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How to Meditate : Simple Meditation Techniques for Everyone
Meditation is one of the most important tools you will ever have and it is absolutely free. There are two basic ways to meditate, and all methodologies fall under one of these two categories: active and receptive. Active meditation includes guided meditations and what you might call "question and answer", wherein you ask a question and listen deeply for the answer. You are doing something while in an altered state. If you are having trouble staying focused, experience interference from the "monkey mind" chatter (i.e., end up making a mental grocery or to-do list, or thinking about a project you're working on), or are just learning how to meditate, you can use guided meditations but they are not necessary.
Guided meditations teach you what it feels like to be in an altered state. The more you follow or listen to them, the more familiar you become with this feeling-sense and the easier it will be for you to eventually "get there" yourself without following step by step instructions, or using a tape or CD. The slow heartbeat and breathing becomes a part of your body memory. Once your body remembers how to get there, you'll move into an altered state much more quickly. You may find it easier to meditate alone, rather than in a group. If so, I'm with you; I can never get into as deep a state when I am in a roomful of people. Conversely, you may find it easier to use group energy to get there. There is no right way, only the way that is right for you.
Receptive meditation is what I think of as "deep-state" meditation: you are simply in receiving mode, much like a short-wave radio; when you want to speak, you keep the switch on Send, and when you want to hear what the other person is saying, you move the switch to Receive. In receptive meditation, you simply keep your "switch" on Receive. You can use this state to feel the presence of God or your Soul, and to receive guidance, energy transmissions, or healing. It is like an active prayer, but instead of talking or asking for something, you are listening. While you may still have visions or physical sensations, you are simply an observer, not actively participating in what is happening. Once you have learned how to achieve a meditative trance state, try this kind of meditation sometime. It gets easier with practice. Set your intent before you begin, get into the flow and enjoy the ride. I don't suggest you attempt deep state meditation if you're just starting, because it is more difficult to quiet the "mind chatter."
Begin with setting short time limits for yourself, perhaps ten or fifteen minutes. Don't expect to be able to stay focused for long periods of time at first; gradually, you will find yourself staying in a meditative state for longer and longer periods.
1. Before you begin, choose a comfortable, relaxing place where you will not be disturbed. Using the same location, even the same chair or sofa, each time you do the exercises, will help you to accomplish your goals faster. Some quantum physicists and spiritual practitioners believe that everything, even inanimate objects, hold energy. Following this premise, if you continue to practice meditating in the same chair, the chair will "build", or increasingly hold, more and more calming energy.
2. Unplug your phone, put a Do Not Disturb sign on your front door (or the door of your room), and be very firm with family members that you aren't to be disturbed until you open the door. "Blood or flames" is a good rule, i.e. you aren't to be interrupted unless it is a true emergency.
3. Regardless of where you choose to practice meditation, always begin by calling light to yourself. By doing so (and simply thinking of light is all you need to do in order for it to come to you) you are literally building the amount of light in your cells. Light naturally has calming, healing and protective qualities. The more light you hold and radiate, the higher you will raise your vibration (a very good thing.) Cells actually communicate with each other via Light [1], so you will automatically enhance the mind-body-spirit connection as well. You are connecting with the deepest part of your self, your highest consciousness and your inner wisdom. Here's an easy way to do this:
Go to your sacred space and take a moment to get quiet. Calm your emotions by using Exercise #4 described in Relaxation Techniques.
Now imagine that you are walking out of the lake, into the meadow surrounding it. The meadow is indescribably beautiful; it is early summer and there are wildflowers of every color waving in the tall grasses. You might hear birds singing in the trees, or notice other wildlife. The sun is warm on your face. The temperature is absolutely perfect; you might even feel a soft breeze gently brushing against your skin.
Really use your imagination to make this the most peaceful place you can imagine, and with every breath you inhale, breathe in the peace and tranquility that is all around you.
Notice that there is an area in the meadow that seems especially bright, almost like a spotlight is shining on it. Walk over to the circle of light and stand in the very center.
You are now standing in a beautiful beam of flowing, sparkling, liquid light. This bright, sparkling light is flowing down and around you, cleansing your aura of any dark or dense energy. Imagine it is flowing down through the crown of your head, filling your body. Notice how much lighter you are beginning to feel, as your vibration is increased.
You may begin to feel pressure on the top of your head. This is perfectly fine; it just means that your crown chakra is opening up. You can help it do so by imagining that there is a door, or hatch, on the top of your head and you are opening it all the way up. The pressure will go away if you do this.
Imagine you are breathing the light in, filling your lungs with this beautiful, dancing light and watch it move through your body with your breath with your inner eyes.
