13
September
2006
Mozart for Meditation
By Annette ColbyOne very powerful way of reaching the still, small voice of our soul is through the practice of meditation. Before you run off, meditation simply means familiarizing ourselves with our mind, thoughts, emotions, feelings, and body. Meditation doesn’t have to involve any detailed, complex practice. It can be as simple as learning to stop, breathe, and center within yourself for a moment or two. Meditative practice is a technique for connecting with our inner spirit. It allows serenity, stress reduction, relaxation, and healing to occur. In addition, a moment of meditative time-out provides the opportunity to pull out of problems and imagine a better outcome.
Recall how you typically start off each morning, or how you end each day. Now imagine how your life would benefit if you allowed yourself a few moments of quiet. Wouldn’t it be divine to allow breathing space to center, allow inner peace an opportunity to expand, and allow useful insights to rise? Many people turn to addictions (emotional or binge eating, anorexia, bulimia, extreme busyness, drugs, alcohol, etc.) because they do not know how to achieve an internal state of calmness. While meditation alone isn’t the magical solution to all of life’s issues, it can be a powerful tool to reduce stress and hyperactivity, and separate ourselves from obsessive mental chatter.
Are You Your Thoughts?
Meditation helps us learn that thoughts are just thoughts. They easily come and then they go. We begin to understand that we can let them drift away without generating any drama around them. Teachers of mediation often instruct that we are like the sky, always present, and our thoughts are the clouds which simply float on past. The clouds may change, but the sky itself is constant, unwavering, and steadfast. No matter what thoughts, feelings or emotions come, there is always a peaceful calm that is present within us. Meditation is one way of changing our relationship with the mind, and allowing another relationship to form with our inner spirit.
When we first begin to meditate, our minds resist. We are used to a constant chatter in our minds. Our minds jump from thought to thought like a crazed leapfrog. As we continue to practice, we will notice that meditation is a simple effort that becomes easier the more it is practiced. The main effort is in creating a new habit to set aside a few minutes to sit and breathe.
Meditation Made Simple!
Many of us quickly dismiss the entire concept of meditation. We conjure up images of strange people sitting in cross-legged positions repeating “ohm” over and over again. Luckily, there are many options, and there are no strict rules or programs we must follow. Meditation is simply developing a habit of taking action to go beyond the chaos and busyness, and turning inward to allow greater inner resourcefulness. Listed below are some easy suggestions to help quiet the mind — and they don’t require much time or learning ability. Try one or more of these ideas if you either don’t know how to begin, or if you swear that you’re just so busy that couldn’t possibly create a moment of silence for yourself. Enjoy!
1. Sitting in Silence
An easy meditation practice is to simply sit in silence every day for about 1 to 20 minutes. Sit quietly, take a deep breath, and simply ask, “What is it I need to know?” Continue intentional deep breathing and listen. Listen to the silence. Listen to your hair, your skin, your feet, or your nose. Notice your mind playing with the question, attempting to solve the problem. Allow your mind to be your mind; there is no need to control your thoughts. Just sit, breathe, and listen. Listen even if no answer immediately rises. Breathe and listen.
2. Sitting with a Problem
Try this experiment. When something is deeply troubling you, take a pause from the despair and worry, and just sit with it. Allow the problem to exist without picking at it, or attempting to fix or solve it. Feel the problem and notice where it sits in your body. If possible, suspend judgement and see if you can observe it without an opinion. Might it be possible to drop down from the thoughts circling with frenzy within your head, and just say hello to the problem? Drop down into your body and see what lies there. Simply breathe into the problem. Let the wisdom of your body find its own voice
3. Deep Breathing
Lie on your back. Breathe evenly and gently, focusing your attention on the movement of your stomach. As you begin to breathe in, allow your stomach to rise in order to bring air into the lower half of your lungs. As the upper halves of your lungs begin to fill with air, your chest begins to rise and your stomach begins to lower. Don’t tire yourself. Continue for 10 breaths. The exhalation will be longer than the inhalation.
