NOTE: Where was this article when I had so much fear around my death and dying in 1979 and just this past winter… Thank you Dr. Puff, I am sure many people benefited from your wisdom.

When you meditate, the key of meditation is to focus on your breath because that is the only thing happening right here, right now. You may have a mantra, a prayer word, visualize or use a guided meditation, but the key to any meditation is to be in the here and the now.

Our mind typically centers on the past and the future. As you meditate your mind quiets down and begins to focus on one thing only, the here and the now. Right here in the now, there are no concepts, no fears, and no anxieties to worry about. Those fears and worries come when our minds are working, going from the past to the future, thinking about what has been and what could be. When we make our minds quiet and be in the here and the now, these fears and worries go away. That’s one of the beautiful things about meditation, you are in the here and the now without the concepts that you have created that cause fears and worries in your mind. It gives you a respite from all these worries, anxieties and fears we experience throughout the day.

Besides meditating your worries and fears away, you can practice being in the present all the time. If you are in the here and the now you are just thinking and focusing on the one thing you are doing at that moment. You’re keeping the thoughts of the past and future from entering your mind. If you get up and wash the dishes, you simply just wash the dishes; if you sit down to write someone an e-mail you just concentrate on writing that e-mail. Of course, during these times thoughts will arise, but living a true meditative life is one that when these thoughts arise you get back to being present with “what is” and focus on that and nothing more. A lot of people worry that if you keep pushing these thoughts, these fears and anxieties aside and ignoring them you won’t get anything accomplished; however, the exact opposite is true. Highly successful people are able to get lots done while “working in the zone”. I talk about this more in depth in my book/ebook Success Beyond Your Imagination – Working in the “Zone”.

The message I’m trying to get across is that you must be present in whatever it is that you are doing right now. For example if you are a surgeon and you are in surgery, you concentrate and are 100% present with your surgical instruments and procedure. If you are a police officer and have other people’s lives in your hands you must be totally present in what you are doing or people could die. Of course, not all of us have these types of responsibilities and have much more mundane lives that do not really require constant attention and focus. This is why we often allow our minds to wander and not be present with what’s happening right now.

If you go back to your meditation you go back to your mantra; similarly when your mind wanders in your every day life and allows you to worry you just go back to what’s happening right now. Don’t get upset that you’ve allowed your mind to stray but instead just come back to focusing on the here and now. Keeping those thoughts of the past and future from entering into the present will keep those fears, worries and anxieties from stressing your life.

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Meditation has been around for almost as long as human history. I believe that at its core, meditation is a technique that helps us quiet our minds. If you notice, throughout the day there is “mind chatter” going on. I call it echoic mind chatter. It’s sort of like a commentary on life. Sometimes we stop and listen to them, go with them; while other times we let these commentaries on our life stop us and make us reflect and think upon all these thoughts chattering in our head. We stop and focus on them. We think about the past or we think about what might be in the future. All this thinking, all this chattering in our minds, keeps us from being silent and present with what is in the now. We miss so much of what’s going on in the world because we constantly have this echoic mind chatter and we cannot appreciate what’s happening in the “now”.

What meditation can do is bring us to the silence, to the present and the now. Meditation is a technique for quieting the mind, shutting down the echoic mind chatter so that you can be silent, still and totally 100% present with what is in the present. The hope is that as you learn to meditate you can transfer the gift of meditation, of being 100% present of what is, throughout your life. If you can implement this you will find that you will have a much more blissful, much more peaceful, happier life.

What you do in mediation is focus on one thing, often it’s your breath or a “mantra” or prayer word. You will find that your mind becomes quiet, becomes still because you are focusing on just one thing. As you focus, your mind will become quieter and quieter until you reach a point where it’s basically still. Thoughts may gently arise but they will go away quickly, because you are learning to be totally in touch with the present.

That is the beauty of meditation, to bring you completely into the present. In time you will enhance and grow a silent mind. If you practice the skills of mediation, you will find that you will slowly transform into a whole, happy individual. Meditation is incredibly beneficial for both the medical and spiritual being. Meditation makes you a happier, more peaceful individual that stops missing out on what’s happening around you. With meditation you are truly in touch with what is the present. Without the mind chatter you will find peace and happiness.

