Easy Meditation

Years ago such a concept as easy meditation simply didn't exist in our society. This is because those who embraced it, they fully embraced it, practically living by it and it's principles. Also many years ago, before getting introduced to the Western world, the people who were meditating were monks, spiritual leaders, spiritual people and those who really took life seriously in finding a true meaning of existence. 

Don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean that we, Westerners do not take life seriously. However let's not forget that our modern world is all based on impulse, on getting everything NOW and on very materialistic principles.

This is because we are living in stressful times, busy times, when we simply don't have the luxury of spending hours and hours on learning meditation to attain all the benefits it can give us. Hence the search for easy meditation techniques that can be beneficial in our daily lives right away.

While spirituality and religion have their places in this society, as a whole we are only now starting to unlearn what the industrial revolution did to our mind and spirit over the years.

Unfortunately it is very difficult to let go of 'wanting it now and wanting it as easy as possible', hence the increasing demand for easy meditation techniques.

What Are Easy Meditation Techniques?

Easy, or simple meditation techniques are those that can be done in a relative short period of time without taking years to get benefits from practicing them.
Also the benefits that you will get from easy meditation techniques will be slightly different than those that you would get if you were a devote practitioner meditator.
For example you might not get all the spiritual advantages, however you will get 'things' you can achieve faster. You will find everything you need to live a relatively stress-free life, to find calm and peace in your life and become a better person overall.

Benefits Of Practicing Easy Meditation

• Stress reduction and management - These meditations are not too deep, just enough to help you managing stress easily
• Health benefits - You will improve your health overall. Depending on the type of practice you will use, you can help yourself to overcome headaches and migraines, let go of various phobias and addictions, as well as be more rested due to lower metabolic and heart rate.
• Also in the category of health benefits you will have lower cholesterol levels and decreased blood pressure.
• Better mood overall - When it comes to mood, you will feel much calmer overall, less irritable and moody and less impulsive.
• You will be able to enhance your creativity and imagination. You don't have to become a zen monk to spark your creativity. It is amazing what a few minutes of rest and relaxation can do to your mind!

Preparing For Meditation Made Easy

One of the differences between advanced and easy meditation techniques is that you don't have to do a lot of preparation for it.
The posture is simply about sitting quietly and calmly on a chair, on the floor or on a meditation pillow, depending on what you feel most comfortable with (or what you have around), and the rest is very easy.
You simply close your eyes for a couple of minutes, do a few breathing exercises or follow the guide in the guided meditation and after a few minutes you will feel fresh, relaxed, alert and ready to face the day (or evening) ahead.
And most of all, you will feel less stress than you had before you took up meditation in the first place.
And afterall, in our busy modern life, de-stressing is one of the major reasons why most people take up meditation. The ones that truly seek spiritual enlightenment in our circles are rather far and few in between.

Myths about meditation

The top ten myths about meditation

Even though meditation is now widely used in sports, medicine, psychiatry, and of course as part of the spiritual practice of millions of people around the world, there are still many misconceptions and myths in circulation about what meditation actually is.

Myth #1. Meditation is relaxation

To say that some people’s conception of meditation is “Think of warm puppies, and let your mind go limp” is an exaggeration, but not much of one. Perhaps because meditation has found a home in stress management classes around the world, many people think that “letting your tensions dissolve away” is the be-all and end-all of a meditation practice. But while it’s important to let go of unnecessary effort while meditating, meditation is still a practice — that is, it involves effort. Sure, we start by letting go of tensions in the body, but that’s only the start.

Myth #2. Meditation is just self-hypnosis    

Hypnosis, when used in therapy, involves a patient being guided into having experiences that he or she would have difficulty in attaining unaided — experiences as varied as being content without a cigarette in hand and remembering forgotten events from childhood. Self-hypnosis does the same thing, but the practitioner uses a remembered script or visualization to, say, increase relaxation or to experience greater confidence. There’s actually some overlap between hypnosis and meditation (although some meditation teachers, being suspicious of hypnosis, would deny this). In both disciplines we start with inducing a state of relaxation and then proceed to doing some kind of inner work. In hypnosis and in some forms of meditation that inner work involves visualization or the use of repeated phrases. But many forms of meditation (for example, Zen “just sitting” or Theravadin mindfulness meditation) make no use of such tools. The overlap between hypnosis and meditation is only partial.