4. One Minute Mediation
Each morning, before leaving your house, find a minute to sit down. You don’t need a special darkened incensed room. Just sit somewhere comfortable. Keeping your back straight, slowly take in one full breath. Imagine yourself filling up with energy that flows throughout your whole body. At the end of your inhale, wait to exhale for about three seconds. Then exhale, releasing your breath slowly, imagining that you are releasing from your mind and body all that is stressful or heavy. When you believe the exhale is complete, push a little more air out of your lungs. Repeat for about one minute. Lastly, while you are resuming your normal breathing, remain still for about five more seconds.
5. Visual Meditation
An easy way to create a feeling of physical relaxation is select a calming picture or photograph. Sit back and relax. Breathe gently, slowly and calmly. Look at the image and notice your physical body. Are the feelings of calmness, peace, or relaxation beginning to awaken? If so, gently breathe into these feelings and allow them to expand and take you into a more and more relaxed state.
6. Basic Meditation
People who teach meditation suggest learning the ability to focus on something specific:
a) Some people focus on a phrase — for example, “I am peaceful.”
b) Some people focus on an object such as a religious symbol or a candle.
c) Some people focus on breathing.
* Find a quiet place. In the beginning, it is easier to meditate in a relatively quiet spot. This will help you “turn off” internal stimuli as well as external distraction.
* Sit so that your spine, neck and the back of your head are in a straight line. This allows breathing to occur without restriction. Sitting in a chair with feet on the floor is a good position.
* Focus on the object, or close your eyes and focus on your breath, or chosen phrase. There’s no mysterious magic about focusing on something. The mind loves to be involved with activity, and this simply gives your mind something to do while you take a little time to be quiet.
* Breathe naturally, deeply, and intentionally.
* Allow thoughts and feelings to come and go with detachment. Don’t try to control them in any way. Just note them, and when you realize that you are no longer focusing on your object, phrase, or breath, gently return to focus. You may experience a deep state of relaxation but it is OK if you don’t.
* Continue this for about 5-20 minutes.
* When done, take a couple of minutes to slowly return to normal awareness. Be gentle with yourself when opening your eyes or coming to stand after a meditation. Allow your body and mind to readjust.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Helping people let go of self-destructive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors has been the life work of Dr. Annette Colby. Her fascination with the power of the mind, emotions, spirituality, and physicality has led her to become a leader in the field of personal growth and consciousness. She is a valued counselor, and an inspiring teacher, as well as an independent writer, mentor, and guide. She is a highly sought-after trainer with a unique ability to inform and inspire individuals to open their hearts, love more openly, and pursue their dreams.
Dr. Annette Colby, RD Nutrition Therapist & Master Energy Therapist
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http://www.LovingMiracles.com Miracles@AnnetteColby.com 972.985.8750 “Opening Creative Portals to Success”
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2
September
2006
Music for Zen Meditation
By Richard Pettinger
In meditation we are trying to quieten the mind. If we can stop the usual thoughts of the mind we can go from our ordinary, mundane consciousness to a more peaceful state. Meditation music can play an important role in helping to calm the mind and enable us to go to a quieter space. Most beginners to meditation feel that it is almost impossible to stop our own thoughts. (Not for nothing has our mind been likened to a mad monkey!) However it is possible through practise, right preparation and various different techniques that will help us.
A particularly useful exercise is to harmonise our breathing; by focusing on our own breathing it enables us to quieten the mind. However there are times when our mind is still very restless; perhaps because of a busy day or a weight of problems. This is where music can be very helpful to our meditation.
Firstly meditative music can help to drown out any extraneous noises that can easily disturb us. We should not feel we have to go to a Himalayan cave to meditate, we can meditate even in the midst of a busy city, yet unfortunately modern life can be noisy. This is beyond our control but meditative music is one thing we can use to overcome this potential problem.
