3 Simple Meditations for Beginners

Meditation can be used for many different reasons. Its used to aid in relieving stress, solving problems and improving concentration. You can apply it to your life numerous ways. Below I'm listing some tips and basic meditations to help the beginner. If you practice at least one a day (or every other day) for at least 15 minutes (increase this number over time) you will see results. The key to meditation is dedication, practice and consistency.

Here are a few tips to help you before you actually start meditating:

1. Wear loose, comfortable clothing.
2. Music might help you but if it gets too distracting then turn it off.
3. When you see pictures demonstrating meditation you often see someone sitting in the lotus position. This is not comfortable for all people though. The lotus position works well because it keeps the spine straight but there are other ways to achieve this. You can sit against a chair with a straight back, against the wall or door or sit with pillows beneath you. As long as your back is straight the meditation will work.
4. Wait at least 30 minutes after eating anything to meditate. If your digestive system is too busy processing food it can make you lose focus.
5. If you don't have bad allergies or asthma then burn some incense. Any kind will do. Candles are helpful as well.

Go online and print out a picture showing the 7 chakras. This will be your visual guide for the first meditation. Find a comfortable place to sit and start by taking several deep breathes. The chakras end at your third eye which is on your forehead. Look at your picture and start to visualize or think about each chakra. Start with number one and focus on it for at least 2 minutes. Do this for every chakra until you reach your forehead. When finished sit quietly for at least one minute and try to keep any thoughts from forming.

The next meditation is one that I have been using for years. I first thought of it while standing out in the snow. Its great for people who want to astral travel or learn to leave their physical body for any reason. Almost everyone has seen snow falling. If you haven't then find a video of it. The entire meditation consist of thinking of falling snow at night. Try to imagine seeing the white flakes against total darkness. As you sit there remember the sensation you feel while the snow is falling hard. You feel like you're going up. The goal is to stimulate your body and make yourself feel as if your rising up. This will be a fundamental skill to obtain if you want to astral travel, lucid dream or leave the physical body for any reason. If you have trouble with this one simply search for a video of falling snow. View it full screen on your computer for the first few meditations. After a while you can start to visualize it on your own without the video.

The last meditation should be done once a month or more if you think you need it. It consist not of thinking of yourself but about the people in your life. Every person you meet is connected to you somehow if you still think about them occasionally. The problem with that is not all of these connections are healthy and might contain feelings like hate, resentment or anger. All of those negative emotions get in the way of spiritual and emotional self improvement. For instance, you might still be mad at your ex for cheating on you. This will cause you not experience true love as it should be and probably develop a ton of other problems for you. You feel the anger is justified but in the end its really only hurting you and that's who you have to think about. Focus on one person per meditation. Some problems might need to be meditated on for a while before you can come to peace with it. The goal is to let go of negative feelings you have for others. You no longer need them to have this control over you. You will start to feel empowered and get a sense of accomplishment every time you can check one person off your list.