Meditation: The basics

I have been meditating for about 6 years now and as it definitely has some very positive effects on my daily thinking, I thought why not pass this on to the world! It's basically the practice of focusing your mind, by doing this often you gain a lot more control over your thoughts and emotions. There are a lot of meditation practice tips online already, but this comes from a highly personal perspective.

When you first start out, you'll find that it's a hard practice to master and requires a lot of patience and discipline. 

Environment:

Make sure you're in a quiet place that makes you feel safe, especially in the beginning try to pick a place that's familiar to you. Also best to make sure that the environment is a clean one, meaning not dirty or chaotic (personal preferences may differ here). What helped me a lot in the beginning was good back support (see position), also a soft underground can help.

Position:

There are several options here, most basic are lying down or sitting (however you want, as long as your back is straight). Lying down isn't really recommended as you'll probably fall asleep :). I just sit up straight, here's where the back support comes in handy as it's not easy to keep your back perfectly straight during the session (especially in the beginning).

Clothing:

Loose and comfortable.

To start out there are 2 main steps involved, quiet your mind and experience the silence. You can stretch before you sit down, this will make the whole process easier.

Quiet your mind:

This is definitely THE hardest part, the purpose here is to empty your mind of all thoughts… this is very difficult and takes a lot of practice to do it efficiently. I will describe how I do it, there are different techniques out there so don't hesitate to research! Good, you're in your safe place, sitting down and ready to start.

I personally clear my thoughts by imagining a perfectly white space, whenever my mind starts to wander I try to "fade" the thought to white so I'm back in the white place. In the beginning, it will be hard to recognize that thoughts are creeping in, and more than once you'll be daydreaming for 5 min before you actually realize you're daydreaming, fun stuff! So first objective will be to reduce that time between the new thought creeping in and you realizing that the thought is creeping in. 

Once you've got that under control it's time to let the thought come, observe it and let it fade back into the background… Try to stay in the white space as long as possible.

Experience the silence:

When your mind is completely cleared of thoughts, you'll start to notice sounds around you, start to notice how your body feels, your weight on the underground, your heartbeat… This feeling becomes more and more intense the longer your can keep this state of mind! This feeling is what my meditations are all about, it is so divine, so peaceful, it can lead you into a state where your orientation in time and space is blocked… 

Eventually you'll be able to have total control over your mind and your thoughts through acceptance, you'll be able to see your own limitations and instead of trying to better yourself, you'll learn to accept these limitations. Once you've reached this point, the possibilities are immense.

Other benefits are: 

• increased lung capacity
• improved immune system
• recharged nervous system
• reduced stress
• improved memory
• aids in the treatment of some diseases like asthma
• open-mindedness
• amplified moral virtues such as patience and compassion
• awareness towards sin, temptation and guilt

The road is long, but very rewarding!