Why Meditation Could Save Your Life, and How to Do It!

"What is meditation?" Meditation, in it's simplest form, is the act of taking time out of your busy day to relax, reflect and recharge yourself. On a deeper level though meditation can allow you to access your inner self, your inner intelligence and ask it for advice or guidance. Through meditation it is also possible to travel, explore and experience some very cool things inside and outside your consciousness!

"Do I have to be a hippy to meditate?", absolutely not, nor do you have to be a yogi, health freak, or anything else for that matter. I for one am a smoking, (and occasionally drinking), skinny, poet and musician, and yet meditation for me has become a wonderful and integral aspect of my life. Meditation is for absolutely everyone who is interested and is willing to do a little something for themselves. You do not have to give up chocolate, drink, smoking, loud music etc.

"So what's all this about it saving my life?!", right yes, the life saving thing. Well whether that statement is taken literally or metaphorically it still rings true. I can only speak for myself, but I can safely say that meditation has definitely saved my life, and I feel driven to share it's benefits with whomever will listen.

I was first introduced to meditation while recovering from a nervous breakdown (another story entirely), I was recovering yes, but I was left feeling rather jaded and still a little exhausted. Meditation was suggested to me so I gave it a shot. I spent between 10 to 30 minutes per day for about 2 months practicing meditation (which I will show you how to do in a moment) and after the first few weeks I began to notice the effects.

Sometimes I would dip into the meditation state and would see and experience seemingly random things, other times I would hear messages that related to my worries at the time, yet other times I would simply drift wonderfully through darkness, as if floating, simply enjoying the blissful feelings. When I would emerge from a meditation everything seemed so light, so free. Even my biggest worries would seem laughable, and logical solutions would present themselves without even having to try!

Sounds like a load of bull****? Well they say that "if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is", meditation is a definate exception to that rule!

Over this time I honed my skills and now, almost 2 years on, I still take time to meditate twice, sometimes three times per week, or whenever I feel like I need a "boost". Whether I am seeking some guidance, or just feel like drifting in blissful oblivion for a while, meditation is there for me, and can be for you too.

"Sounds bloody great, how do I do it?!". Ok ok, if you like you can find a wealth of furthur information regarding meditation online, so I'll just get straight to my personal guide to practicing meditation. Here goes:

Step 1: Find a quiet, and prefferably dark, place where you will not be disturbed for 10 to 30 minutes. Find a surface (bed, couch etc) that you can lie down on and fully stretch out, making sure your back is straight (like when sleepig on your back).

Step 2: This may sound a little silly but it's very important. Before you begin your meditation always do a little "grounding". Just remind yourself of who you are, for example I would say to myself "My name is Rohan, I'm a boy, I live in Dublin, I play music, the year is 2007, and I'm going to meditate now". Sounds silly right? But trust me it's important, I have come out of meditation not knowing where I am, or what clothes I'm wearing! Some people have even told me that they don't know what sex they are untill they check! So always do a little grounding before beginning and after finishing a meditation and you'll be fine. It sounds a little scary, but really it's not, even if you are a little dissorientated after a meditation, it last only a few seconds.

Step 3: After your "grounding" cover yourself with something. Find a blanket, big coat, or something similar to place over your body while lying down. You do not need to undress, but it's a good idea to take off your shoes or any bulky or uncomfortable clothing. Find something to place over your eyes such as a beanie that comes down over your eyes, or one of those eye masks that people use for sleeping on airplanes (I have even used a pair of clean socks over my eyes when I could not find something else!).

The blanket and eye covers are not completely necessary but they do make for a much more comfortable experience, and it's my personal favourite way to do it!

Step 4: Once you are nice and cosy there is a good exercise you can do with your mind to help with relaxation, I used it a lot when beginning and it really helps. Begin by focussing on the very top of your head, focus on that part and relax it. Once the top of your head is relaxed move down to your forehead, focus on it and relax all the muscles there. Then move onto eyes, ears, cheeks, mouth, chin and all the way down to your toes!

You will be surprised how much tension you hold in each part of your body as you focus on and relax them!

Step 5: Once every part of your body is nice and relaxed and heavy, begin to focus on your breathing. (It's very helpful as well to develop a little "abdominal breathing", basically breathing from your stomach area. Place your fingers just below your belly button and try breath from this area when meditating, rather than from the upper part of your chest)

Focussing on your breaths in and out helps you from being distracted by all the thoughts buzzing around our heads. This is probably the most difficult aspect of meditation to perfect, to be able to block out all the thoughts flying around. Focus on your breathing, in, out, in, out, if your mind starts to wander just bring it back to your breathing, this will become natural after a few sessions.

Step 6: Once you are relaxed and focussed on your breathing, you may start to "drift off", just allow this to happen, this is meditation! You may "drift off" and "come back" many times during one session. At first the things you see or experience may seem very random but as you become more experienced you may develop some control over your experiences! Another good mental exercise that can help bring on the "drifting off" state is to imagine yourself sinking slowly down into the ground, or floating weightlessly up into the air.

Step 7: When you are ready to get up, take your time, do your grounding again, repeat what you said to yourself before your meditation and you will not feel any dissorientation, and you will be ready to get on with your day feeling better and stronger.

And that's it! Please keep in mind though that the state of "drifting off" may take many sessions to attain! Some people get it right away, some people take a little longer. For me I think it took about a week and a half of regular (almost every day) 10 to 30 minute sessions before I began to really "drift off" and enjoy the benefits of it.

So whether you feel like you need some relaxation time for yourself, need an energy boost in your day, or are looking to experince some of the deeper benefits, meditation is for you!

Meditation has saved my life, it gave (and continues to give) me the strength and desire to enjoy my life and my work, and helps lift a lot of the stress that's piled on our shoulders. The best part is that it's not a drug, it's not a religion, you do not have to change your life or your beliefs to enjoy it. You will not get "addicted" to it like a drug. Once you have developed the skills you know it is there if you need it, or just feel like it :)

Have fun meditating guys!

Rohan.

This article is part of Rohan's "Punk Psychology" series of self help articles.

"About Rohan": Rohan, born 1986, is a Prolific, Automonous, Irish musician, artist, writer and thinker. To date Rohan has made five full length studio albums including his acclaimed 2007 "best-of" album "You Made Me Do This". Rohan also hosts "War On Teleivison", his bi-weekly internet TV show!