If you’ve got ideas of sitting cross legged, chanting ‘om madhe padme om’ to the sound of Tibetan bells, that’s not what I mean (though there’s nothing wrong with doing that if that’s what rocks your boat!)

There doesn’t have to be any religious or spiritual reason to meditate. The thing is, meditation is the best way to learn will power, focus and mental discipline. Start with 5 minutes a day, once or twice a day and build it up from there. I will soon be releasing a free e-book full of techniques but for now, try the following:

Sit or lie relaxed, with your spine straight. Close your eyes and focus on the area just below your navel as you breathe in and out. Just focus on your breathing and the area below your navel. If any thoughts enter your head, just smile and let them go. No need to beat yourself up over the intruders… just acknowledge them, smile and let them go.

Once you can do that for 10 minutes, then change the routine slightly – spend 5 minutes focusing on the navel area and then 5 focusing on your heart. If you build this up gradually, without straining it, by the time you are doing this for 20 minutes per session, twice a day: a. you will have developed a lot more will power, focus and mental discipline and b. the e-book I mentioned earlier will be available with lots of different things you can try!

And for an extra benefit, try smiling as you meditate!

Progressive Relaxation

You can use progressive relaxation on it’s own, or before doing some of the breathing exercises outlined earlier. There are many variations on progressive relaxation of the general principle is always the same; either starting at the top of your body and working your way down all from the bottom and working up, imagine that each muscle group relaxing. You may find it easier at first, to tense the muscle group before relaxing it so that you can feel the contrast between the two states. Whether you choose to start at the top and work down water start at the bottom and work up, please make sure that you’re sitting in such a way that if you become really relaxed you can’t fall over!

Progressive relaxation is a physical meditation of its own; the conscious mind is distracted by the process of becoming more relaxed while certain unconscious level you are getting the benefits that come from meditating.

Another physical technique that you can use, is to gradually move your awareness from one part of the body to the other seeing if you can ‘feel’ each part in turn. While doing this you should be aware of any tension on any part of your body.  Mentally imagine yourself releasing this tension. It works wonders as it has two benefits – relaxing the body and giving the conscious mind something to focus on.

For those of you who work with the bodies energetic systems, you can also see if you can feel each chakra in turn.

I don’t remember where I first came across this concept, but it’s very effective. Take a sheet of A4/ letter-size paper and print an equilateral triangle on it. Stick it on the wall in front of you, at head height, or on the ceiling if you’re meditating lying down. Focus your eyes on the triangle and breathe slowly and deeply. Notice what happens.

Take another sheet of A4/ letter-size paper and print a big circle on it. Focus your eyes on the triangle and breathe slowly and deeply. Notice what happens now.

I find that the triangle energizes me whilst the circle calms me. They may have a different effect on you – the important thing is to notice the effect as you can then use the shapes when you need a quick dose of energy or an injection of calm. I keep meaning to try a square, but haven’t tried it yet. I’d love it if some of you were to try it and let me know the effect.

If you want to try an added dimension, try outlining or filling the shapes in different colours and see what results you get.

In ‘Lost Secrets of Ancient Hawaiian Huna’, Tad James has printed 36 symbols for use in spiritual meditation. He describes those symbols as ‘simply symbolic of a function or an energy of the universe’.

Unfortunately the book is out of print at the moment and fetches a lot of money on Amazon. Let’s hope Tad reprints it soon!

Words

This was the start of a more successful experience with meditation for me. I had played around with affirmations many years ago, without much success; the concept seemed to be a good one, but I felt that there was something missing. Then, it occurred to me to use individual words and to match them with my breath – deep breathing is relaxing on its own – when I added the words, saying them silently to myself, I seemed to get a double benefit.

The original words I used, and still use, are as follows:

Breathe in whilst saying ‘Compassion’, out whilst saying ‘Peace’.

Breathe in whilst saying ‘Gratitude’, out whilst saying ‘Joy’.

Repeat the cycle. These words had a deeply relaxing effect on me, and as I concentrated on them, they stilled the monkey mind.

Play around with whatever words work for you – I sometimes add a third sequence, saying ‘Health’ on the inhalation, and ‘Love’ on the exhalation. Remember, there are no hard and fast rules, whatever works for you is good!

Kim’s game

Played by children in many countries, this is a great place to start. Simply get someone to place several objects on a tray and cover them with a tea cloth. Remove the cover for a set time (start with 20 seconds and them shorten the period to make it tougher) and study the objects.

When the time is up and the cover replaced, pause for a minute or two and then try to remember as many objects as you can. Start with a relatively small number of objects and then increase the number as you become more skilled at the game.

If you’re playing on your own, here’s a variation – get a deck of cards, shuffle them, close your eyes and deal a set number, face up. Open your eyes, study the cards for the set period, then close your eyes and remember as many cards as you can (or turn your back on the cards if you want to write down what you remember).

Kim’s game (Advanced version)
Start out as above but when it comes to recalling the objects describe their position in relation to each other as well. You may prefer to draw the tray and mark the location of the objects.

