Many people have heard about meditation somewhere along their journey through life. Sometimes it will be personal experience when someone we know begins meditation. It may even be that our own health practitioner or doctor recommends meditation to us to assist us with stress reduction, relaxation, pain management or anxiety levels.

For most people this is easier said than done. How many times did I attempt meditation and think that I couldn't do it? Many, many times! The How To of Meditation just seemed to elude me, or so I thought.

I read some books, I bought some cd's and listened to them and slowly, slowly I developed a relationship with meditation. Eventually I took a short course and realised that there were many types of meditation and that Meditation "How was an individual and evolving process for me.

For me, the most important point to make to anyone who is grappling with discovering and developing their meditation practice is to do it every day. Even if you feel you did not succeed at meditation today, the act of turning up, sitting in quiet stillness, relaxing your body and giving your attention to yourself - even if only for five or ten minutes - makes you a winner.

If you turn up, you win! If you create that tiny space in your day for meditation, you win! If you enjoy that time, you win! If you learn something new about your relationship to meditation today, you win!

There are some things that are common to all living human beings. One of these things is Breath - we all do it, from the day we are born until the day we die. So much so that most people are usually totally unaware of their breath unless something goes wrong.

Developing a relationship with your breath, becoming aware of your breathing is one of the most simple acts of kindness you can do for yourself. The benefits of breath awareness, developed through meditation will astound you! This is one of the simplest forms for beginning meditators to grasp - breath meditation.

Start noticing your breathing patterns, get to know this most fundamental part of your life experience and see what kind of relationship you currently have with the stuff of life.

• Do you breathe quickly or slowly? See if you can slow your breath without causing distress. Sit comfortably, quietly and just 'watch' your breath. Don't force it, just let it find it's own rhythm. Watch the change from when you began to watch it, to when you decide to stop.
• This is the basis of the breath meditation, watch the breath, focus your attention on it and when you do, you will see it become calm and gentle in your body. Very nice!

• Do you breathe at the top of your chest or low down in your lungs? Through your nose or your mouth? This is another interesting learning exercise. Sit quietly and comfortably and focus on your breath. Follow it path through your body, see how it enters, where it goes, what it feels like and how it exits.

  
  

• Many people are in the habit of breathing in only into the top of their lungs - this can happen due to high levels of anxiety or living and working in stressful environments. It is the body's natural response to these kinds of situations but it was never intended to be something we do all the time. It is not good for our health to breathe in this shallow way on an every day basis.

  
  

• Likewise the habit of breathing through our mouths. I think this is connected to the shallow breathing habits we have developed. Play around with slow, deep breaths into your lungs through your nose. Try not to force it you don't need to feel as though you are blowing up a balloon!
• Pay attention to how it feels in your body and even when you have finished sitting quietly remind yourself throughout your day to take three or four nice slow deep breaths right into the depths of your lungs - this will be a wonderful energy booster and will help you break the habits of a lifetime that may not be supporting you as you strive to become the best person you can possibly be.