Meditation - an Effective Self Improvement Method for Stress Relief and Increasing Physical Wellness and Mental Agility

Learn how to meditate and stay present in this moment using ancient and proven techniques. Now combine this with modern technology and brain wave synchronization for an effortless and joyful experience.

Meditation nowadays is increasingly gaining respect within the fields of self development and wellness, not to mention therapy. Many psychologists are practicing mindfulness meditation and so they are able to encourage others including their clients to incorporate these simple practices into every day life. This essentially “being present” mode of mindfulness produces immediate benefits.

The seeming simplicity of meditation or its traditionally being regarded as only for people delving into spiritual, mystical and psychic circles, practices, or even "cults", has often put people off giving it more than a moment’s consideration before dismissing it from mind. Nowadays however more people appreciate that it is a very practical solution to developing stability within oneself, one’s psyche. Most of us are full of hopes and fears for the future; we often feel held back by memories of the past. But by developing a degree of presence of mind, we can find a temporary refuge from the bombardment of excited, racing thoughts, of anxiety worries, or those somewhat painful memories and fears that often plague us.

So What Is Meditation?
One could think of it as a being a door to ones inner resources or potential. A door is nothing special, it is generally what is inside or beyond that is important. The inner resources that may be accessed through meditation are of much greater significance. Whilst not giving an extended list here, one could summarise the main facets as attaining a more peaceful, relaxed, spacious and clearer state of mind. One may feel more intuitive and well attuned to life in general and particularly to those around you.

Often people get caught up in words, and meditation allows us a pause or some space in the mind to free us from that. There is so much written on the web about meditation that may or may not be accurate or of much value:
Wikipedia has a huge page on the subject. They define meditation as being:
- a discipline whereby you train your mind to focus on an object; - they actually specify an object of thought or awareness. While this is not wrong, meditation can include a whole array of mentally visualized images and concepts; or simple physical objects from a stone of no significance to a statue of great personal significance (such as a statue of the Buddha to a Buddhist). Again Wikipedia refers to meditation as:
- a practice to engender higher states of consciousness; - maybe but for most of us this is of little concern and extraordinarily difficult to actually achieve in modern day society anyway. They also refer to it as:
- a method for developing “mental concentration” but then they add that it could also be the apparent converse - “mental quiescence”; they allude to or appear to consider that one precludes the other.

Simply Do It and Leave Your Thoughts and Words Behind You
The best way of learning and understanding meditation is to keep it simple and simply do it. One of the most practical and effective methods is to use the breath - it’s always there and you can simply move your awareness towards noticing the ins and outs of it, anywhere, any time.

A Simple and Effective Meditation Method
In a more formal sitting session, for 5, 10 or 15 minutes a day ( or as often and as long as you like) you can count the outbreath (silently in your mind) as “one”, … “two”,… “three”,… and so on up to maybe 7, 10, or 21 and then just start again from “one”. As and when you lose track of your counting, just start again at “one”. You will need to practice patience with this - and yourself, but don’t be put off; you’re starting something new that will bring all sorts of surprising results and insights into yourself and everything around you, and in a very natural way.

Finessing Your Thoughts
To add a slight finesse to this counting method, I extend or stretch the thought “one” from the very start of the out breath to the very end of the out breath. I sometimes insert the word (or thought, to be more precise) “and” for the duration of the in breath. This method acts rather like a mental saw that is cutting through all the other thoughts that are trying to cram into your mind. Although most people and beginners at meditation are not actually aware of this, you can only have one thought arising in your mind at a time, in any one moment. Thoughts arise in quick succession and each may only last for such a short time that it might appear that you have many thoughts all at the same time. This is not the case, though until there is a degree of quietness within the mind, most people are unable to even observe or realize this.

Download a Free Audio Meditation Tool
We would like to offer you a simple audio meditation tool, that is useful for beginners, intermediate and advanced meditation practitioners alike. This tool is available in a variety of different forms on a vast number of websites and at hugely varying prices; but we would like to provide it free for you to use. Please do not make the mistake of thinking that it is of little value because you do not have to reach for your credit card. We are also providing access to a blog and a support Forum so that you can ask questions and discuss with beginners and experts in further detail as you bring more mindfulness and awareness into your life. We wish you well with this.