Meditation is a key to inner peace and deepening intuition.
When we think of learning how to meditate, we view it as difficult and mysterious.
As a result, most people don't make the effort.
They believe that meditation is the absence of thought.
This is not true.
Step one: Find a specific location inside your home that you will dedicate to meditation.
Decide what you need to put there to encourage yourself to sit.
You can use a small table to place special photographs, statues, candles, and other meaningful objects that will connect this space in your mind with meditation.
Step Two: Make a commitment to meditate every day before you leave your home.
This sounds like a tall order but if you put if off, there is a good chance that you won't get the meditation in that day.
The length of time that you meditate doesn't matter.
It can be one or two minutes, twenty minutes, etc.
Start with very short sittings.
The single most important factor in developing a meditation practice is consistency.
It is better to meditate two minutes each day than one hour once a week.
If you skip a meditation, acknowledge this without judgment and return to it the next day.
With consistency, meditation becomes a habit.
Step Three: Make yourself comfortable.
You can use a meditation cushion or several folded blankets.
Make sure your buttocks are high enough off the floor so your back is straight.
Cross your legs with knees bent.
Some people find that using a straight backed chair is more comfortable.
Make sure that your feet (bare feet if possible) touch the floor.
If you are short, put folded blankets on the floor so that you make solid contact.
Step Four: Close your eyes and focus your inner gaze at the point between your eyebrows called the third eye or spiritual eye.
Let your eyes rest there.
This position holds your concentration and keeps you from falling asleep.
Take three deep breaths (diaphragm, belly, chest) through the nose.
Feel the release of tensions throughout your body.
Don't set up expectations or ask for results.
There is nothing you have to do now, no where to go.
Put your worries and concerns in a separate place.
This is your time to "be.
" Step Five: Observe the breath naturally moving in and out at the tip of your nostrils.
The "in" breath is cool; the "out" breath is warmed by your body.
Watch the breath move in and out like you're observing someone else's breath.
Your thoughts will swirl and loop back and forth; your senses will interrupt you; your body may become uncomfortable.
Acknowledge these distractions without judgment and return to the observation of the breath.
After you have finished, sit quietly in stillness for a few moments to appreciate and integrate this experience.
Congratulations, you are meditating.