Secondly music can have a big effect on our emotions and state of mind. Obviously for meditation we need to choose music which is composed and performed in a meditative fashion. Rock music is good for energising ourselves, but hopeless for meditation. However the right meditation music will raise our aspirations from the mundane and make ourselves more receptive to the inner poise and peace within. Sri Chinmoy says:
“Each time we hear soulful music, we get inspiration and delight. In the twinkling of an eye, music can elevate our consciousness.”
When meditating to music there are two approaches we can take. The first is to concentrate intensely on the music listening to each note. This is effective because it takes us out of ourselves and gives us something to focus on. However we should make sure we are concentrating with our heart and not the mind. What we mean by this is that we do not listen to music with our intellectual mind to examine and listen for wrong notes. We are merely focusing our a aware and allow ourselves to be absorbed in the meditative flow.The second way of meditating music is to not pay any attention specifically to the music but just feel it as inspiring background music.
There will come a time in our meditation when we wish to meditate in absolute silence and we will not have any need for music. However especially when we are beginners music can be a very useful tool that helps us in our meditation.
It is interesting that many of the great music composers often had experiences that could be described as similar to meditation, even though they did not consciously aim for it. For example when Handel composed the Hallelujah Chorus he stated that.
“Whether I was in my body or out of my body as I wrote it, I know not. God knows.”
Richard is an economics teacher in Oxford and is a member of the Sri Chinmoy Centre. Richard is a keen cyclist competing in races across the UK he also edits a site about the music of Sri Chinmoy
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1
September
2006
Yoga and Meditation with Rodney Yee (DVD, Book, and CD)
By Taijwant Ramdeva
This is one question that I have been asked on many occasions. The answer I would say is simple yet complicated. The simple explanation is that meditation provides us with peace of mind, and helps us do away with stress.
The Inner Explanation
Our body not only constitutes of the physical parts clearly visible to the eyes, but also the invisible portion known as the energy body. Meditation has a direct affect on the energy body, which then manifests in the physical body. The energy body is better known as the aura that surrounds our physical body like an envelope and penetrates it as well. The aura has scientifically been termed as an electromagnetic field around our body.
It has been noted that when we meditate, the aura or energy body expands in size. (We can measure the size of our aura!) In other words, our energy body is strengthened as more energies flow in. The inner feeling of peace and freedom from stress is due to the strengthening of the aura. It has been seen that the feeling of irritability, anger, frustration, and listlessness, normally associated with stress, is due to a weak aura. Stressful people have weak auras. The lack of energies gives rise to these symptoms. As meditation builds your energy reserves stress starts to disappear.
So, we need to meditate to build a strong energy body, not only to keep us stress-free, but also physically healthy.
The author is a qualified energy healer, yoga practitioner, and a Reiki Grand Master. He loves to experiment with energies and is always looking to simplify techniques to help people benefit from esoteric practices. You may visit his blogsite http://healingguru.com
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30
August
2006
by Chris Le Roy
Meditation is one of the most important activities you need to do each day. One of the most important tools you need when starting to learn how to meditate is the type of meditation music you use. Whilst many experienced meditators will not use meditation music, beginners will find it easier to get to that state of calm and focus using the right meditation music.
#1. The Tempo of the Music
The number one issue that must be considered when selecting Meditation CD’s is the tempo of the music. When choosing your meditation cd’s you need to make sure that the meditation music you choose is written and played at 60 beats per minute. Research has found that meditation music played at 60 beats per minute will help produce alpha waves on both the left and right side of the brain. The research showed that Baroque Music played at 60 beats per minute produced alpha waves, better known as Calmness Waves that helped you gain a sense of calm and relax.
Baroque Music played at 60 beats per minute, produce a similar volume of alpha waves in the same way whistling a happy tune does. The alpha state of mind is ideal for creative learning and meditation.
#2. The Style of the Music
Just like with the tempo, the style of music is crucial when choosing your first meditation cd. The style of music you choose will play an important role when you are first starting to learn meditation. The best style of music for those starting out is Baroque Music played at 60 beats per minute. The reason for this is that the 60 beats per minute correlates to our optimum heart rate and research has found this style of music helps a person reach that point of calm in an optimum period.