Let it wash away any of the lower vibrations, such as fear, anger, and anxiety, for it does this simply by its presence. Feel it exiting your body through your feet, moving all the way deep down into the Earth, where it will automatically be purified and used again.
Your body and aura are now completely bathed in light and you have increased your radiance. You may feel a temporary light tingling sensation on your skin, sort of like goose bumps, or a slight "buzzing" in your body. This is perfectly fine; it just means you are sensitive to energy.
Calling light to yourself in this manner is, in itself, a meditation. You could easily spend as much as fifteen minutes doing this, or as little as five minutes.
4. Focus on your breathing. Put all of your attention and awareness on your breath. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, taking slow, relaxed, deep breaths, making sure your abdomen and not just your chest expands as you inhale. Don't breathe so deeply that it's uncomfortable; the goal is to relax your breathing. Gradually let your breathing fall into a normal, comfortable rhythm. If you are meditating in a group, don't try to imitate or match someone else's breathing, keep your attention and your focus on yourself. If you find your attention beginning to wander, bring it back to your breath.
5. If you are a beginner at meditation, give yourself something to focus on. Perhaps you want to get in touch with your intuition, or your higher self. If so, you can imagine that you are in a beautiful garden, or at the seashore, or in the mountains. Wherever you choose to be, make sure that it is a location that has happy memories or instills happy feelings in you. Make sure that you are completely alone (don't bring your children or partner with you into your special place), and use lots of detail to create the scene in your mind. For instance, if you are in a garden, notice what you are sitting on, the colors and types of flowers and trees, the blue of the sky, the unique texture of grass under your feet. Take some time to make the scene real, and spend a few moments enjoying it.
If you would like to meet your higher self, what you might consider the wise, all-knowing part of you, ask for it to come to you. Take your time as you do this. Just "be" your experience. In a few minutes, or even a few moments, you might see an image of someone coming towards you. You may not see them clearly; that's perfectly fine. Ask for your higher self to come closer and to let you feel its presence, even if you don't see it. You should have a very calm, peaceful feeling as this happens. Your higher self doesn't experience anxiety, a feeling of hurriedness, or any negative feelings. If you would like to practice connecting at first, this is all you need to do. If you have a question you'd like to ask, then do so, and wait patiently for the answer. You may not hear or feel an answer immediately, and that's perfectly fine too. Your answer may come in another form after you have finished your meditation, through a phone call, something you read in a book or magazine, or even a television or radio show you happen to turn on.
6. When you are ready to finish, be sure to bring your attention back to your heart area. Become very aware of your physical heart, and focus on its beat. Then bring your attention to your abdomen, your digestive system, and the muscle and bone in your legs. When you are completely aware of your physical body, open your eyes. This helps to bring you "back into your body" so you aren't dizzy or lightheaded when you stand up.
[1.] David Hudson's speech at the Northwest Service Center in Portland, Oregon on July 28, 1995 (bold added for emphasis):
"Did you know that the way cells communicate with each other is by superconductivity? That the U.S. Naval Research Facility knows that the way cells communicate with each other is by superconductivity? That they have actually measured it using SQUIDS? Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices with a superconducting ring around the body. And they have seen by this procedure that literally light flowed between cell to cell to cell to cell. Did you know that your nerve impulses are not electricity that they travel closer to the speed of sound than they do to the speed of light? And electricity travels closer to the speed of light? Do you know what speed the superconducting wave travels? The speed of sound. This, in fact, is what is in your body that we call the consciousness. It's what separates you from a computer.
It literally is the light of life. This is that part of your body that has been there all of this time, that scientists can't find because their instruments can't see it. They call it carbon because it has no absorption or emission spectra and they assume therefore that it is carbon when,in fact, it isn't carbon. That there are 11 elements that it could be but primarily rhodium and iridium are the elements that are in your body right now. And that literally they resonance connect and literally flow the light of life perpetually in your body. And around your body you have a non polar magnetic field which is called the Meissner field or they refer to it as the aura.
That literally these are the spirit atoms in your body. These are the atoms that are in resonant harmony and resonating with the vacuum energy. And the vacuum energy is another dimension where there is no time. Everything that ever existed and everything that ever will exist is registered in the vacuum. And I will tell you now, my friends, that when you meet your God, you will meet him in the vacuum. That is where all matter came from, that is where all matter originated and that is where everything is recorded. And your connection is through these resonant oscillators that are in quantum resonance with the vacuum energy. That is what brings the light of life from the world of the quanta up into the macro body you call your own physical being."
