| People think that meditation is hard and that | | | | take your time to learn a technique. Everyone |
| you need to be a full time monk to be able to | | | | has their own speed of learning. |
| meditate properly. | | | | |
| | | | 4. Respect yourself and others. Treat |
| That's simply not true. | | | | yourself and others respectfully. If you find |
| | | | yourself attracting negative people, change |
| Absolutely anyone can learn how to meditate | | | | the signals you're sending out (meditating |
| quickly and easily. You don't have to go | | | | regularly will help with this). |
| through an elaborate ritual to be able to | | | | |
| meditate. Put simply, meditation is way to | | | | 5. Get rid of distractions. Turn off your |
| get in touch with your inner self. | | | | cell phone while you are meditating. Close |
| | | | down that chat window. Turn off the |
| Here are some tips to make your meditation | | | | television (that's good advice anyway, |
| even easier: | | | | whether for meditating or not). |
| | | | |
| 1. Choose the right teacher. Whether you are | | | | 6. If possible, join a meditation group. |
| learning meditation with an online course or | | | | Meditation is much more fun in a group and |
| in a local group, pick a teacher you get on | | | | you'll find that others are finding the same |
| with and one who is teaching the kind of | | | | learning curve as you are. Groups generate |
| methods you get along with. | | | | their own energy - the sum of the whole truly |
| | | | is greater than the sum of the parts. Joining |
| 2. Learn to relax your body. As a typical | | | | a group can widen your circle of friends and |
| tensed up westerner, this may be the biggest | | | | can be a booster to your confidence. |
| skill you need to learn. But once you learn | | | | Depending on the group's aim, you may also |
| how to relax, you'll find meditation so much | | | | learn about different meditation techniques |
| easier. By the way, don't stress yourself | | | | as the group progresses. |
| about learning to relax either! | | | | |
| | | | 7. Simply let go. The word "meditation" means |
| 3. Take it easy. No-one is going to give you | | | | trying to let go. Go with the flow. Allow |
| a SATS test on meditation. It doesn't matter | | | | what is happening to happen. Don't fixate on |
| if you take longer to learn meditation that | | | | exactly what your meditation experience |
| someone else. It's absolutely fine if you | | | | should or shouldn't be. |