Other styles of music written and played at 60 beats per minute are also appropriate for meditation. Even music based on flowing water or bush sounds can be very useful for somebody first trying meditation.
#3. Instrumental Vs Voice
The best style of meditation cd’s is those that are instrumental over voice based. The only exception to rule is where you are using a guided meditation cd. The key reason we try to avoid voice based meditation cds is that the person meditating, especially if they are new to meditation will tend to focus on the words of the music, than trying to release their mind.
#4. The Sorts of Instruments Used
Choosing the right sort of music with appropriate instruments will be a strategic decision and can make a huge to the success of your meditation session. You will find that most meditation cd’s will base their core instrument on a stringed instrument rather than a woodwind instrument. However, all that said and done there is lots of very successful meditation cd’s that use flutes for their meditation music however it is unlikely you would find effective meditation cd’s using a Saxophone.
When starting out on your meditation voyage, try to locate a meditation cd that uses string instruments such as guitars or harps because the music is more sustained and
#5. Length of the Songs
The length of the songs can play a very important role in meditating. When you are starting out you need to locate a range of meditation music that will go for a period of 20 minutes. From experience it has been found that meditating for less than 20 minutes simply does not give you the same result as meditation for 20 minutes or more. Make sure that when you do choose a certain type of music makes sure that your meditation tape plays the same type of music for the full length of the meditation period. Sudden changes in style of music during a meditation period can affect your ability to maintain your focus during the meditation session.
Meditation can make a huge difference to your life when done correctly and one of the best tools you can use when starting out on your meditation voyage is to use meditation music. To finish I will outline the five things you should evaluate when choosing your meditation cd’s.
#1. The Tempo of the Music
#2. The Style of the Music
#3. Instrumental Vs Voice
#4. The Sorts of Instruments Used
#5. Length of the Songs
Chris has Baroque Meditation Music available at - Meditation Music (Baroque Music) and a simple six step meditation program - Relaxation Techniques for Stress Management
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28
August
2006
by Chris Le Roy
Meditation is one of the great skills everybody should learn as it helps you in developing a more effective mind and to help keep you at a state of calm. If you are serious about meditation having a room dedicated to the practice does one of two things. The room will after periods of time bring about a sense of calm as soon as you walk into the room because of the association between the room and peace. The meditation room will also encourage you and remind you to stick with the practice. All too often people start out on the meditation journey only to abandon the practice a few months in because they are feeling great.
The downside to this is that if you do not continue practicing your meditation you will never master the art and more so each time you restart the meditation practice it will take you a while to get back into the swing of the art. Meditation is something that needs to be practiced every single day.
When you are setting up a meditation room there are seven things you need to consider to make your room a little special.
Item #1 Cushions
For most people the optimum place to sit and meditate is on the floor. However since most houses have incredibly hard floors it is always a good idea to have a number of meditation cushions on the floor. Meditation cushions are not anything special they should simply be cushions with enough padding to soften the impact of sitting on the floor for any period of time.
It is always worthwhile having a number of cushions in your room so that if you consider having a group meditation session in your meditation room that you all have at least one cushion each. There is nothing worse than fifteen minutes into a meditation session only to find your bottom has gone to sleep and you feel extremely uncomfortable.
Buckwheat Zafu Meditation Cushion
Item #2 incense
incense is a great device to help you relax during a meditation session. You can purchase incense from any quality Asian or Middle Eastern supermarket. Make sure that before you buy a box of any incense that you try out one stick first. Ask the supermarket attendant if you can because in most Asian or Middle Eastern supermarkets they will have samples for you to try.
I have found that lavender is a great incense to use when first starting out, but everybody will have their own preferences.
Padmini incense Variety Pack #10 - 300 sticks
Item #3 A Small Prayer Table
I am a great believer in setting your room up similar to those from countries like Japan, Thailand or India. A prayer table allows you to place your incense and other important artefacts for your meditation on the prayer table. Some people use the prayer table to have images of God or Buddha to help in their meditation. If you are not a religious person I simply recommend putting a photo of your family on your prayer table with small incense holders on both the left and right hand side of the prayer table.