Myth #3. There are technological shortcuts

“I want to relax, and I want to do it now!” is the approach taken by many goal-oriented Westerners. And that makes them suckers for promises of quick-fix technological approaches to meditating. The web is full of products that promise you that you’ll meditate like a Zen monk at the touch of a button. Just stick your headphones on and hit play, and let the magical audio technology do the rest! But like myth #10, this overlooks the fact that meditation involves effort. Sure, if you stop running around being stressed for half an hour and listen to some blandly pleasant music you’ll find you’re more relaxed. Why wouldn’t you be? But it’s a mistake to confuse this with real meditation. The “Zen monk” in these ads would surely be puzzled to think that someone listening to a CD for a few minutes had attained the depths of mindfulness and compassion that come from thousands of hours of sitting on a cushion watching your breath.

Myth #4. Transcendental Meditation is the most common kind of meditation

“Oh, so is it Transcendental meditation you do?” I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked that question when people have found out I’m a meditation teacher. Just about everyone has heard of Transcendental Meditation because of famous practitioners like the Beatles and because of controversies about TM being taught in U.S. schools, but TM is very much a minority pursuit — probably because it’s so darned expensive to learn (and the question of where those millions of dollars go is still open). The most common form of meditation in the West is Mindfulness or Insight meditation, which comes from Theradavin Buddhism of South and Southeast Asia. Zen meditation and Tibetan meditation (which often involves visualization) isn’t far behind.

Myth #5. You have to sit in lotus position

In the Asian countries where Buddhist meditation developed people generally sit on the floor and have flexible hips. It’s natural for them to sit cross-legged, and so they sit in a variety of cross-legged postures in order to meditate, the lotus position being one of the most common and stable postures. In the West we sit in chairs from an early age and have stiffer hips. It’s therefore a rare Westerner who can sit in the lotus position to meditate — at least with any degree of comfort. In actual fact it’s possible to sit comfortably to meditate on a chair, a meditation stool, kneeling, or even lying down (although you’ll have trouble staying awake). The most important thing is that you find a posture that’s comfortable for you — and that you don’t beat yourself up about not being able to twist your legs like a pretzel.

Myth #6. In meditation you sit there saying “OM”

Mantra meditation is only one kind of meditation, and “OM” is only one mantra (or part of a mantra). ‘Nuff said.

Myth #7. Meditation is a religious activity

Although meditation comes from various spiritual or religious traditions, it’s not in itself necessarily a religious practice. The most common forms of meditation practice, for example, involve observing the sensations of the breath. What’s religious about that? Sure, there are some forms of meditation that involve using religious words of phrases as objects of concentration (e.g. Transcendental Meditation, Buddhist Mantra meditation, etc.) but many of the most common meditation practices have no religious overtones — which is probably one of the reasons they’re so common.

Myth #8. Meditation is somehow “Eastern”      

A lot of people (usually Christians) have told me that they think Buddhist practice is “foreign” because it comes from an Eastern context. Hmm, where does Christianity come from again? Oh yes, the Middle East. But as with Myth #4 (“Meditation is a religious activity”) there’s nothing inherently Eastern, Southern, or Northern about counting your breath or wishing people well. Some Tibetan practices do involve visualizing rather bizarre (to Western eyes) figures, and mantra meditation usually involves repeating Sanskrit words or phrases — but those constitute a minority of meditation practices. Oh, all right, it’s a large minority — but what’s wrong with a little exoticism?

Myth #9. Meditation is escapist

To some people, meditation is “running away from problems,” “navel gazing,” “lotus eating,” or “disregarding the world.” Actually, running around being busy and never having time to experience yourself deeply is escapism. When you meditate you’re brought face-to-face in a very direct way with your own anger, delusion, craving, pain, and selfishness. There’s nothing to do in meditation but to experience and work with these things. Also, some forms of meditation — such as lovingkindness and compassion meditation — involve us working at transforming our relationship with the world by cultivating love and empathy for others. Perhaps that’s why so many meditators are involved in social work, psychotherapy, nursing, bereavement counseling, prison work, etc.