So I ask you to accept this as a way of life. Embrace the art of mediation to become a healthier, happier person. Allow meditation to bring you into the moment and experience the now.

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Meditation is an ancient technique which anyone, anywhere at any time can employ to order and to still the mind, experience true relaxation and restore personal peace and inner balance. These inner benefits inevitably produce positive results in our outer lives as well. We work more efficiently. We also have more energy and more patience for our loved ones so we develop stronger and deeper interpersonal relationships.

The greatest gift that meditation gives us is mental stillness. This stillness does not however stop our thoughts, but rather it calms and orders them so that we may experience mental precision in the midst of uncertainty. This greater sense of mental control produced by meditation allows us to better steer our own destinies and get the most out of our lives as calmer, healthier and happier people.

Built up stress is the source of a large number of ailments, including many widespread and severe conditions. Because of its ability to generate relaxation and eradicate stress, meditation offers significant benefits for the treatment and hindrance of an extensive array of health difficulties. Also because meditation enables maximum efficiency of our minds and bodies, we receive from it increased longevity.

Meditation is a revitalizing endeavour which fortifies the body through relaxation and improves attentiveness. There is also a notable degree of scientific research which supports that meditation can lead to a considerable improvement in hearing and sensory performance. Noted also are improvements in psychosomatic and stress related physical disorders. The benefits of meditation extend far beyond the corporeal however. One can achieve a higher level of inner peace serenity, calmness and understanding through meditation. Meditation can manifest for you a higher reality beyond physical existence if you allow it to and over time, it will become natural and unforced.

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There are a wide range of psychological benefits to meditation, and this is arguably its principle of primary function, or, at least, this was traditional its function in the Near East before it become so popular in Western society. The traditional aims that still remain are an increased confidence in one’s self and one’s ability to rationalize and see the world clearly. This, in turn, refracts, and boots serotonin which is the medical way of saying that it makes you a happier person than before.

It can even be applied in such a manner that it can tackle your general phobias whether that means you are scared of heights or spiders. Many people will associate meditation with traditional monks in deep concentration and this is, of course, a major benefit. If you are faced with a difficult and persistent problem then a deep meditation can often help bring you through the maze of puzzles and contradictions and emerge quickly with the solution to the problem. This is because meditation is essentially a creative exercise that unlocks the unused parts of the brain. In traditional parlance your brain wave coherence is directed and correlated to certain issues and others are obscured so that the solution emerges into your mind’s eye without complication. Over time this leads to increased mental capacity especially in memorization and general learning.

All in all you mind is being revived after its staid trip through contemporary civilization which aims to dull it into a mush of consumer weakness. You will regain your stable core and so you can start to peel away the bad habits you have accumulated over time. This is due to improved intuitive powers of deduction and productive ability that improves personal relationships apropos the broader general and universal picture that reduces the niggling worries of minor and ultimately pointless side issues. Your will to power will increase exponentially allowing you to tap into a mind satisfaction core that links the hemispheres and so staves off potential mental illness, mood swings, aggressiveness, or potential substance addiction. Meditation has been deployed against all these at various times throughout history and come out victorious. This is because the user learns how to regain empathy alongside accuracy leading to better tolerance of the harshness of the world. In becoming closer to this truth on reaches a higher stage of emotional and general intelligence.

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In times when a person’s mind is continuously occupied with loaded work schedules and highly demanding lifestyles, taking out time for yourself only comes in the name of annual vacations. This hardly fulfills the natural need to relax and be stress free as usually the vacations too are tightly packed with a list of things to do or places to visit. The lack of adequate relaxation in a person’s life leads to the ever elevating figures of mental disorders and other anxiety generated diseases in the society.

The much troublesome problem of stress is considered conquerable with the usage of allopathic medicine. However, what these drugs fail to produce are long lasting and permanent results. Once the usage stops, you are back to your old problems. What is needed is basically a cure that is self regulatory and natural and provides a more durable solution to this common problem. Here is where meditation comes in.

Around for centuries and well known and practiced among eastern cultures, meditation is gradually making its way in the west. Today’s top scientific research institutions recognize its beneficial effects. In some cases, it is being prescribed by medical practitioners to be coupled with regular treatments. This has probably led to its wide acceptance and practice in people’s life.

