How to Meditate--A Basic Overview

The objective of meditation is to relax and open your mind, to give it a break by relinquishing the attachment to your thoughts as they pass. Meditation creates a space of silence and spiritual awakening. Deepak Chopra refers to the space between your thoughts as the “gap.” Meditation clears your thoughts, calms your mind, and suspends the chatter. It is much like a gentle rain after the storm. It is a cleansing, peaceful feeling, a restful place to create space for new divine inspirations and ideas to grow. Begin with 3 to 5 minute sessions, eventually working up to 20 or 30 minute sessions twice a day.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Sit on a low pillow in the lotus position or in a chair with your back strait. Keep your spine straight and vertical and allow your shoulders to relax.
2. Breathe deeply and slowly 5 to 10 times and allow your body to relax.
3. Start counting along with your breathing. Count to 4 as you inhale and hold for a count of 4. Then exhale for a count of 4. This provides you a focal point, something on which to center your mind.
4. Repeat the breathing exercise 5 to 10 times, allowing your thoughts to flow through your mind. See your thoughts like floats in a parade: some beautiful, some just okay, and some difficult to look at. Just let them go down the street, and soon they will be out of sight. Or, see them as ripples on a pond after a tossed pebble has disturbed the calm, clear water. Watch the ripples disappear as they extend from the center.
5. Let your thoughts go; don’t analyze them. Simply observe them objectively. This release is a pivotal point of your meditation process. After the release process, you may use the following visualization for rejuvenation.
6. Allow the divine light to enter into your crown chakra (at the top of your head) and flow through your body to fill every cell. See the white or white/golden light fill the cells of your body as it travels from the crown chakra down through your torso and through all of your physical body extending to your fingers and toes. Allow the light to flow out through your heart chakra and into the world as a rainbow light or send rainbow hearts of love or solid color hearts of love out into the universe.
7. As you relax into your deep meditation, enjoy what you are experiencing. Allow your thoughts to pass through without attachment.
   Let them go and calm your mind, opening the channel connected with the divine part of you. Your mind’s clutter is released, creating open space for new information to flow into your consciousness.