and keep your spine straight (back support is fine if you need it). Don’t worry about fidgeting, but if you can stay still, it’s better. Meditation is about being present and relaxed. If you remain gentle with yourself and don’t become harsh when your mind does not stay focused, you’ll find that you progressively get better at easily and quickly falling into meditation.
3 Breath Meditation
Now I’d like to share with you my favorite form of meditation, called “breath meditation.” I believe it is one of the most powerful, yet one of the easiest, meditations to learn.
Before we begin, let’s talk a bit about the mind. The mind is made up of wave patterns. When we think, it causes wave patterns to occur in the brain. There are four main types of brain waves. The pattern we are normally in when awake and thinking is called “beta wave” or “beta state.” When we are dropping off to sleep and the mind begins to quiet, that is “alpha state.” When we are asleep or quietly meditating, that is “theta state.” The deepest state of sleep or of meditation (where there is no body awareness) is called “delta state.”
The goal in meditation is to get you to the theta/delta stage. I have found that the breath meditation technique is one of the most effective ways to get to the deeper levels of meditation and still the mind. Most people who are new to meditation and are trying a variety of ways to meditate will vacillate between the beta and alpha states in their initial practice. These stages of meditation are relaxing and a wonderful experience, but as with all things in life, the more you practice, the better you will get. Eventually you will desire to quiet the mind at the theta/delta levels and will go to the deeper realms of meditation to achieve this stage.
Now let’s talk about this effective and helpful way to quiet the mind, called “breath meditation.” It can also be the most challenging way, because although it’s simplistic, it is not always easy to do. It is easy to learn but sometimes difficult to practice.
In this form of meditation, you simply “follow your breath.” Just observe your breathing with no mantra, no prayer word, just simple and quiet noticing of the breath. How it works is that you sit up straight in a quiet, comfortable place with your feet on the floor or legs crossed. Begin by taking a few deep breaths. Then allow yourself to breathe normally, without concern whether the breath is becoming deeper, more shallow, or staying the same. (Any of these things can happen in correctly performed meditation.) As you sit there, watch or take notice of your breath. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, and breathe out. You can breathe in through your mouth or your nose, it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is letting your attention be with your breath.
If something distracts you, simply come back to your breathing. When strenuous or uncomfortable thoughts arise (come to the surface), don’t try to ignore them or push them away but instead acknowledge them and go back to observing your breathing. Allow your attention to focus on that. Acknowledge any distractions, without being annoyed by them, and simply direct your awareness back to your breath. Eventually, thoughts will diminish, your mind will get quiet, and your brain patterns will begin to be at those deeper levels. You will find a deep peace that you may have never experienced before. Stresses will dissolve, and a sense of well-being will envelop you.
I encourage you to try the breath meditation and to practice it often. I also strongly suggest you meditate twice a day, once first thing in the morning and again just before bed at night. I find these times to be the easiest to make into a habit. We can meditate any time of the day or night, but it’s best to make a point of doing it twice daily and to establish a routine of morning and evening meditation. A sense of peace will develop in your life with regular practice. In my experience, breath meditation is one of the most powerful meditations in the universe.
4 Walking Meditation
Most of us think of meditation as sitting in the lotus position with the eyes closed, but there is a form of meditation called “walking meditation” that is wonderful, relaxing, and something you can do anytime, anywhere.
This type of meditation is a way of finding time to meditate even while being active. The technique allows us to experience easing the mind and releasing stress as we slip into a state of “moving meditation.” This is a great addition to the practice of sitting meditation. It adds variety to our meditation styles, and is useful when the body just doesn’t feel like sitting quietly. I encourage you to try it. Let me explain how it works.
A key component of most styles of meditation is rhythm. This is true of the I-am-peaceful meditation, breath meditation, mantra meditation, and also of walking meditation. The rhythm we create develops a sense of quietude. Meditation gives us a reprieve from restless agitation induced by our constantly chattering minds, inducing a period of rest, rejuvenation, and healing.
Walking meditation has several components. First, it’s best to find someplace you can walk undisturbed and undistracted. You will be walking very slowly. If you are walking in the vicinity of other people, you could be distracted by them, worrying about what they are thinking since you are walking at such a slow pace. You never want to be in a place where you are distracted by self-consciousness about what others may say or think as you are meditating.
Once you find the proper place for your walking meditation, begin walking, and begin to correlate your steps with your breathing. As you breathe in, lift your foot . . . as you breathe out, put it down. Then you do the same with the other foot and continue in this pattern, walking along with the rhythm of your breath.
Correlate your pace with your breathing, not the other way around. Just breathe naturally, and follow your breath. As you move, you will find that meditative state where your mind becomes calm, even though you are moving. The key is to just focus on your breath and walk in rhythm with it. As with regular meditation, thoughts will come. Don’t fight them or be annoyed with them. Simply allow your attention to go back to your breathing. Follow your breath. Focus your attention on that walking and breathing rhythm.
You may be wondering what you should do with your eyes as you do this. Simply look down at your feet. Watch your feet as you move them to correlate with your breath. If you are in a public place where you cannot correlate a slow walk without attracting attention, here is an alternative way to do this meditation: simply correlate two steps with each breath instead of one step, causing you to walk a little faster. Focus the eyes a little in front of you, gazing so you can see where you are going. As you breathe in, take two steps. As you breathe out, take two more.
This modification of the walking meditation technique comes in handy in places like airports and shopping malls where throngs of people surround you. It can instantly blow the stresses away, as you unwind with each breath and each step you take.
5 The Benefits of Meditation
When you meditate, the key is to focus on your breath because that is the only thing happening right here, right now. You may have a mantra or prayer word; you may visualize or use a guided meditation; but the key to any meditation is to be in the here and now.
Our mind typically centers on the past and the future. As we meditate, the mind quiets down and begins to focus on one thing only: the present. Right here in the now, there are no concepts, no fears, and no problems to worry about. Fears and worries come when our minds are working, going from the past to the future, thinking about what has been and what could be. When we make our minds quiet and be in moment, fears and worries go away. That’s one of the beautiful things about meditation: it frees us from the concepts and thought structures we have created that cause anxiety in the mind. It gives a respite from worry and our burdens of the day.
Besides meditating your worries and fears away, you can practice being in the present
