How to meditate and find inner peace

Stressed? Wanting a bit more peace and quiet? Wish you could calm down your thinking? Want to feel more content and confident?

Meditation may be able to help you do all of these.

So what is meditation and how do I do it?

For example, when you get distracted by a memory from the past, a daydream of the future, or a negative thought about what is happening, gently and kindly return to the point of your focus. Keep doing this over and over again.

What posture do I need?
Meditation can be done while sitting, standing, walking or lying. You do not have to sit cross-legged on the floor. Choose a posture that helps you to be alert and not sleepy, but which is also comfortable, so your body does not distract you too much. For example, sit in a straight chair with your spine and head erect, feet flat on the floor, hands held loosely in your lap, and your eyes gently closed.

What object should I focus on?

Meditation objects can vary - here are 5 possible ones:

1. Sounds. Sit with your eyes closed and pay attention to the sounds around you, e.g. car noises, voices, clocks, birds, etc. Hear the start of the sound, the end of the sound, and the peaceful space between the sounds. Notice without commenting or drifting off. If you drift away, gently return to the sounds. Focus on what is happening now.

2. Your breathing. Notice the breath going in and out of your body. Focus on each breath. If you find it hard to stay with the breath then you might try counting your breaths. The first in-breath is one, the first out-breath is one. The second in-breath is two, the second out-breath is two. Go to ten and return to one. Whenever a thought or image comes into your mind return to one. Keep returning to one whenever a thought appears.

3. A soothing phrase or word. Focus on a word or phrase that conjures up calm, relaxation or peace, e.g.
   Peacefully breathing in, peacefully breathing out.
   Peace and calm.
   Be here now.
   This too will pass.
   

4. Your body. You might focus on the whole of your body, moving your attention from one part to another; or stay focused on just one part of it, such as your hands.

5. A sense of kindness and caring. Often our minds are disturbed by anger, frustration or resentment. By focusing on a sense of loving-kindness or caring we can ease the negative thoughts and strengthen our minds against them.

How can training my mind help me?

1. It can refresh you. Instead of wasting energy on negative thoughts the mind is given a rest and recharged.
2. It can increase alertness so you concentrate more easily and stay focused.
3. It can help you to have a clearer, less confused mind so decisions are easier and problems are kept in greater perspective.
4. Over time it can leave you feeling more relaxed, calmer and less stressed.
5. It can reduce anxiety. Anxiety may become less common or less severe.
6. It can help you sleep better, so that you have a better quality of sleep or you sleep throughout the night more easily.
7. It can boost your energy and reduce fatigue. Negative thoughts, stewing on things, irritations, memories, and plans can all be energy zappers.
8. There can be health benefits too. People report results such as a lower blood pressure or fewer headaches, for instance.

Now what? Practise.

	Try doing a little each day rather than an occasional long practice.
	If you find it difficult at first, if you get bored, if you discover your mind is frantic, that is all part of the practice.
	You will gain the benefits only by practice and not by giving up when it gets hard.
	Stick with it and bask in the benefits.
	You might like to go to a good meditation teacher for support and guidance. It is often easier to stay motivated in a group.
	There are free groups available, as well as those you have to pay for.
	Alternatively, you may prefer to practise in your own home with a CD to guide you. The following CD may help:

Happy Not Hassled: Using meditation to manage your emotions and be content.

You can use it to practise at home as there are 4 easy-to-follow meditations on it.

This 2 CD set, can help you learn how to meditate in your own home. All you need is a little bit of your time and the willingness to try the exercises and you'll discover how to stay calm and peaceful. Bliss!

If you are unsure whether you will be able to do the exercises, rest assured they can be done by anyone, whatever your age, background or disposition. They are simple and easy to follow. There are four different meditations of varying lengths from 5 minutes to 30 minutes, so you can choose how long you spend meditating. Furthermore, there are 4 different types of meditation and this means that you can choose what suits you best on each day.
Place your order here.

How can meditation help you build your confidence?

There are many ways being able to meditate can help you become more confident. Here are just a few of them.

1. Reduce negative thinking.
   Negative thoughts can destroy your confidence. What meditation can do is to help you recognise when you are having negative thoughts. It can then train you not to latch on to and believe the negative thoughts. In this way your confidence has more freedom to develop.
   

2. A clearer mind can be a more confident mind.
   Negative thoughts are more likely to be produced in a cluttered, frantic mind. Meditation can help you to have a clearer, more peaceful mind. This means it can become easier for you to reduce and let go of your negative thoughts. With fewer negative thoughts you have a far greater chance of being confident.
   

3. Greater calm leads to greater confidence.
   One of the major benefits of meditation is that a person becomes calmer and less easily upset and flustered. They can also become more patient and less prone to frustration, anger and irritation. By staying calm in difficult situations it is easier to think clearly and to stay confident, instead of losing your confidence in a rush of emotion.
   
   
4. You will look more confident.
   Other people will see you staying calm and perceive you to be confident.
   

5. Less anxiety.
   Anxiety and worry can eat away at a person's confidence and self-esteem. When people meditate they often find that they become less anxious and worry less about what is happening. Meditation helps you to learn how to stay in the present moment. This means that you spend less time worrying about what will happen in the future, or going through regrets in the past. This can lead to greater levels of contentment which in itself can feed your confidence.

Links to meditation groups are included in the links section.

Would you like to know more about what meditation is and its benefits? The ABC's Health Dimensions programme on April 16th 2002 describes the benefits of meditation in helping overcome depression and explains some types of meditation. Full transcript of the interview.

Brief introductions to meditation may also be included as an integral part of a number of courses run by RachelGreen.Com Pty Ltd.

Want to learn how to meditate - even though you are a beginner?

Happy Not Hassled: Using meditation to manage your emotions and be content.

On the Happy Not Hassled CD set you will also hear many tips on how to relax your mind and body, stay calm, de-stress and unwind. I also explain how to use the meditations in your everyday life so you are confident you know how to use them. And you are given many down-to-earth tips for managing such emotions as anxiety, tiredness, anger, stress or irritation.

By getting these Happy Not Hassled CDs you will learn how to meditate, overcome the problems that beginning meditators face, and become calm, positive and relaxed in a negative world.

*Everyone purchasing the CD also gets offered a FREE copy of the article: "Meditation Made Easy The seven secrets to overcoming difficulties when meditating - for those people who think they can't do it!" by Rachel Green.

Place your order here.