How To Meditate - A
Beginner's Guide
By Laura Turner
Ever
wonder how people live
to be 100 with a great
quality of life? In his
book, "Aging Well,"
Harvard researcher,
George Vaillant, M.D.,
found out just what
centurions do. They
cultivate a sense of
peace, well-being and
maintain a positive
attitude. How? Here's
one of their biggest
secrets: meditation.
What's ironic about
meditation is, it has
just become known in the
West as a healing
technique, but it has
been practiced for ages
in the East.
Therefore in my quest to
give you easy sensible
ways to live a long
healthy life, I'll begin
by showing you why you
should make meditation a
priority. Next, I'll
give you some easy
exercises to help get
you started.
Meditation Defined
Meditational exercises
primarily use the
experience of the body
and thought as a means
to reconnect with the
environment and its
healing power.
Meditation, when
practiced frequently,
has been proven to
promote inner peace and
wellness. Meditation is
also a mental practice
in which the mind is
directed to one area,
often the breath. It
draws its energy from
the human connection to
nature and creates a
sense of unity or
one-ness with it.
This unity has been
shown to increase
communication with the
spirit of the body. It
has also been known to
allow positive thoughts
in and to stimulate
positive physiological
and psychological
effects. Meditation
techniques are easy to
learn and can easily be
incorporated into any
lifestyle. If practiced
regularly, meditation
will bring balance to
your body and mind.
General benefits of
meditation and breathing
exercises include:
-
Deep inner peace
-
Improved self-esteem
-
Increased creativity
-
Physical health/healing
-
Reduced medical care
-
Slowing/reversal of aging
-
Reversing of heart disease
-
Stimulation of the body's immune system
-
Reduced stress
I have found there is
really no one right ways
to meditate. Here are a
couple of my favorite
meditational exercises
that will get you
started. Remember, there
is no wrong path here.
Try these, or simply sit
in silence for 20
minutes, daily. You'll
be glad you did.
Meditative Grounding
Exercise
-
Sit with your legs crossed in a comfortable (Indian-style) position with your hands relaxed on you lap. Close your eyes and imagine a beam of light dropping from the base of your spine through the earth and connecting you to its center.
-
Allow this beam of light to expand in width until it is wider than your own body and envelopes it. This is your personal space.
This exercise places you
totally in your body and
reminds you that you are
anchored to the earth.
Remember, the more
grounded you are, the
more aware you are.
Sense the presence of
your higher self: listen
for its voice.
Energy Cleaning Exercise
Now that you are
grounded, it's important
that you cleanse this
personal space. Often we
collect other people's
energies and are not
aware of it. We do this
both through interaction
with others and basic
activities of daily
living.
-
To remove all foreign energies from your space, imagine holding a brush and sweeping away the debris.
-
Allow the debris to fall to the ground and become washed away. Let the light from the previous exercise envelop your body and spread its healing energy to the edge of your space, forming a protective force field around you.
Cleaning out the area
surrounding your body
will keep you grounded,
define your personal
boundaries and declare
your space. Then choose
who and what you wish to
enter you space, keeping
disease and illness out.
Breathing Exercise
-
Follow your breath as you slowly inhale through your nose and exhale through your nose. Count with each exhale until you reach 10 then begin again at one.
-
If you find yourself past 10, acknowledge this and begin again at one from wherever you are.
-
Imagine your body's cells being replaced with fresh, pure oxygen and positive healing energy from this power source. Picture yourself exhaling old cells, stress, illness and worries.
-
Let your thoughts pass through your mind like drifting clouds. Let them in and gently let them pass through. If the mind should harbor a negative thought, refocus on the breath.
-
Thank any persistent negative thoughts for coming into your mind then gently let them go.
-
Listen only for the positive, pronounced voice; the voice of your body.
Retrieve Your Energy
Exercise
Since foreign energy
often resides in your
space, let's also assume
that you leave energy in
other places. After
completing the preceding
exercises it is
necessary to re-energize
and call energy back.
-
Imagine you have an energy magnet used to attract your energy back to you. Visualize energy flowing back to you, filling your body with light, health and empowerment.
-
Allow a few minutes for the process.