The reason I recommend this is that the photos will remind you why you are meditating. Meditation is all about helping you to improve your state of mind.
Wuchow Extra-wide Altar Cabinet
Item #4 A CD Player
A CD player is a great tool to have in your meditation room. Using mediation music like Baroque Meditation music will help you be more effective with your meditation. Many people find when they are starting out with meditation that it is hard to get to that state of calm without using meditation music as the music can influence your feelings.
You will find though as you become more experienced in meditation that you will be able to meditate without music but meditation music is essential when you are first starting out.
Audio-Visual Meditation CD-ROM
Item #5 Seven candles
Most people in their houses today have harsh lighting in their rooms like incandescent or fluro lights. Often these lights can be very difficult to meditate under even with your eyes closed. My recommendation has always been to meditate under the glow of seven candles. The candles should be located on your prayer table at varying heights.
You will find that the soft glow of an open flame will on its own bring about a sense of calm and make your meditation session a lot more special. I recommend seven candles simply because the number seven is auspicious in my society and religion. Seven being a perfect number helps ensure during my meditation sessions that my session will in fact be perfect.
One safety point I would like to make, please ensure that you put your candles onto trays so that they will not burn your prayer table or start a fire. candles in a house can be very dangerous so make sure that after your meditation session is over that you blow them out.
Aromatherapy candles
Item #6 Peaceful Pictures and Photos
I have already stated it is important to have on your prayer table a picture of your family to remind you why you are meditating. I also recommend having other peaceful pictures in your room to ensure that when you enter your meditation room that you have a sense of peace and tranquillity.
The types of pictures that are suitable are those of nature or animals like scenes from a rainforest, a flowing brook or even pictures of a calm ocean.
Mandala: Luminous Symbols for Healing
Item #7 A Vase of Flowers
The last item I recommend that you have in your meditation room is a vase of fresh flowers. There is nothing more relaxing and calming than to smell the perfume of freshly cut flowers. Often you will find that the smell of both the incense and freshly cut flowers will give off a unique fragrance that will help entice your mind into a sense of calm.
If you cannot afford to buy your flowers, why not grow them in your garden. You will be surprised just how easy it is to put some seeds into a pot and grow a bunch of flowers. Note that you do need to water those flowers.
2 Doz. Assorted Color Roses
Meditation is an important skill you need to master and having a special meditation room will help remind you and encourage you to practice this art. Just like sport, many people start off with the best of intentions but give up. Having a meditation room will certainly help you stay on track.
To finish off, these are the seven items I suggest that every serious meditator should consider having in their meditation room:
Item #1 Cushions
Item #2 incense
Item #3 A Small Prayer Table
Item #4 A CD player
Item #5 Seven candles
Item #6 Peaceful Pictures and Photos
Item #7 A Vase of Flowers
About the Author
Chris has Baroque Meditation Music available at - Meditation Music and a simple six step meditation program - Six Most Powerful Meditation Steps
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28
August
2006
by Diana
“Meditation, according to those studying the science of spirituality, is a process by which we withdraw our attention from the world outside and concentrate it at a point between and behind the two eyebrows. By focusing our attention there, we come in contact with currents of Light and Sound which will lead us from our physical consciousness into higher consciousness, into the beyond.” - (Excerpt from “The Art of Meditation” by Sant Rajinder Singh.)
Meditation clears the mind off all the fivolties and worries. It’s connecting body and soul into a peaceful trance. Doing this once a day can have positive effects in all levels of the body: physical, physiological, emotional, psychological. I usually set a schedule of my daily meditation. I do this mostly at night, when I won’t be easily disturbed. It’s better if you don’t have any musical background while meditating to keep away from any kind of distractions.