Myth #10 Meditation is about letting your mind go blank

Here it is, the all-time number one meditation myth — that meditation is about “making your mind go blank.” Sure, in meditation we aim to reduce the amount of thinking that goes on. Sure, just sit there for a few minutes watching all those pointless and even downright unhelpful thoughts bubbling up nonstop in the mind and you’d start to think that a blank mind would be preferable! But what would it be like to have a blank mind? Would you even be awake? Would you have any consciousness at all? Would you be able to know that your mind was blank? The confusion arises because we identify so much with our verbal thoughts (our inner self-talk) that we think that that’s all our experience is. And if we reduce or even stop our thinking (and that can happen) we assume that the mind must be blank. But a blank mind simply isn’t possible.

No, in meditation we aim to develop mindfulness — that’s mind-full-ness. When we’re mindful the mind is very much not blank. Rather, we’re aware of physical sensations, emotions, thoughts — and of how all those things interact with each other. The mind is so full of our present-moment experience that there’s less room for it to be full of useless thoughts, and instead we’re aware of the incredible richness of our experience — a richness that we overlook entirely when we spend our whole lives lost in thinking.

7 EFFECTIVE WAYS TO DO MEDITATION IN OFFICE

1. Use the tiniest of breaks to focus and breathe: When you are alone, waiting for someone in a conference room, or in the elevator, try to find a focal point to rest your open eyes. You may be tempted to look at those around you, or talk, but if possible, stay silent and focus. Inhale and exhale in controlled and deep breaths.

Even if you get to be alone for say 30 seconds, you will emerge refreshed especially with regular practice. The benefits are stable blood pressure and increased oxygen flow to the brain thereby increasing alertness. Your stomach should rise as you inhale; and you need to draw your navel in as you exhale.

  

2. Get connected: Close your eyes for a few minutes, and shut your mind to all the sounds in your office. You will at once connect with your mind.

3. Do what you love: As meditation is mainly a way of relaxation, you can best relax by thinking of something and someone that soothes your mind. By this way of meditation you form mental images of places or situations you find relaxing. You can also close your eyes and silently repeat a word, thought or phrase that relaxes you.

4. Nostrils that unwind: This is the age-old tried and tested meditation technique works wonders as breathing is a natural function and is the engine of life. Focus all your attention on how you breathe. Concentrate on feeling your breaths as you inhale and exhale through your nostrils. Breathe deeply and slowly. This would completely unwind you. 

5. Engage in prayer: Whenever you find even 10 minutes of time in between your work, all you do is simply pray! Prayer has the power to move mountains, yes this clichéd, but very effective.

6. Read: Reading quotes that inspire you, sacred texts that motivate you, silently or aloud, can bring peace to your mind and actually boost your energy levels. You must reflect on the words you read.

7. Cup it up: One of the most popular ways by which you can do a quick meditation is to cup your hands on your eyes and breathe. Even watching your breath while you are working can help.

Yoga Meditation

By using yoga meditation techniques, stemming from ancient India, we can not only relieve stress but also increase our physical, emotional and mental health.Before we go into yoga meditation and what the most common techniques of meditation are, I think it is good to first understand what is yoga and how it relates to meditation in general.

What Is Yoga?

Yoga, as defined by Patanjali the author of Yoga Sutras,

"is the ability to focus the mind on a single point without distraction."

Yoga incorporates exercise and yoga meditation into one philosophy and practice that provides physical benefits as well as promotes the development of self-awareness.

For many people yoga is a kind of physical exercise, albeit slow, a sort of stretching, that helps them achieve various positive things in their lives.

In a small poll I conducted once among my friends on the meaning of Yoga, I have received two replies that put yoga in the category of powerful exercises, a kind of Indian aerobics. They were very surprised when I explained them that yoga can be something much gentler, calmer, akin to meditation.

Indeed, when practicing yoga, the person is taking various "asana" postures. Asana means the practice of taking on various different physical poses, or positions in rather slow motion. However another definition of it is really the balanced union between the mind, body and soul, or spirit.

While in truth Asana is one of the 8 "limbs" of yoga (more on that later), in our Western world we mostly use the two terms quite interchangeably. As a matter of fact I talked once to a person who wanted to show off with his knowledge fo the terminologies, and he told me that he "started practicing asana".

Yoga indeed involves a set of light physical stretching exercises. But don't get confused by the word 'light', because it is not always easy. Just because there are not always heavy exercises involved, it doesn't mean that it's easy to do them.

There are in fact several postures that a person is practicing in yoga and each posture evolves in perfect coordination after the previous pose. This tends to help develop a person physically as well as mentally and emotionally in perfect balance.

