So You Want To Meditate... by John Dean Williamsen

So you want to meditate... Piece of cake! After all, how hard can it be? All you need to do is sit down and close your eyes and relax. Right? Wrong! If this were true, everyone who ever attempted meditation would have mastered it, and you know that is just not the case. The old axiom about there being no such thing as a free lunch is something you might want to remember when you begin the process of learning to meditate.

When you go through the following, realize that your body is like a spoiled child and will resist every attempt you make to discipline it.

In meditation, consistency is one of the keys for becoming proficient. So, make a commitment to practice daily for at least 21 days, which is the time necessary to initiate change.

FIRST STEP: Find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed for 20 or 30 minutes. Shut the phone off so that the ring will not disturb you while you practice. In these beginning days, make sure that you are not in an environment where electrical fans, radios, or machines are running. Later, when you have a degree of mastery, you will learn to use background noise as a means of deepening your meditative experience.

SECOND STEP: Find a comfortable place to sit down or lie down. Be aware that in the initial stages, you may have a tendency to fall asleep. Therefore, sitting upright may be more practical than lying down. When you sit, place both feet flat on the floor. It will make you feel more composed and determined about your efforts. As a side note, if you should fall asleep, you probably needed the rest. When you wake up, try again. There are no penalties for “do overs.”

THIRD STEP: After being seated, decide how to position your body, that is, where you want to place your hands and arms. This could be in your lap or on the arms of your chair. You may need to experiment a little to find out just where they feel most comfortable. At first it may seem awkward no matter where you put them.

FOURTH STEP: Now that you are seated, close your eyes. Because your attention is still behind your eyelids, you may see tiny points of light, squiggles, or variations of light. After you move through the rest of the steps, you will find that your awareness will automatically shift to a place on your forehead just above and between your eyes. This place is called the third eye or the seat of the imagination.

FIFTH STEP: Slowly and easily take full breaths. As you do, feel the flow of air as it goes down into your lungs and back out again. If you are breathing properly, your stomach should seem to swell and your chest will move very little because you are using your diaphragm. The most efficient muscle of breathing, the diaphragm is located at the base of the lungs. Your abdominal muscles help move the diaphragm and give you more power to empty your lungs. Practice this at least 10 times.

SIXTH STEP: Relax the body.

1) Press the toes of your right foot firmly down against the floor until you feel tension in the entire foot. Do this for the count of 10. Then relax. You may feel an increase in warmth, a slight tingle, or the foot may just seem to feel larger.

2) Do the same exercise with the right foot again. Now the difference in feeling between the right foot and the left foot gives you the contrast you need to tell the difference between a body part that is experiencing a degree of relaxation and one that is still in a state of tension.

3) Perform the same exercise with the left foot. Now both feet are in a state of relaxation.

4) Your challenge now is to allow this feeling of relaxation to flow upward into the rest of your body. You do this by tensing each body part, holding the tension for a few seconds, and then letting go. Allow this feeling of warmth (relaxation) to flow slowly up through your ankles, lower legs, knees, thighs, lower body, chest, arms, neck, face and scalp. Any place you especially feel tension, tense that body part again and then let go.

Pay close attention to the muscles in your face. Relax the lips. Allow the tongue to lie loosely in the floor of the mouth. Keep the jaw relaxed. Do not let your teeth close tightly. A good approach for relaxing all the face muscles is to make the most ferocious monster face you can muster and then relax.

SEVENTH STEP: Quiet the brain. Your random patterns of thought are one of the greatest enemies of meditation, and it takes a heroic effort to bring them under control. The good news is that your focus on the process required in relaxation has already given you some degree of control.

However, to fully benefit from meditation, you have to bore your brain into submission! You do this by taking a word or phrase, called a mantra, and saying it over and over. A mantra can be a word such as “Love” or a phrase such as “God and I are One.” If you catch your thoughts wandering to the obligations you have or the grocery list, bring them back to your mantra. Getting your brain under control is also like retraining a spoiled child. It resists your efforts, but eventually, your consistency and commitment to the process will bring it under control.

EIGHTH STEP: Listen. This is not about hearing words. It is more about the feelings you experience.You may suddenly experience a knowing about questions you were struggling with earlier or the direction you need to take becomes clearer.

NINTH STEP: Self-remember. This step comes with practice. You find yourself connecting with the oneness that exists between you and God, between you and others, between you and the Universe. The illusions that are governing your life start to break down.

About the Author

John Dean Williamsen is co-author of "It's Your Move! Transform Your Dreams from Wishful Thinking to Reality," a finalist in the 2004 Book of the Year Awards. He hosts the blog www.HowToEnjoyYourLifeInSpiteOfItAll.com. For more information, visit www.DiscoverThePowerWithinYou.com.