Meditation’s benefits stretch beyond fighting frustrating diseases. Achieving a truly relaxed state of mind has its own attractions. Not only does a person develop the ability of utter undisturbed focus, but also a state known as “being in the moment” is attainable. This basically means being completely immersed in the present moment without any conscious exertion to fight the random million thoughts bombarding the mind. Once achieved, this state is known to be highly relaxing and enjoyable.

Because of its mind relaxing and focus building nature, meditation is highly recommended for students. It can not only have a favorable effect on their learning power, but also helps them develop the much needed confidence in choosing careers. Professionals are also benefitting from the undeniable advantages of meditation. Some organizations spend money to arrange mind relaxing seminars for their employees. This is a definite seal on the credibility of meditation.

Check out my other blogs at www.BlingStrands.org where you will find the latest information on Bling Strands I’m a full time student and live with my husband Brad and 2 year old baby girl Yoli. We have 2 cats and I’ve always been fascinated with the makeup and beauty industry. I love to do research on a number of topics, beauty and makeup being my favorite. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jasmine_Sanchez

There are many lists of mindfulness exercises to try. Often, when we have a list, we do what is on the list and tick each thing off when it is done. Another approach to exercising our mindfulness muscles is to do one exercise for awhile (a week or longer) until it becomes natural to be mindful in that situation.

Here is an example of this approach. Perhaps you have tea regularly during the day. You could decide to drink each cup of tea mindfully. When you drink your tea, you would not do anything else but drink the tea. So you would not read a newspaper, or listen to the news on the radio, or watch television, or have a conversation or read a book while you were drinking tea. You would, however, notice the temperature of the tea, the flavor, how the tea feels in your mouth and throat. You would notice the steam from the tea, the temperature of the mug or tea cup. You would be mindfully drinking tea. And when you start to think about what you are going to do after you drink the tea, you would bring your attention back to the tea.

Another example of practicing mindfulness with one exercise is to drive mindfully. Each time you got in your car to drive to school, work, the grocery store, the soccer field or a friend’s house, you would just drive. You would pay attention to how your hands feel on the steering wheel, how your body feels in the driver’s seat, how tight the seat belt is and where it is on your body. You would notice the temperature in the car and adjust it so that it is comfortable. You would not listen to the radio or eat anything while you are driving. And when you start to think about how the person driving in front of you is driving too slowly, or get angry because someone cut in front of you, you would continually bring your attention to driving. Mindful driving is much less stressful than driving in a rush or getting upset over the way other people drive.

Another mindfulness exercise you should try is mindful talking. Very often we say the first thing that comes to mind during a conversation. Speaking mindfully means really listening to the person who is talking to you and then responding thoughtfully, kindly and straightforwardly.

So there you have it, several mindfulness exercises you might like to try – and before you know it, you will be more mindful in other ways as well.

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As far as the present world is concerned, its quite difficult to extract mental peace. With the progress of time, we are getting indulged in various activities ranging from domestic to official. When the first light of dawn covers our face, our brain starts handling each and every action right till we shut our eyes for a deep slumber. Therefore, peace bids adieu and this results in weariness. Well, a sound sleep is not the only remedy behind mental peace. Meditation is a perfect way of achieving mental solace. If executed properly, meditation can work wonders for the mind as well as the body. There are various meditation techniques that can reduce your stress to a good extent. There are ample meditation techniques that include a process of transforming your dull negative thoughts to fresh and positive ones.

One of the first step towards meditation is to be patient. This helps your mind to focus and concentrate. If you meditate regularly, you are gain a pure and wonderful sense of your self. Its an out and out healing process that erases off stress and anxiety from your mind. Owing to the fast paced modern life, we get entangled among tensions and often land up in various health consequences. To fulfill the demands of daily life, we often fail to give time to our health conditions. People are found living on several pills and medicines to get going for the following day. But all such artificial measures result in side effects. So its always better to opt for meditation techniques that assures you to enhance your creative power and mental stability.

Its quite important to select a secluded spot for meditation. The place you are choosing should be fully free from distractions. Meditation is not a typical exercise which you can perform anywhere. For achieving best results, an absolute quiet ambiance is a must. You can also choose a tree shade where you can gain concentration. If possible, opt for an indoor spot than an outdoor one. In fact, your living room can be one of the ideal places for meditation.

