Meditation for Beginners – Choosing From the Options

December 22nd, 2009 . Posted in meditation for beginners | 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

===>>Click here to take a look at some exception meditation guides<<===

Namaste friends, welcome again to meditation for beginners. As you know from reading some of the posts that I’ve made on meditation for beginners, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. My best advice for you is to check out this great online store that has all sorts of products for beginners learning to meditate. It will give you a great start. In fact, it is where I have found many of my best CDs on meditation.

So check them out and see what their CDs and other materials can do for you. I think you’ll be pleasantly pleased. But let’s talk a little bit about different modalities of meditation. We’ll start with Buddhist meditation for beginners as this is a system that often requires sitting.

In fact, sitting is one of the most common postures used in meditation. I will often sit in the classic half lotus position if I want a very robust and active meditation where my mind stays engaged with my body. I find this meditation posture to be tremendously beneficial for meditating with awareness.

The half lotus meditation posture position is a meditation position that is also used in chakra meditation for beginners. It is an easy way to focus on the different chakras for exceptional benefits. The chakras are not something that meditation for beginners should worry about. But soon after you’ve studied meditation types for a while, you will find that chakras will become important to you. Chakras are wheel-like vortices or energy centers in your body. They offer great meditation benefits, especially when you spend some time contemplating them and using them as focal points during healing meditations.

Click here for immediate access to some great meditation CD guides

Kundalini meditation is part of the chakras and chakra meditation for beginners as well as yoga meditation. Probably the easiest way to describe Kundalini meditation is as a meditation that dwells at the base of the spine as coiled serpent. Because it is part of the chakras and located around the groin, it is often seen as a more physical meditative practice.

Kundalini yoga meditation is also a great meditation for beginners as it is more flexible in the postures or meditation positions that are allowed and even recommended. Oftentimes, spontaneous meditation postures are encouraged in Kundalini meditation.

In Tibetan meditation and other Buddhist meditation for beginners programs, natural hand positions are used where the left hand is laid upon the right hand naturally, with the thumbs touching, giving a somewhat Buddhist begging bowl look to the position.

In yoga meditation it is often believed that actual hand positions or what are called mudras are specifically beneficial to the mindfulness meditation and can actually alter the consciousness when practiced enough.

Click here for greater clarity, consciousness and meditation helpful guides

But as I’ve mentioned before, meditation for beginners is often best helped by lying down relaxed as the body can ache or grumble in other meditation positions if you are not used to them. Many beginners meditating, find that a meditation chair can be extremely beneficial in allowing for the focus of introspection and self reflection required of meditation for beginners.

Bookmark and Share

Guided Meditation – A Great Option

December 8th, 2009 . Posted in Guided Meditation | 4 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , ,

Namaste friends. A guided meditation can be a great way especially as a meditation for beginners guide as you become more comfortable in learning how to meditate. In fact, my answer to the question “How to meditate for beginners” is to generally suggest a guided mediation as the first option.

This is really a great way to go if you’re new to meditation and not sure how to start it. The other thing is that it is a great way to learning about the different meditation types especially if you are not enamored with eastern philosophy. Usually a guided meditation is very secular and something that just helps you to get in touch with your body and mind.

A guided meditation is a very simple meditation technique that any can learn, and in fact you don’t even have to learn it you can just go about following along as you are literally guided to meditate. A guided meditation it can be argued is a type of mindfulness meditation where you are engaged in a state of mindfulness and you become aware and focused on certain objects or things.

As many gurus and teachers have tried to inspire us, living in the present is almost a mindfulness meditation in itself.

I have found that one of the best ways to do a guided meditation can be through listening and following along as a teacher guides you through a meditation. These are certainly not mantra meditations where you are literally singing or repeating a mantra to yourself as you get deeper and deeper into a meditative state.

Mantra meditations are not meditations for beginners necessarily though I’ve seen many beginners have great success with mantra meditation. Nevertheless let me keep to the subject of guided meditation.

The first option is to join a class where a teacher will lead a few of you through a guided meditation in a reassuring and calming voice. With all of these meditation techniques for beginners I’d suggest that you lie on your back, naturally and comfortably. A yoga mat can add comfort.

The second way for folks who prefer to conduct meditations in the comfort of their own home is to purchase a MP3 meditation or CD that you can listen to while you are guided through the meditation by the speaker. This can be a great meditation for beginners way of getting started.

The last way that I’d like to talk to you about guided meditation for beginners is to guide yourself. This is not as hard as it seems. Lie on your bed on your back and get comfortable. Then starting from your head and working down, try and tense each muscle and then relax it. Work your way down to your toes.

When you’ve reached your toes and you’re in a very relaxed state of mind. Try and focus on some image from your past that was particularly pleasant. A sunset or beach or jungle where you felt very pleasant and at peace. This is a guided meditation. Don’t despair if your mind wonders, just gently bring it back to that peaceful image you’re focusing on. Do this guided meditation for 5 minutes to start, eventually working your way up to 30 minutes each day if possible. The results will be greater peace and happiness and less stress.

Bookmark and Share

Meditation for Beginners – Understanding

December 8th, 2009 . Posted in Guided Meditation | No Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Namaste friends. This post about meditation for beginners is to give you an understanding of the different meditation practices out there. Traditionally or should I say currently, meditation is seen as more of a eastern philosophy. So instead of talking about yoga meditation or Tibetan meditation or Buddhist meditation I will start with secular meditation and Judeo-Christian meditation practices.

So starting with meditation types I’d like to give you a brief overview of Jewish meditation which in fact goes back many thousands of years. Now, whatever your religious background or belief or lack there of you can learn to meditate within whatever religious experience you choose to practice. The great thing about meditation is that you can find simple meditation techniques within any of the major religions and so you do not need to see meditation for beginners as only useful if you have an affinity for eastern philosophy.

You will find that even in the beginning, in Genesis, Isaac is understood to have gone into the fields for what many people believe to be meditative practice (Genesis 24:63) And throughout the Tanach or Hebrew bible there are many references to the prophets using meditative practices as part of their religious faith. In fact, in the Old Testament there are at least 2 Hebrew words used to express what would be considered meditative practices. Meditation for beginners was also encouraged within the Tanach.

Perhaps most famously the meditation for beginners and the meditation guide for Jews is through Kabbalah. Kabbalah is by its very nature a meditative practice with the goal of the Kabbalist to join with the creator or divine.

In Christianity there is a long tradition of meditation for beginners and other forms of meditative practices. Many religions not just Christianity use healing meditations and mantra meditation to obtain a deeper spiritual understanding of their religious faith.

In Catholicism, the rosary and Adoration of the Eucharist is seen as a profoundly meditative practice where the focus is on a single object. These are easy meditation for beginners approaches that can be used for the layperson. Deeper and more profound meditation techniques are found in the monastic life.

Also among the Quakers has been the unspoken silent prayer or meditation where the focus is on the inner light of Christ or listening for that small, still voice within. This is perhaps the crux of all meditation for beginners, the awaiting of that moment of silence where we touch with the divine for even the briefest moment.

Next time we’ll start talking a little about new age meditation and eastern meditation practices and simple meditation that anyone can start incorporating into their daily routines. I’ll also talk about some tips to make meditation for beginners an easier practice than you might imagine.

Bookmark and Share