The Five Principles Of Yoga Are:

1. Proper relaxation
2. Proper exercise
3. Proper breathing
4. Proper diet
5. Meditation and positive mental attitude

No other philosophy comes close to yoga as it involves the consideration of the whole person. Yoga will encourage you to become totally connected with yourself; mind, body, and spirit.

How Does Yoga Relate To Meditation Techniques?

There is one important aspect that is important to know. In order to practice meditation, you don't need to practice yoga. Also by practicing yoga, you are not required to pick up meditation.

It is interesting to learn that many people have actually started yoga through taking an active interest in meditation, but for others it was the other way around: they first discovered yoga and then they wanted to learn more about meditation.

One lends itself to the other very easily when a person becomes serious about this aspect of their lives.

So don't discount the power of practicing yoga and meditation, because they easily go hand in hand. In fact, as meditation is a fundamental part of yoga, you will find that they work best together to improve all aspects of your life considerably.

Main Benefit Of Practicing Yoga Meditation Relaxation
Letting Go Of Stress

You can use yoga meditation so that you get most of the benefits. When you are learning to meditate, you will need to learn two important aspects: that of relaxation and concentration. By practicing yoga, you will find that it is much easier to relax and to concentrate when it comes to sitting down and meditating.

One of the most widely accepted benefits of yoga meditation is the fact that it is a well known stress reliever technique. Due to the combination of the slow poses along with the breathing exercises, it creates a great environment for you to relax. It is the perfect technique to let go of stress from within.

Please note though that every yoga type is well suited for relieving stress, however when you are looking specifically to use it in conjunction with meditation, the best poses are the ones that allow for slow, steady and gentle movements of stretching.

For meditation avoid using power yoga which is mostly focused on body fitness. This has its benefits elsewhere, but certainly not in meditation practices. For meditation you are certainly NOT required to learn poses such as depicted in the image here :-)

Look into Pranayama instead, a great breathing exercise that lends itself perfectly for meditation and stress relief.

The yoga breath meditation helps elminiate stress through a controlled set of breathing techniques (watching how you breath) that help calm the mind and relax the body.

After a while of practicing it, you will notice that your attention will start to automatically focus inwards, and it will be much easier to find that perfect balance in your life.

You will notice that your mind won't fight you any time you have a positive thought popping in. It will help you achieve a sense of balance and inner equilibrium.

In addition, the yoga meditation relaxation will help in improving the overall health of the body. Don't forget that yoga also means exercising, so you are in effect working your various parts of the body in tandem with your mind.

Here Are Additional Physical Benefits For Practicing Yoga And Meditation:

• Lowers the blood pressure
• Helps with losing weight in a slow and steady fashion
• Improves the posture and the physical strength along with toning the muscles
• Increases the lubrication of the tendons, ligaments and the joints in the body
• Helps get an internal body massage by stimulating all the organs and glands
• Helps improve the immune system
• Helps with body detoxification
• Helps with pain relief

All this can be achieved over time with a few minutes practice on a daily basis.

Suggested reading:

Light On Pranayama: The Yogic Art Of Breathing by B. K. S. Iyengar


"In this classic yoga best-seller a world-renowned yoga master shares the techniques of breathing together with a comprehensive background of yoga philosophy. B. K. S. Iyengar is a legend who has practiced yoga in a unique way, and today "Iyengar Yoga" is taught around the world by certified instructors."

Introduction to Yoga by Annie Besant


"This anthology is a thorough introduction to classic literature for those who have not yet experienced these literary masterworks. For those who have known and loved these works in the past, this is an invitation to reunite with old friends in a fresh new format. From Shakespeare s finesse to Oscar Wilde s wit, this unique collection brings together works as diverse and influential as The Pilgrim s Progress and Othello. As an anthology that invites readers to immerse themselves in the masterpieces of the literary giants, it is must-have addition to any library."

Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness meditation is an integral part of the Buddhist philosophy, however it is so widespread in the Western world even by people who have no idea of Buddhism at all, that it is indeed categorized nowadays as a meditation type in its own right.In a nutshell, mindfulness meditation is a set of techniques that allow you to relax and de-stres by being fully in the present moment.


What Is The Difference Between Mindful Meditations Practice And Other Meditation Types?

When you meditate using other techniques, most of the times you try to empty your mind of incoming thoughts. While a truly empty mind is not really possible (well maybe yes if you have been a Zen monk for many, many years), keeping the chit-chatter out of the mind is quite possible during a meditation session.