Countdown

I got this from a book by Dr Clark Wilkerson. Simply concentrate on counting down from 100 to zero, one number at a time, and if you want to, visualise the each number in front of you. Focus on each number as it comes, avoid thinking of the next number in the sequence.

This becomes even more important when you take this exercise to the next stage; experiment with counting down with every other number (ie 100…98…96… etc), every third number (100…97…94…etc) or whatever interval you prefer. If you make a mistake, or if your mind wanders, start again from 100. With the bigger intervals, it’s quite a challenge to not start working out the next number ahead of time.

When 100 is too easy, increase the number to 200, then 300 and so on.

These three exercise will help you to develop your focus and concentration, therefore complementing your meditation practice.

For example in November 2005, the Journal NeuroReport ran an article about a study that showed how 20 participants who were trained in Buddhist meditation showed increased grey matter in their brains. What is really exciting about this study, is that most of the participants only meditated 40 minutes a day! So you don’t need to shut yourself away in a cave like a hermit and study for years and meditate all day in order to gain benefits from meditation.

Studies at Harvard Medical School, Yale, and MIT, have used MRI scanning to find out what happened in meditators’ brains during meditation. They discovered that meditation generates activity in those sections of the brain that are responsible for the autonomic nervous system, the part of the brain that governance processes such as digestion and blood pressure. As the autonomic nervous system is also responsible for our response to stress this sheds some light on how meditation helps to relieve stress related conditions.

A group of researchers at UCLA also used MRI scans to look at the brains of meditators and in the Journal Neuroimage in May 2009 report that meditators showed a significant increase in the volume of the hippocampus, the orbito-frontal cortex and the thalamus, all regions of the brain that, amongst other things, regulate our emotions.

When science begins to explore new areas, they love to invent new terminology and there is now a new field of study called Neurotheology that seeks to quantify spiritual experiences and to understand what happens to the brain during and after periods of meditation, amongst other things. Research has shown that prolonged practice of meditation has even greater benefits.  People who have meditated for a long time appear to be able to produce gamma waves which are the brainwaves associated with the brain making and new circuits.

What is Meditation?

Some of you may not know what meditation is, nor what benefits you may expect from meditating. A simple explanation is that meditation refers to a state where your body and mind are consciously relaxed and focused. So it’s not just daydreaming, as it requires focus too! As for the benefits of meditation they can include increased awareness, focus, and concentration, as well as a more positive outlook in life.

Ask most people what they know about meditation and they will probably describe hermits, monks, mystics and other spiritual disciplines.  You don’t have to be a mystic to enjoy its benefits and you certainly will not be required to withdraw from society and become a monk or a hermit!   Nor do you need a special place to practice it.  Your living room, bedroom, spare room, garden, in fact anywhere is just fine.

Even though there are many different approaches to meditation, the basics remain the same: focus and relaxation, calming the mind and freeing it from clutter and negative and wandering thoughts.

The thoughts that you have, both positive and negative – thinking about your noisy neighbours, bossy office mates, that parking ticket you got, your dinner appointment this evening – all contribute to the ‘chattering’ in the mind. Shutting them out allows for the ‘cleansing’ of the mind so that it may focus on deeper, more meaningful thoughts.

Some practitioners even shut out all sensory input – no sights, no sounds, and nothing to touch – and try to detach themselves from the commotion around them.  It may seem difficult at first, since we are all too accustomed to constantly hearing and seeing things, but as you continue this exercise you will find yourself becoming more aware of everything around you. However, if you are one of those who find it difficult to still your monkey mind, you may prefer to leave trying this until you have gained some success in meditating.

If you find the meditating positions you see on television threatening – those with impossibly arched backs, and painful-looking contortions – you need not worry.  The principle here is to be in a comfortable position conducive to concentration.  This may be while sitting cross-legged, standing, lying down, and even walking.

If the position allows you to relax and focus, then that would be a good starting point.  While sitting or standing, the back should be straight, but not tense or tight.  In other positions, the only no-no is slouching and falling asleep.

Loose, comfortable clothes help a lot in the process since tight fitting clothes have a tendency to choke you up and make you feel tense.

The place you perform meditation should have a soothing atmosphere.  It may be in your living room, or bedroom, or any place that you feel comfortable in.

Silence helps most people relax and meditate, so you may want a quiet, isolated area far from the ringing of the phone or the humming of the washing machine.  Pleasing scents also help in that regard, so stocking up on aromatic candles isn’t such a bad idea either.

The monks you see on television making those monotonous sounds are actually performing their mantra.  This, in simple terms, is a short creed, a simple sound which, for these practitioners, holds a mystic value.

You do not need to use mantra; however, focusing on repeated actions such as breathing, and humming can help the practitioner enter a higher state of consciousness.

The principle here is focus.  You could also try focusing on a certain object or thought, or even, while keeping your eyes open, focus on a single point.

In all, meditation is a relatively risk-free practice and its benefits are well worth the effort (or non-effort – remember we’re relaxing).