How to Meditate to Relax

To meditate is to go beyond the regular idea of thinking and travel to that deeper 'place' of relaxation and awareness of the world. There are different types of methods of meditation. The goal of meditating is to focus and give your mind peace. Read on for some advice on how to meditate.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Find some time to meditate for yourself. You should find time throughout your day to sit down, relax and meditate.

2. Find a place that is quiet enough to meditate. It is very important that you are not distracted by noises. So if you can, turn off any electronics (televisions, phones, cell phones, music, other noisy things). If you want to play music, you should make sure that it is calming, soothing and repetitive (try looking for music that has no words).

3. Find a place to sit that is very even and level. You could use a soft cushion if the ground is uneasy and not very comfortable. If you can't sit cross legged that's ok, the important thing is to keep your back straight.

4. Close your eyes until they are only open partially. You should not be focused on anything. If you want, you can close your eyes all the way.

5. Take very deep and slow and slow breathes from your stomach or abdomen, not your chest. Your stomach should inflate then deflate very easily. Try doing a breathing exercise where you breathe in for 4 seconds and then exhale for 8 seconds.

6. Attempt to relax every single muscle in your body. It will take time bit stay relaxed and keep trying.

7. Focus your attention on something. Your mind will probably wander and go from idea to idea and maybe thinking about things in your life. You should bring your mind to focus on one thing.
   Try thinking about the inhale and exhale of your breath and thats it.

8. Now that you have your mind focused on one thing, now try to focus on nothing at all. You should be trying to clear your mind. This will take time to do and take a lot of discipline but it can be achieved.