The first thing to know about meditation is that there is no wrong way to do it there is no possible wrong result and there is no
particular outcome that is the Right one. The only important thing about meditation is that you do continue to do it when you can, if only for a few moments daily or weekly if possible.

Meditation can be done by anyone While many people associate meditation with Buddhism or Yoga the practice is universal and not religion or culture dependent. Whatever beliefs you hold there are meditations that will work for you and harmonize with them. Some meditations lead to great mental clarity. Many of the great writings of the world came about out of, or in meditation. Meditation is an experience it is not about results, it is in the doing. It is, to me an essential part of experiencing daily life to the fullest and being a participant in it. It is an essential part of separating yourself from the stresses and trials of daily life and being detached from them.

Part of all meditation ,spiritual and energy work practice is about raising our own life condition to the point where we are not
buffeted by transient phenomena . While some people may have visions or get blissed out that is not the point of meditation and in most forms you just move past this kind of thing if it happens and return to your focus just like you do for any other distraction.

Meditation is not something you really become an expert at. There is always more to experience . There are many forms of meditation . I  think meditation is of vital importance to personal spiritual evolution.
Some people meditate to calm down and some people meditate to get high, and it does not matter why they do it or what happens when they do it or how they do it . If you fall asleep while meditating you probably needed the sleep more than you needed the meditation. On occasion meditation might turn into journey.

It is important to practice a variety of forms of meditation to achieve a balance in your life. The practice of stilling your mind can be balanced with a mindfulness meditation of attending to each thought as it occurs. The practice of focusing inward with eyes closed , can be balanced with the open eyed practice of observing in the outer world, Meditating on fire
is balanced by meditating on water. practicing detachment, with practicing loving kindness and compassion, Seated, still meditations with walking and moving and dancing meditations, Silence with chanting.

You may have met lovely spiritual people with decades of meditation practice who are so blissed out in the oneness that they seem about to float away and may be quite unable to balance a checkbook , Or people who are so detached that they don't even notice or respond to events around them in a human way. These could be examples of people who have focused on
one practice to the exclusion of all others and are unbalanced as a result. This kind of effect takes years to occur and is not something that will effect you if you practice a variety of meditations and participate in living life fully. The ability to
participate in living life fully is great skill and benefit that can acquired through meditation.

It is often said that the only wrong way to meditate is to not meditate. so whether you have only 5 or ten minutes to watch your eyelids (imagine a Movie screen or some such) or you have hours to practice meditating, give it a try.

Do not expect any particular result, don't worry if nothing happens. In some forms the idea is for "nothing " to happen. Don't worry if something does happen either. Everyone has different experiences with meditation. The cliché is that prayer is Talking to God and meditation is listening .

One simple basic meditation practice is to relax and center your attention on a sphere in the center of your head and keep
your focus there. When you notice that your mind has wandered, gently bring it back to center and the sphere ,just practice bringing your attention into the center of your head. people often find it difficult to focus at first or feel sleepy, do not criticize your self.
You can place a word like love or peace in your sphere to meditate on. People also may focus on the tan tien or Hara, a spot about two inches below the navel this is an energy center in the aura, obviously this is the focus that is referred to as contemplating your belly button.

In conventional meditation when you notice that your mind has wandered just gently bring it back to your focus say a sphere inside your head or your breath or an object you are looking at or a word or sound you are focusing on or your heart and the diamond of light within it don't fight your wandering mind. Gently return your thoughts to your chosen focus or you may even do a meditation where you just strive to observe those very same scattered thoughts as you might watch birds flying by.

The classic blank zen mind most think of when meditation is mentioned is not the only way to meditate there are almost as many ways to meditate as there are people and with experiment and exploration you are certain to find methods that "work" for you. If you find still- mind an incomprehensible concept I suggest you might try one of the focused Huna Nalu meditations.

This form of brief focused total attention can be quite valuable in crystal work and is one way of beginning to develop a sensitivity to energy and spiritual information.  Pick a sense any sense sight, touch, taste, hearing, smell. Pick an
object or quality related to that sense A food ,a sound the way something feels, a leaf, and focus your attention on it Or focus all your senses and attention on an object or idea observe it with your entire being do this for, your initial goal is 10
seconds. Do this anytime it occurs to you to do it. Classically you breathe deeply while your are doing your focus.

Vipassana is one of the oldest and most well known. It is also called Insight meditation. one becomes Aware without being judgmental, of motivations, emotions, thoughts by just gently allowing ones thoughts to flow paying attention to them without criticism.  For many meditations you can use an open eyed focus such as when you meditate by gazing on a sacred writing or stone or other object such as a mandala or natural view.

For others you close your eyes as in breath and mindfulness meditations. Those methods where you focus on a word you may s keep your eyes half open or focused on your Tan tien. Non focused meditations are usually done eyes closed or half open mantra or sound meditations vary. Walking and dance meditations must usually be done with eyes open.

You can contract with (program) a crystal to help you maintain focus in meditation. You can meditate on a crystal or stone .
Some crystals called toning crystals can help you do toning and chanting meditations. These are usualy thin crystals but way you recognize them is that if you hold one and tone you will be able to hold the tone longer or more clearly.