Mantra meditation is one of the best meditation techniques through which you can achieve calm and relaxation. Acute meditation inspires and encourages you to achieve extreme awareness and helps you to know your actual experiences during meditation. You can even sense your fears as well as other emotions without judging them. Amongst the other meditation techniques, Guided meditation helps you to relax with the help of images, sounds and even smells which you generally associate with calmness. If you wish, you can even contact a teacher who can guide you through various other meditation techniques.

Binaural beats are among the modern enthusiastic technologies that has emerged out of the personal development industry. Binaural beats are engineered beats that are used to excite a response from the cortical to the brain. These beats let the brain to pass into various powerful states that help us to perform with perfection in varied situations. This innovative technology of binaural beats have stepped in the market since a long time. As time will pass, consumers will recognize the efficiency of binaural beats and will therefore come among the leading meditation techniques.

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Pain
Gray matter helps to control the human body’s motor skills and also its perception of pain. The thicker the layer of gray matter in the brain, the less likely someone is to feel pain. By taking the time to meditate each day, seniors can effectively lower their pain symptoms and boost their motor skills. One study showed that seniors meditating three days in a row for a minimum of 20 minutes per day had a higher tolerance for pain.

Activities
Learning how to meditate can be an unusual experience for someone who has never tried it. They need to be taught how to do it before they can reap the benefits. This means of mental and physical rejuvenation can be the subject of recreational classes or a program topic for discussion at club meetings and get-togethers for seniors. It helps them stay active and improve their quality of life.

Home Care
For seniors that receive home elder care, meditation can be a part of their daily routine. Some at home health care providers provide more than medical treatment. They treat the body, mind, spirit. Since meditation fits in with that philosophy, these seniors can learn and practice meditation daily. This will likely help them to feel better in the long run. Not only will they have a higher tolerance for pain, but they will be more mentally active. Other ways they can be more mentally active include playing board games and cards, and reading or being read to aloud by their in home elder care provider.

Yoga
A recent study by the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation found that seniors who participate in 12 minutes of daily Yoga exercises can improve memory and thinking skills. Yoga involves meditation and relaxation. It improves mental acuity, which can help seniors to maintain their independence as much as possible. They may need extra physical care or assistance with things like shopping, transportation, pet care or light cooking, but can in general have a better quality of life.

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Meditation is not hard to do. It may be hard to start, just like anything else. But if you give it a chance and try it, you probably will have a meditation experience. That is to say, you will feel like you actually meditated.

I think that it’s kind of hard to imagine what meditation will be like until you actually do it. And the key to doing it the first time is to get some direction or instruction from someone who knows how.

A meditation teacher in person is best. You can sit with the teacher and they meditate with you. This is helpful to the student. But that can keep you from starting if you don’t know of a meditation teacher in your area. Fortunately you can learn meditation from a book, from a guided audio mp3 or CD, or online. Technology is helping to bring ancient practices like meditation more and more into the mainstream culture.

Heart Rhythm Meditation (HRM) is an ancient practice that came from the eastern world like most forms of meditation. The way Heart Rhythm Meditation works is by creating a rhythm between your heartbeat and your breath, for example, 8 beats inhale, 8 beats exhale. You can start by finding a pulse point on your wrist or neck and using that to time your inhales and exhales. It’s simple, and it takes only a bit of practice to master. By listening to your heartbeat, you strengthen your heart.

This practice of synchronizing the breath and heartbeat creates a powerful rhythm in your body that strengthens your heart by creating entrainment in your heart rate variability.

In addition to the many heart benefits you will quiet your mind. In this meditation practice we focus on our heartbeat or pulse which is the primary clock for the body. The pulse is a much slower rhythm than the mind. So placing attention on our heartbeat has the effect of slowing our minds and making us aware of our internal clock. This is comforting.

The first sound an unborn child ever hears is the sound of the mother’s heartbeat. And the first organ to develop in the child is the heart. We are comforted by this sound.