“The Latin root of the word meditation is similar to the root for medical or medicate and implies the sense of “attending to” or “paying attention to” something. In meditation, you pay attention to your own deepest, innermost levels–dimensions of yourself which are seldom known. These deeper levels are more profound than the processes of thinking, analyzing, daydreaming, or experiencing emotions or memories. Meditation involves a type of inner attention that is quiet, concentrated, and, at the same time, relaxed. There is nothing difficult or strenuous about creating this inner attention; in fact, you will find that the process of meditation is restful for the mind. In the beginning, however, the greatest difficulty is that the mind has not been trained to create this inner attention.” Swami Rama
Simple steps in meditation:
1. Sit down in a quiet place, away from possible distractions like TV, radio, people.
2. You can sit on a chair or on the floor. When sitting down, your spine should be right up, the pressure must be on the lower spine
3. Breathe through your stomach. Imagine breathing while you are lying on the floor, it is the normal way of breathing, not through your chest.
4. Clear your mind off all problems, imagine yourself in a beach or terrace where you feel the air, the breeze, the waves of energy inside and outside yourself.
5. Imagine a bright light surrounding you..focus on your breathing
About the Author
Diana is a mystic enthusiast currently running a blog about topics that lead to the enlightenment of the soul. http://mystical-minds.blogspot.com
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28
August
2006
by Chris Le Roy
Meditation sessions are fantastic to help you manage and balance your day-to-day life. One of the important elements you can include as part of your meditation session is incense and for a beginner this really is an important tool and can make the difference between a successful meditation session and an unsuccessful meditation session.
Humans have five core senses including touch, sight, hearing, taste and smell. Each sense plays a role in keeping your mind active and playing a role in the way you feel. The brain takes each of the sensory inputs from these senses and defines how you are going to react to your surrounding. For example, research has found that certain types of music influences the way shoppers will actually purchase products.
One research organisation found that Baroque Music played at 60 beats per minute will infact influence shoppers to spend an additional 38% in their shops. Further to this the use of incense during a meditation session can in fact make a huge difference between a successful meditation session simply because the incense will influence the sense of smell.
The most important thing you can do is to choose the right incense type. Let us take a moment to look at the different types of incense choices. I should note one thing, that there are many different incense choices which will influence your choice of incense.
#1 Starting Out - Lavender Fragrance and incense
When you are starting out with meditation you will often be stressed, tense and all those other horrible feelings and the best type of incense to start out with is Lavender. There are many theory’s as to why lavender is a create start off tool but the bottom line we have learnt that it relaxes you and distresses you.
So, when starting out use the lavender incense in either a stick or powder form. The best incense type from a safety point of you is the stick incense. If you choose to use the powder incense type make sure that you put sand over the incense once you have finished using it.
#2 Inducing Sleep - Violet or Jasmine incense
If your meditation session is to help induce sleep, then whilst incense may help the process of relaxation, the best type of incense to consider is the violet or jasmine incense. #3 Sexual Energy - Rose, Gardenia or Orange Blossoms
If your meditation session is with your partner to help increase sexual desire and passion, then the best type of incense is Rose, Gardenia or Orange Blossoms. More so, if you are trying to use meditation to help sexual desire then in conjunction with the incense look at using fragrance oils as well to help spark the feeling of passion.
#4 Mood Enhancement - Fruity Fragrances
Mood enhancement incenses like fruity scents will help your mood. For example if you are feeling down then using fruit based oils and incenses like berries, bananas, melons, plum and apricot will enhance your internal mood. Might I also say your partners as well.
#5 Energy Enhancements - Citrus Fragrances
If your meditations are about getting that much needed energy and freshening the mind then the citrus fruit incense is the choice for you. You need to consider incense like bergamot, mandarins, orange, apple and even grapefruit. Even Citronella is a fantastic citrus scent for this meditation type plus it repels the moths and more importantly the mosquitos.
#6 The Sweet Smell Enhancements - Vanilla Fragrances
Sweet smell enhancements like coffee and peppermint can make a huge difference to your meditation session. The key reason we use these types of incense is simply to enhance our feelings. These also help bring forward clarity and stimulation and energy.
