How can one start learning about meditation? What kind of meditation is easiest for the beginner? From ancient Vedic teachings, to the latest technological tools, answers are as varied as the many different styles of the age-old practice of meditation.
While each style has its advantages, the obvious choice for any beginner is the one that he or she will feel comfortable with and practice on a regular basis.
Nevertheless, listed below are eleven tips that will make it easier for beginners to get started with meditation.
• Regardless of style or lineage, meditation classes can help to establish a routine and find support while learning the basics.
• Guided meditations, available by CD or online downloads, often take listeners on a journey that requires only the imagination and a quiet place to listen.
• Visualization, the act of picturing a tranquil or desirable scene in the mind's eye, can be accompanied by guided meditation, music, or one's thoughts.
• Binaural beats are designed to re-create brain waves that occur during traditional meditation, by delivering a combination of different, but intricately timed, sounds to each ear.
• Yoga is often a great starting point for anyone new to meditation.
The Yoga poses are designed to prepare the body for relaxation, and usually end with a meditative posture called, Easy Pose (Sukasana).
• Complicated hand positions, known as Mudras, can be distracting for beginners.
Finding a comfortable hand position, that makes relaxation easy, may be more beneficial in the early stages.
• Meditation that involves the act of sitting quietly, and focusing on a particular object or phrase, is both effective and easy to learn.
• Mindfulness meditation, or the practice of bringing the mind into the present moment, by letting thoughts pass and concentrating on each individual breath, is a classic Buddhist practice that has been adopted into mainstream lifestyles.
• For people, who find it difficult to sit in one position, moving mediations offer an alternative.
Walking meditation involves centering the mind on each step and is sometimes done while walking a labyrinth.
• Activities - such as listening to music, creating art, or spending time in nature - can be powerful forms of meditation, when used to create a state of flow or transcendence.
• Technological methods, such as Heartmath, use biofeedback and breathing techniques, to bring the heart and mind into a state coherence, similar to classic meditation.
Regardless of the method, all styles of meditation have the same goal.
Not only does meditation bring about a greater sense of wellbeing and contentment, it also sharpens intuition and enhances the ability to make wise choices for a purpose-filled life.
© Copyright 2011 - Aura Wellness Center - Publications Division