Mindfulness meditation, however, will keep your mind on the present, on the now.

The main idea behind it is that you are fully aware of your intruding various sensory experiences without judgement.
You are not judging yourself or the thoughts, feelings, images, sounds or anything else entering your mind. You simply let them be and focus on them detached. You acknowledge them and calmly observe them. Over time, you will notice that less and less such intrusing thoughts will enter your brain.
Some people say that it's because they get bored that nobody pays any attention to them :-)

What Can You Focus On During Mindfulness Meditation?

Mindfulness meditation techniques and methods allow for focusing on a wide variety of different things, such as thoughts, sounds, sensations and feelings, images, taste, smell, breathing. Everything that we usually find a distraction in other meditation types, here is welcome.

• Thoughts are in most cases quite an annoyance when you want to meditate, especially when people are new to mindfulness and meditation practices. Actually most people, when they have choose between what they wish they could 'get over' earliest so they can learn to meditate, say that thoughts are the ones.
  Mindfulness meditation overcomes this problem by simply acknowledging that can't be easily fought off. Instead of engaging your thoughts, you let them be. In most cases they get bored fast and leave on their own.
• Sounds are another annoying distraction and some people overcome this problem by using ear plugs for a complete quiet environment during those 15-20 minutes of meditation sessions per day.
  Believe it or not, it is actually better to get used to sounds intruding your brains while meditating using the mindfulness techniques and programs in everyday life because they can indeed help. Take for example music. Many meditation types are using background music for effective meditation. So don't discard sounds when you start to meditate. Welcome them instead.
• Feelings and sensations which are mostly physical in nature can keep any sane person from getting deep into meditation. For example your nose itching, a feeling of having to sneeze, a hair finding its way in your shirt tickling your skin, these are all things that we simply 'have' to take care of.
  If you can't stand the feeling, then yes, do take care of them, but without getting angry and bothered. Just take them as something natural, deal with them and then turn back your focus to the now.
  Also focusing on the various parts of the body can be a good thing in meditation and can actually help in mindfulness practices. Just try to sense how your various body parts feel to you. See if your fingers prickle, if the wind touches your skin, these can all be easily incorporated into the mindfulness meditation techniques.
• Breathing is something that we do every day on automation. Without breathing there is no life. However it might be a bit difficult when you start out with meditation to focus on it.
  You might find yourself with a feeling that you can't breath regularly and you might even think that you are forgetting to breathe. Relax, as you can't stop breathing, it will happen, no matter what. With a bit of practice, focusing on your breathing can be quite liberating and a really enjoyable experience. I truly enjoy breathing meditation and I practice it any time I can.

Main Benefits Of Mindfulness Meditation Techniques

• When you are exploring mindfulness and meditation, you will find that it is effectively used in minimizing the occurance of anxiety and panic attacks. Also patients wtih generalized anxiety disorders (GAD) have noticed that their attacks have been greatly reduced since they practice mindfulness every day.
• It can also help with depression as the symptoms are usually decreased after regularly practicing it.
• Troubles with insomnia and lack of sleep seem to help as well. The quality of sleep has been noticed in people who practice mindfulness meditation on a regular basis.
• Phobias, eating disorders, and other physiological problems can be also minimized and sometimes completely eliminated using mindfulness.
  For example bulimia can be erased simply because mindfulness meditation instructions bring about a deeper sense of loving yourself. By accepting and loving who you are, you are less likely to try to change yourself to fit other people's criteria about yourself.
• Stress can be also reduced because with mindfulness we embrace who we are, we embrace the current reality and the present, without trying to alter it, or worry about what 'might come'. Accepting what cannot be changed is a major part in letting go of the daily stress, anxiety and worries.

Do I Need To Meditate To Practice Mindfulness?

It is important to note that you don't really need to meditate to practice mindfulness. You can do it every day, while fully conscious and going about your daily business.

The way you do it is by simply being fully aware, in the present moment, regardless of what you are doing. If you are chopping onions, don't let your mind wander to money problems, or daydream about your next vacation.
Simply watch yourself chopping the onions and be with it. Look at the knife, at your fingers, at the onions getting cut in pieces. Watch this detached and slightly curious.
When you are driving your car, don't daydream about anything else, but really watch the road, the people, and see everything for what it really is. You will be surprised by a few interesting results over time :-)