to feel good when you say it.

Repeat after yourself. Repeat the word, chant the word, focus on nothing but saying the word over and over again. Let the sound of the word vibrate through your body. Let the word resonate up from your abdomen and let it go to your hands, your feet. Let your muscles move as you chant the word.

Another way is to hum a note. Keep repeting the note over and over again. You can change the frequency, as much as you'd like. Let the vibrations from the humming note reverberate through your body.

Some people have a tendency to clench their muscles when they're tense. It's important to roll the sound through your body so that you can clear out the tightness in your muscles. Doing so promotes the meditative state of relaxation that feels like a natural high.

 

Movement Meditation
Movement meditation combines breathing and gentle, flowing movements to create a meditative state. It appeals especially to those who tend to achieve a meditative state of mind by moving their bodies.

Movement meditation allows a person to draw in qi ( chi ) energy from the Earth, which many healers-such as acupuncturists, acupressurists and some massage therapists-regard as the essential life force.

Movement meditation is excellent to do first thing in the morning and can also be a prelude to prayer or another form of meditation.

Here's the technique for Movement Meditation

Center and concentrate. Take several deep, cleansing breaths. Then, move into a relaxed, squatting stance with your knees slightly bent and your hips and pelvis loose. Center yourself by visualizing your feet connected to the soil. Visualize the center of the Earth, from which we draw energy. Concentrate upon and honor the Earth.

Focus your awareness.  Gently move your body in an undulating, snakelike swaying motion. See yourself as a flower opening up or as an animal moving through the brush. Dance, if you like.

If it pleases you, use sound or music to focus your attention on the movement and on the vibration. Allow yourself to get lost in the sense of movement and the beauty of your body as it moves. Feel the areas of your body that are tight and let the movement loosen them up.

Meditation