One word of warning though, be careful with some herbs and spices. Some herbs and spices can form foul smelling odours when burned and more so, some spices can be poisonous.
Choosing the right incense can make a huge difference towards a successful meditation session. When you are starting out then the best incense you should be using is Lavender but if you have mastered the basics then you could even try out a combination of these incense types.
About the Author
To check out the best meditation music visit - Meditation Music, for online meditation music and for help on choosing meditation cd’s click on meditation cd’s
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28
August
2006
by Chris Le Roy
Meditation in essence is about helping you to develop inner peace, calmness, a sense of tranquillity but also it is about helping you to grow as a person. Too often people perceive meditation as a hippy thing, or something for those marijuana smoking duds but really what meditation is about is helping you with your mind and the way your mind influences your life.
Guided meditation really involves someone guiding you through the process of meditation and helping you to achieve an outcome of some description. Most people associate meditation with simply sitting on the floor with your eyes closed going Ummm. Ummm. Which I can certainly say is not the outcome we are looking for and would in essence be totally useless.
Meditation just like anything you do must have a purpose. For example, what is the purpose of getting a job? Well essentially the purpose of getting a job is to help you gain money so that you can buy a house or car, get food to eat or go on a holiday. If you did not have a purpose for a job, why would you work? You would not!
Meditation is exactly the same. You need to have a purpose when you meditate. The purpose for meditation can be varied for example you could meditate to –
#1. Find Inner Peace
#2. To Bring About Focus
#3. To Relax
#4. To Help You Change Your State of Mind
#5. Improve Creativity and Learning
#6. Help Build Your Confidence and Self-Esteem
#7. To Focus on Self-Healing
#8. To Help Control Internal and External Pain
#9. Meditate to Overcome Your Fears
There really are unlimited reasons for why you would want to meditate. The objective of guided meditation is to help you take the right meditation path to achieve those objectives.
Choosing a Meditation Guide is really an important step you need to make. For example different meditation experts and practitioners will have different techniques and will guide you through different paths depending on what you are trying to achieve.
The majority of meditation practitioners will teach you deep breathing meditations when you first start because if you do not know how to relax and maintain focus, then the other meditation paths will certainly not work. Remember one thing, every meditation guide will be different and I recommend that before paying a meditation guide to help you, try to see if they will give you a free lesson.
What I have found in the past is that every meditation practitioner is different and I have even found the meditation practitioners from the one meditation centre can vary dramatically in the guiding process, so you need to find the guide who best works for you. Let me give an example of what I mean. I am always on the lookout for new ideas and thoughts when it comes to meditation and I recently purchased a Chakra meditation cd which included a guided meditation program. I put the cdrom into my computer and within the first five minutes of listening to it, I burst out laughing simply because the voice was digitally altered and was totally unreal. For me this guided meditation tool was never going to work as I could not take it seriously. Now for some people this particular meditation cd may have worked and they may think totally differently about the meditation cd. For me it did not work.
There are many different style of guided meditation. If you goto your local bookstore or check out the internet you will find an abundance of guided meditation cd’s, dvd’s and videos. Before you rush out and buy them, I strongly encourage you to see if there is sample of what they offer just to see if their guided meditation is what you are after. Any good quality meditation programs, will offer you some sort of limited look at their products so that you can see if they will work for you. If you are going to a health retreat or meditation centre for a guided meditation experience, find out if they offer a Free Introductory CDROM of their program. Always try these out first because there is nothing worse to go to a meditation retreat only to find out it does not suit you.
One thing I recommend to everyone is to try out meditation before you goto to any of these retreats even if you just try out the Deep Breathing Meditation exercises. Meditation does take practice and the more practice you do the better you will get at it. Some people when they first go to guided meditation programs do not get the outcomes they expect, not because the programs do not work, but simply because they do not realise it does take practice to master meditation.
Chris has Baroque Meditation Music available at - Meditation Meditation 2 and a simple six step meditation program - Relaxation Techniques for Stress Management
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