What is meditation? Ask a hundred different people and you will get a hundred different answers. Some will tell you that it is a state of extreme relaxation, others will say that it is extreme concentration. Still another will consider it a transcendent state while another will describe it as an altered state. So in reality, what is it? The answer is that it may be any of the above, some combination of the above, or something else entirely. Just what meditation is and how one goes about it depends entirely upon the person doing the meditation and what they are trying to accomplish. What works for one person may not work for someone else.

Who can meditate? Well, if you are capable of reading this document, you can. And when can you use meditation? Just about any time. And how long should a meditation session last? Well that all depends on a lot of factors. I have at work slipped into a meditative state for just about a minute, and had it do wonders for me. At other times you may want to extend the meditation out to a half hour or even longer.

It is far beyond the scope of this series to tell you everything that there is to know about meditation. Entire volumes have been written on the subject. Besides, I don't know all that there is on the subject myself, by a long sight. Rather, what I will do is to describe various meditation techniques, and their values in enough detail so that anyone from a beginner on up can follow them and practice them. Naturally, we will start with the easiest and most basic method first and work our way up to more complex or advanced methods.

Many of you are very practiced with meditation, so the first lessons may seem very simplistic and basic. But some of you may be completely new to meditation, having never practiced it before. So we will start these lessons with the newest beginner in mind. And I myself occasionally use the first one myself. So lets start with:

In my personal opinion, this is the best form of meditation for a beginner to start with, and I still use it at times myself.

Start by sitting up straight in a comfortable chair or sofa. Your feet should both be flat on the floor in front of you with your hands in your lap. Crossing your legs or stretching them out in front of you may be comfortable at first, but after a few minutes could cause tensions that will interfere with your ability to get the most out of your meditation. Some people believe that you must get into the lotus position (a yoga position) in order to successfully meditate. If you can get into this position comfortably, and maintain it comfortably for the duration of your meditation, and if you feel that it is necessary, OK. Just remember, it has to be comfortable. If it causes stress, or tension or any discomfort, then I suggest that you skip it.

Close your eyes. Take three or four (or five or six) deep breaths in through your nose. As you inhale, you may find it helpful to picture a white light coming in with the air and filling your entire body. Then exhale through your mouth. As you exhale, picture all of your tensions and stresses flowing out with the exhaled air. Feel the tensions and stresses flowing out. Just let them go.

Now let your mind become quiet and still. If a thought enters your head, don't try to suppress it, or stop and examine it, just let it drift on through. You may find some unusual thoughts passing through your head. You may also find yourself seeing pictures or visions. Or you may find yourself feeling things, unusual feelings or emotions. I have even heard bird songs or even music and smelled flowers or perfume during a quiet meditation. Don't worry about it, just let them pass through. There will be plenty of time to think about it all and examine it later.

When you feel that you have been in a meditative state long enough, start coming back to the physical reality slowly. Take a few deep breaths and direct your attention toward your physical body. It may surprise you to discover that during the meditative state, you may have become completely unaware of your physical body. Don't worry about it, that doesn't always happen, but it is not at all unusual.

When you feel that you are back in the here and now, open your eyes. If you happened to notice what time it was when you started your meditation, you may be in for another surprise when you open your eyes again.

Time doesn't seem to move at the same speed during meditation as it does normally. I sometimes meditate for what seems to be five minutes only to find that actually a half hour to an hour has passed. At other times I may meditate for what seems to be twenty minutes or a half hour and find that only five minutes has passed. You may want to set a timer if you feel that you want to meditate for a certain period of time. If you do use a timer, use a gentle one, any raucous or loud noise can be quite a shock when you are in a meditative state. For this reason, you may also want to turn off the ringer on the telephone during meditation. I have had the telephone ring when I was meditating and it was almost like someone had hit me.

After you are back in the here and now, you may want to examine the thoughts, sights and feelings that you experienced during your meditation. They can often be a source of insight into yourself. And if you are a beginner, I would suggest trying to meditate for about 5 to 10 minutes to begin with.

Although there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of, beginners will sometimes become frightened with things that they don't understand. If you are a beginner and are afraid that you may run into something that may frighten you, you can do this. Before you start, make a loose fist with one hand except have the thumb inside of the fist. Then, if you become frightened by something that you don't understand, simply squeeze your thumb and you will be back in the here and now.

If you are going to be doing this, I would suggest that you use each method that I describe on a daily basis for a week to ten days before moving on the next, more advanced method. Also picking some particular time of the day for your meditation would be beneficial. It would be best if you could use the same time every day while you are learning. I would only suggest one no-no concerning meditation. I would suggest that you not use it while laying in bed. The problem here is that meditation is normally a very relaxed state and you could fall asleep. That would start a conditioning that says, "I'm meditating, that means that it is time to go to sleep." And that really is not what you want.

Just a few notes here. Some people like to have music playing while the meditation is going on. There is nothing wrong with this and it works great for some people. Personally, I prefer it quiet as I have on occasion "heard" beautiful music while meditating. Having music playing would interfere with that. Some people like to have incense burning, again, this is fine if it works for you. I usually don't use it myself. If you can set up a certain time every day for your meditation, it would be good. And trying to meditate when you are very tired might not work for you at all, in fact you will likely fall asleep. If you do fall asleep, it does not mean that you have failed, it probably means that you were very relaxed and perhaps a bit too tired. One more note. If you are a beginner, I suggest that you start your meditation sessions with 5-10 minutes and work your way up to about a half hour.