Mediation for Everyone: How to simply relax

I have always been a very open minded person, wanting to try a little bit of everything in this life. I have found I am always drawn to inner peace, the earth and learning how to make use of what this earth has to offer. With that being said, one of the most frustrating experiences I have endured was trying to "learn" how to meditate. I bought books, spoke to a lot of experts, all of whome told me these elaborate steps to take in order meditate, even how prepare for meditation.

Many people associate meditation with Buddhism, Wiccan practices and Pagen rituals. In reality meditation is for everyone, its a healthy process to practice and to incorporate in your daily life. Meditation is learning how to relax, and sadly many of us do not know how to shut out the world, to clear your mind and practice proper breathing techniques.

I am going to give you the basics, MY ADVICE, and a few tips and tricks on meditation.

Meditation can be done where ever and when ever you want once you learn what it feels like to be in that clear state of mind. To elaborate on what a clear state of mind feels like, it does not mean your mind is going to be completely free of thought, you will be aware of your surroundings and where you are, you will still hear things around you, but you will have a slightly altered feeling, and you will lose sense of time. In some sense you may feel like you are floating, and instead of having a constant string of thoughts, your mind will be wandering.The reason meditation is healthy, is for this reason, you are freeing your body of stress, you are allowing your mind a moment of peace, letting your subconscious work through the problems you occurred during the day.

I am sure have noticed when you get so stressed out and worked up you aren't productive, you get angry and short tempered with everyone, even yourself, but if you leave and take a walk outside, you feel yourself unwinding. That is a small form of meditation, again... its all about freeing yourself of the tension that builds up inside of you.

When you first attempt meditating I suggest you do it at night before you want to go to bed. To get yourself prepared, light some candles and turn off the lights. When you sit on your bed make sure you are comfortable. You are going to want to start with simple breathing techniques. You will be surprised at how many of us do not breathe right, creating a lack of oxygen in our blood stream which makes us feel fatigued and groggy.

First you are going to start with sitting up straight, rolling your shoulder back aligning your spine. You are going to slowly take a deep breath, filling up your lungs entirely. Hold it in for a count of 3 and slowly blow the air out until you feel empty... You are going to repeat this at least five times, attempting to hold in the breath a little longer each time. Once you are done you should feel yourself automatically in a more relaxed state of mind.

Now I want you repeat this in your head, it is a mantra, to keep your mind focused on one thing, something positive to drown out everything else. Silently repeat " Butterflies are free... and so are we" You can chose any positive line you like, but I find this line to be so uplifting and simple, it creates a beautiful image in my mind. Keep repeating this, taking deep breaths. Eventually you will lose track of time, and you will naturally stops speaking in your mind.. you fall silent and you will have reached a meditative state. It is that simple. You don't need to expect anything amazing to happen, you don't need to search for a specific feeling like so many people tell you. You just need to reach a state where you aren't aware of the time, you aren't waiting for the phone to ring (it should be turned off), You just need to sit in a quiet place, surrendering yourself to silence.

When your mind and body is ready to ease out of its mediation you automatically come back to reality, and you will feel somewhat tired, but you will notice a change in your mood. You may feel a little off, because its like coming out a deep sleep. This why I suggest doing it at night before bed, this way you can just lay down and fall asleep. You have a much better night of rest, usually sleeping through the entire night.

If you find that this works for you, you can eventually add specific incense to your meditation. They work as aromatherapy, triggering certain parts of your brain, I will add an Article specifically on incense, so if you are curious about that, keep an eye out for that. ;) I hope this helps those of you wanting to meditate, but have felt overwhelmed by most of the over board "How - To's" that are floating around out there.

Good Luck, let me know how this works for you, I like to hear about your experiences.