Spirituality Article:
Meditation & Meditation Techniques
Scientists are now studying meditation, and many physicians now recommend meditation. Many people are practicing meditation today simply because it works. There are many different meditation techniques. From my own personal experience, meditation is a blissful adventure. Even a few minutes of meditation a day can help to silence the noise of our busy minds and give us direction and purpose. Meditation teaches us to be a "witness." While we are meditating, we are detached and enjoying the moment. Once we develop a meditative state we can see the strongest of emotions for what they are and deal with them in a calm, confident manner.

An easy way for a beginner to meditate is just to contemplate on the things which bring you joy. Start out simply by creating a sacred space of stillness. Place your attention on your breath. Be a watcher and rest there until slowly the things that you are watching disappear. Your mind will come to be quiet enough to enter a realm of stillness and inner peace. Meditation will help you tap into the aliveness that is beyond your present awareness.

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Objectives of Meditation
Although meditation is a great relaxation tool, another objective of meditation may be purely spiritual. Meditation can be a path to develop divine awareness or the spiritual goal of self-enlightenment and God realization. Meditation may help you overcome your ego consciousness, a main cause of most of human suffering, tension, and conflict. A spiritual meditation objective can even fulfill your worldly objectives.

There are various methods of practicing meditation. Each method depends upon your objective of practicing it. One of the common objectives of meditation is to acquire a relaxed, happy and peaceful state of mind so that you can face the day-to-day challenges of life, relationships, and work in a more creative and balanced manner.

Meditation Preparation
In preparation for meditating, a variety of meditation methods and tools can be used. You can light incense, sage, and candles, or not. You can use ceremonial rituals, recite mantras, invocations, religious prayers, and play music or not. You can sit in a certain meditation posture, stand or lie down for minutes or hours with your eyes open or closed. You can meditate before an altar, in a temple, in your home, in a school, in a hospital, in a corporate office, in a prison, out in nature, or anyplace. You can choose to meditate any time, any day or any night. Are you getting the picture? There is a “how to” to meditate this way and that way. Makeover to demystify it! All meditation techniques are acceptable in the eyes of God.

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Meditation Benefits
When you begin practicing meditation, you start feeling relaxed, happy and peaceful. The joy you feel in meditation motivates you to meditate even more. Meditation soon becomes an automatic practice.

Whenever you feel stressed and worried, meditation makes you aware of your inner resources of peace and joy. By meditating, you acquire a habit of detached observation. So if something stressful happens in course of your day, you can view it as a detached observer. Meditation helps you develop an inner poise that you can then bring into your daily life. Meditation is like taking a healthy, nourishing diet of positive emotions during your day.

Much of the tension and stress we experience comes from our mind.

By practicing meditation techniques, gradually your distracting thoughts will subside and you will experience a sense of inner peace, relaxation and contentment. Your mind will feel lucid and you will feel refreshed from meditation. For example, when waters are rough, sediment is churned up and the water becomes murky. However when the wind dies down and the mud gradually settles; the water becomes clear. Similarly, when the turbulence of distracting thoughts are calmed through the meditation technique of concentrating on the breath, your mind becomes calm, lucid and clear. Just by doing a breathing meditation technique for fifteen minutes each day, you will be able to reduce stress. The breathing meditation technique can be quite powerful. Difficult situations will be easier to deal with and your relationships with others will improve.

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Meditation is one of the best methods to bring about transformation and gain a wonderful sense of the self.

Vipassana Meditation
Vipassana means "insight" - to see things as they really are through self-observation. It means insight into your own nature which enables you to recognize the cause of suffering and eliminate it.

Vipassana Meditation Method: Set aside 15 minutes. Find a quiet place. Sit down cross-legged on the floor or in a chair with a straight back. Become aware of your breath. Take a mental note of whatever feeling you are experiencing. Open your eyes slowly after 15 minutes and get up gradually. If you do not get any great insights in your first session, don’t worry. Just be aware of your senses, your emotions and their impact on you.

Vipassana Meditation Benefits: This meditation helps you develop wisdom. This meditation allows you to study sensation in your body like cold, heat, pain, etc. This meditation is free of rites.

A Simple Breathing Meditation
Generally, the purpose of the breathing meditation is to calm the mind and develop inner peace. The first stage of meditation is to stop distractions and make your mind clearer and more lucid. This can be accomplished by practicing this simple breathing meditation.

Choose a quiet place to meditate and sit in a comfortable position. You can sit in the traditional cross-legged posture or in any other position that is comfortable. You can also meditate sitting in a chair. The most important thing is to keep your back straight during meditation to prevent your mind from becoming sleepy.

With your eyes closed, turn your attention to your breathing. Breathe naturally through the nostrils without attempting to control your breath. Be aware of the sensation of the breath as it enters and leaves the nostrils. Concentrate on this sensation to the exclusion of everything else.

Note: At first, your mind may be very busy, and you might even feel that the meditation is making your mind busier. However in reality; you are just becoming more aware of how busy your mind actually is. There will be a great temptation to follow your different thoughts as they arise, but resist this and remain focused on the sensation of your breath. If you discover that your mind has wandered and is following your thoughts, just have patience and return it to the breath until the mind finally settles on the breath.

Here's to your good health!

Diana Lynn

Read Chapter 2 On Meditation in SOULutions: Your Spiritual Makeover by Diana Lynn - For more Meditation Techniques & Guided Meditation - Discovering your Life Purpose - Get ready to unlock your intuitive power with a Spiritual Makeover “LifeLift” and discover SOULutions for creating an extraordinary life!  SpiritualitySolutions.com specializes in Spiritual New Age Gifts & Spirtual New Age Products: beautiful Crystal Jewelry, Yoga Jewelry, Aromatherapy Products, Candles, Crystal Balls, Feng Shui Products,  Healing Crystals, Incense, Massage Supplies, Pendulums, Spiritual Gift Kits, for inspiration and awareness, and spirituality articles, Self Help Books / Spiritual Books for spiritual growth and spiritual healing. Come read our spirituality articles on: spiritual healing, energy healing, holistic healing, & alternative healing! Free sample excerpt from SOULutions: Your Spiritual Makeover!