Here’s what the techniques actually consist of:

• 1. Posture. Sit upright in a chair with your hands on your lap and let your eyes close. Open your chest area and sit royally. You are engaged in a noble endeavor.
• 2. Conscious Breath. Connect with your normal, everyday breathing. Follow the inhales and exhales. Let your breath begin to deepen and slow.
• 3. Rhythmic Breath. Let your breath find an easy rhythm and make your inhales and exhales approximately the same length.
• 4. Full Breath. As your breathing becomes slower and deeper and quieter and more rhythmic you will feel the effects of oxygenating your blood with a full breath. Your whole body will feel energized from this.
• 5. Pulse and Heartbeat. Hold the breath after a complete inhale a few seconds and see if you can feel your heart beating in your chest. In addition, find a contact point on your wrist or neck like a nurse would and find your pulse. The pulse is the echo of the heartbeat.
• 6. Swinging Breath. Now as you exhale, count the number of heartbeats or pulses that you feel and try to exhale for 6 or 8 beats. Then inhale for 6 or 8 beats. This makes your inhales and exhales the same length, as measured by your pulse.

Enjoy the synchronicity of breath and heartbeat. This is home-base for heart rhythm meditation. Full, conscious breathing with awareness of pulse/heartbeat. Try it for 5 or 10 minutes at first and you will probably get it and feel it and enjoy it! Then try and work up to 20 minutes over time. This is the beginning of your new meditation practice.

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When you think of meditation, what images come to mind? Sitting cross-legged on the floor for hours? Emptying your mind and holding perfectly still? This is what many people picture when they think of meditation-not very appealing. And if the benefits of meditation aren’t obvious, it’s not surprising that few put in the effort to practice it. Meditation comes in many forms. You may be surprised to find that you already participate in some form or another.

So, what exactly is meditation?

If we boil it down to the most basic definition, meditation is simply a practice of concentrated focus that tends to shift us into an altered state of consciousness. The goal is not the altered state but the concentrated focus. This concentrated focus can also be called mindfulness. Notice that it’s not “empty mind,” it’s “mindful.”

More Than One Way to Do It

I like to break down the types of meditation into three categories: Still, Moving, and Creative.

Still meditation involves holding the body and the mind still. This can be done lying down or sitting on the floor or in a chair. Attention is focused on the breath, on a mantra (a repeated word or phrase), or on an object such as a candle flame, picture or mandala.

Moving meditation includes body movement in a variety of ways but still includes concentrated focus of the mind. This can include traditional forms such as tai chi, qi gong, yoga, and some of the martial arts. Other moving meditations can include dance, walking a labyrinth, and even athletic activities such as running.

Creative meditation involves using your gifts and talents in a focused manner. Examples might be hand hobbies such as sewing, art in all forms, and wood working. It can also include creating music, writing poetry and prose, even mathematics!

Why Would I Want to Meditate?
Now that you can see how many different kinds of meditation there are, you might already recognize some of the benefits. For example, does running clear your head and help you feel calm and grounded? Do you lose all track of time when you sit down to create pottery? Do you notice that your day just flows so much smoother when you get in some yoga practice in the morning?

We can also look at what some of the research says about the benefits of meditation. Some of the reported benefits include: reduced stress levels, decreased anxiety, decreased high blood pressure, increased focus and clear thinking, better sleep, increased creativity, and so on.

As I was writing this, I came across an interesting article based on a study by Harvard researchers entitled: “Wandering Mind Is a Sign of Unhappiness.” The gist of the results was that people who keep their mind focused on what they are doing (mindfulness) were significantly happier than those who allowed their minds to wander more. And it appeared to be true that mindfulness was the cause of their happiness, not that happier people had less wandering thoughts.

Getting Started
With so many ways to meditate and so many potential benefits, it makes good sense to find a way to meditate on a daily basis. Those who struggle with maintaining their mental focus often find it helpful to start with guided meditation (with a group or listening to a recording) because it helps keep the mind from wandering. Taking a class on meditation or working with a skilled teacher can be very helpful.

Give it a try and be open to relaxing into the process. Remember that the goal is to train your mind to maintain focused attention, to practice “being” in the moment. Enjoy it.

“O Spirit, teach me to relax and cast aside all mental burdens, allowing Thee to express through me as perfect health, peace, love, and wisdom.” Paramahansa Yogananda

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