Meditation Instructions – Discover How To Achieve Peace, Relaxation & Bliss In Life Through Easy Meditation Tips!

Meditation instructions play an essential role as an aide to meditation. We all are busy people; so taking out time for meditation is always difficult. The right meditation instructions help us to gain the maximum benefits for our efforts in whatever time we devote for meditation from our daily schedule.

Understanding the mind is very important and meditation is the means to achieve that understanding. How would you consider operating a computer without understanding anything about the software and the programs; pushing the Keyboard buttons randomly and being amazed by the outcome on the screen!

What would you say about a car driver that cannot differentiate between the break pedal and the accelerator? Similar is the case of those people who do not meditate and are totally unaware of how their mind functions. They have no understanding of their mind and are simply carried off in whichever direction their mind takes them!

Meditation is the key to understand the mind and gain control over its actions. It is the key to unlock our hidden potential and achieve happiness and joy in life.

A majority of the people get involved in some form of meditation or another during their life. But very few out of them actually continue meditating for a reasonable period of time to achieve its complete benefits.

This is an unfortunate fact, but a hard-core reality. The main reason why this occurs is that most beginners of meditation are not aware of the basic meditation instructions and do not have the proper mindset while they start their journey of meditation.

Meditation Instructions

Meditation instructions are those guidelines which are helpful in the practice of any meditation techniques and help to make meditation sustainable, fruitful and effective. It helps to overcome the initial hurdles and gives long-term stability to meditation practices.

Here are some meditation instructions and tips that can help to take your meditation practice to higher levels and are also very helpful in case you are just beginning to meditate --

1) Set aside time for Meditation. Make sure to set aside a reasonable and sufficient amount of time every day for meditation. This approach is essential to reap the maximum benefits of meditation.

You can observe that your day is much happier, calmer and sharper when you have meditated, and you'll find these qualities in a much lower degree on days when you have not meditated.

2) Stretch before you meditate. You can do a little bit of stretching before you sit for meditation. Stretching helps to loosen the muscles and improves the blood flow. It makes it possible to sit for longer durations in an erect posture and adds depth to the meditation.

3) Breathe deeply. You can take some deep and long breaths before meditating. This shall help in relaxing your muscles, slowing down the heart rate, and improve concentration and alertness during meditation.

4) Focus on the breath. Some thoughts might arise such as "why am I wasting my time here, I can do something else" or "why doesn't my mind become quiet".

Continue to focus on your breath and soon you shall see the mind getting quite and thoughts coming at a much slower pace. This sort of frustration comes inevitably in the mind of every meditator in the beginning.

5) Experiment. Trying and experimenting with different types of meditation techniques and meditation postures is quite helpful. You can try meditating with your eyes open, eyes half closed or fully closed, lying down posture, sitting, etc. Once you find what is comfortable, you can continue meditating in that posture.

6) Focus on your body. As an alternative to focusing on the breath, an easier approach is to feel the sensations in each of your body parts with greater awareness. You can start with your feet and then gradually move upwards towards the head. It is a very easy and effective meditation technique for raising the level of your consciousness.

7) Place for meditation. It is helpful to meditate at the same place every day. Choose a room or area in your house where you can meditate daily. Avoid choosing the place where you work, eat or sleep.

8) Motivation for meditation. To help you remain motivated in the practice of meditation, it is helpful to read a book or two on meditation and its benefits. Listening to and following the meditation instructions in guided meditation CDs is also very helpful. Try to spend around 10 to 15 minutes for this everyday.

9) When to gauge progress in meditation? Meditation is similar to bathing and eating. It is a life-long activity. Just like bathing cleans our body, meditation cleans and clears our mind. Just like eating food nourishes our body, meditation nourishes our soul, mind and body.

The maximum benefits of meditation are realized in the long-term. Rather than examining the results of your meditation on a daily basis, it is better to look at the improvements on a weekly or fortnightly basis.

10) Sharpen the sword. You can sharpen your awareness during the course of your daily activities also by occasionally bringing your awareness towards your breath and "being in the present" at various times in the day.

11) Keep distractions at bay. It is important to make all attempts to ensure that you won't be disturbed while meditating. If there is this concern that the phone may ring or a friend that you invited might drop by, it will hinder your meditation and come in the way of achieving deeper states of relaxation.

12) Observe the smallest improvements that occur in your awareness and concentration. These are qualities that improve drop by drop. They build up over time and keeping track of the smallest developments helps to keep you motivated in the practice of meditation.

It also ensures that you are on the right track and making good progress. They might not be visible to others, but you can definitely know about them.

13) Using concentration meditation techniques. Improving your concentration by using meditation techniques such as Tratak (focusing on a candle flame), etc. can be very helpful for beginners. Initially it might be a bit difficult to meditate with closed eyes, so you can read the meditation instructions of concentration practices and use those meditation techniques which involve focusing your attention on an external object.

14) Always see the brighter side. Never allow negativity to come during or after your meditation practice. Look at the positive side of everything in life. A glass half empty is also a glass half full. The time spent for meditation is a time well spent. Don't be impatient to achieve the results and benefits of meditation. Remember: Patience is a virtue in meditation.

15) Meditate in a group. Meditating in a group or along with other meditators is a very helpful practice. It helps to maintain the regularity of the meditation practice and also gives a feeling of being a part of a group and helps to keep the level of motivation high. The role of a spiritual master or a guru is of also special significance in meditation.

16) When to meditate? Although meditation can be practiced at any time of the day and there are no special meditation instructions regarding this, meditating in the morning and during the night before sleeping has many additional benefits.

In the morning, the mind is clear of any thoughts, the body is fresh and it is easier to meditate as there is a lower chance of being disturbed. It is considered as the best time for meditation.

In the night, there is a greater silence around and it is very beneficial to meditate at that time before sleep. It helps to clear up your mind from all the thoughts, stress, anxiety, etc that has accumulated throughout the day. It provides a deeper sleep and relaxation throughout the night.

17) Be Grateful. After each session of meditation, be grateful for the peace and bliss that you found in meditation. Also congratulate yourself on being one of those fortunate few who have been able to take time for meditation amidst all the busy activities in life and are on their way to attaining the inner source of bliss.

Meditation can seem difficult in the beginning, but it is very easy and natural once you get the knack and the art of meditation. Following the meditation instructions exactly and referring to them when in doubt would be very helpful. There are numerous benefits of meditation and each person can achieve them easily by its regular practice.