How to start Meditating?

The ancient discipline of meditation involves contemplation while focusing your mind on a feeling, a sound, a thought, or an object. The main principle of meditation lies in the ability to completely quiet your mind. You can reach this state of mind by meditating over a long period of time. It is a practice that can enable you to understand everything in your life more clearly. Meditation helps you examine what is happening to you as a whole person. It is a way of getting to know yourself that can transform and reveal your life in a new perspective.

 

1. You relax your body and mind.
2. You overcome emotional problems.
3. You develop a more relaxed and positive view toward life.
4. You develop more awareness in your life.
5. You tune into a creative inspirations.
6. You purify your whole being.

The Peaceful Place

Spend a little time getting ready. Make sure you find the right place in your house and allow nothing to interrupt your meditation session.  If you prefer you can choose a place in a garden, a beach or next to a tree. Wherever you feel there is good energy. Create a pleasant ambience with candles, plants, incense, cushions and music.

The Meditation Posture

Everyone has probably seen the classic meditation posture with crossed legs, in the full lotus position.  There are several different postures you may choose.  Try a few to see which one suits you best. All positions should support the back from your neck down.  Your arms should rest in your lap, with your palms up. This position should feel balanced and supported. Keep your eyes closed and make sure your breathing is deep and easy.

1. Burmese Style: Use a firm cushion that will support your spine, sit with your legs tucked in behind you.
2. Sitting: If you have a bad back you may choose to meditate sitting straight in a chair. Make sure your feet touch the floor and avoid crossing your legs.
3. Horizontal: You can also meditate lying down.  This position is not recommended for beginners since you could fall asleep.

To begin meditating means that we learn to bring our minds into the present, since our minds are constantly jumping from one thought to another. It is to allow the mind to become aware of the present moment that most meditations need a focus. There are many things you could use for this purpose. Choose something that gives you a pleasant feeling: like the bright sun, colorful flowers, tall trees, running water, a beautiful view, a romantic sunset or an inspiring thought. Then start the meditation with your mind centered on the heart chakra.

1. Make yourself comfortable, sit or lie down.
2. Go inside yourself, stopping your thoughts.
3. Start relaxing your body. Begin relaxing from your face down to  your jaw, then your shoulders and your neck,  next your arms  and hands. You should feel at peace throughout your whole body.
4. Focus on your breathing, slowly inhale with deep breaths through your nose. Exhale slowly and completely through your mouth. Repeat this five times.
5. Stop your mind and concentrate on your heart chakra , the centre of your calm and light, and feel the energy circulating throughout your body. Imagine that you are sitting on a bench by a river, watching the current flow by you. Imagine you are letting  the  clear blue water take all your stress, thoughts and concerns away. Then lean back a little and watch the blue sky and the beautiful sun. Let the light and clearness from the sky penetrate and fill your whole body. Breathe into the center of your being and feel the two energies, from the earth and the sky, together. From this center concentrate on your breathing: in and out. You will feel the warmth, wonderful calm sensation from the sunbeams going through your body.
6. Keep this stage as long as you can, breathe deeply...and open your eyes slowly to come back to your body.

 How do you feel?

Yoga is an applied spiritual science of mind and body. It originally comes from India and goes back over five thousand years. The Indian, in his Yoga Sutra defines yoga as the control of the activities of the mind. Yoga methods encompass the entire field of our existence, from the physical, emotional and mental to the spiritual. Its methods include ethical disciplines, physical postures, breathing control, as well as meditation. Practice of it help to bring about a natural balance of body and mind.

Yoga has become a very common term and popular in the Western world today, and yoga classes can be found in virtually every city or town. Most Westerners identify yoga with Hatha yoga.

Hatha yoga seeks to promote health and well-being through physical exercise. The regular practice of asanas, and breathing exercises (pranayama), makes the body strong.