A majority of the people of the world would like to meditate but fear that they do not know how to do it or are fearful of losing control of their mind. I remember when many laughed at and feared yoga practices and now yoga is a mainstream tool used to balance body vigor. Many laugh at and question feng shui but it too is a major tool for healing and balancing one’s life. Meditation is a tool for healing and balancing your life, letting go of your mind clutter so you do not live in a dream.

Some just do not have the patience or want to find the time to even concentrate for three minutes on anything. It is funny to hear some say that they do not have the time, when they spend hours watching television or going to the movies to pass the time and twitter the day away with texts and talk about the same things over and over — just to kill time.

There are many paths and many ways to meditate. Basically all require putting your mind’s ego aside so that you can just be. The Face Your Self^® Achieve Your True Potential book is one long meditation and will aid you in this process. Face Your Self^® meditations are based on ancient, time-tested traditions with a present day accent.

What is meditation and why is it so wonderful to meditate?
The behavioral objective: To be aware and present, experiencing a joyous life.

The importance of meditation is that it can be used as holistic medicine — it is like love, you lose yourself in it. It can be used by anybody at any time in life — in sickness and in health, during prosperity or poverty, young or old, day or night. Meditation is not religious — it is not attached to any religion. Meditation is a tool to quiet the mind. Unlike prayer, which one speaks from their own perspective of heart and mind, meditation is a discipline, which will transform you. It is a freedom from all outside limitations and freedom from the tangle of your mind chaos. Approach mediation like a science. At first you may feel a separation or strangeness for you will begin to see your life experiences from a fresh perspective and this may make you go through an awkward stage. You will see yourself as you really are — no lies — no illusions. You may even feel that you are not real. Through practice and exploration as a scientist, you will sooner or later feel a silence within — a silence that will blossom and be with you always no matter what is going on in the world around you. You will know your center. You will not attach to that ego part of you. In fact you will laugh at that part of you with love and compassion. In this silence…you will be more aware and present than you ever have been in your life.

Meditation is a means you use to better know who you are — to see with clarity what is real and what is made-up illusion.

Meditation helps quiet and clears the mind of its mental clutter. Meditation is great to reduce stress, gain clarity and increase concentration — all of which allow you to achieve your true potential with greater ease and increased benefit all around. Meditation will help heal both your mind and body.

What am I supposed to do or think while I am meditating?
You may ask, "Am I supposed to NOT think at all? Should I push all thoughts that pop into my head away? Do I have to close my eyes? Can I just lay flat on the floor?"

Technique:
When you choose to meditate, it is good to sit in a comfortable position — either on a sturdy chair with a good back or on the ground with a mat (or towel) that you choose to use only for this purpose. Why? If you lie down you may find yourself falling off to sleep. Honoring your meditation work is good — respect yourself and your sacred work, which is why I would suggest that you do not choose just any towel or mat from your closet that you may use for other things. You can meditate any time of the day — but most people find that they like to practice meditation in the early morning before the day’s activities begin or at the end of the day after one has washed the day away. Find a place where you will not be disturbed by a telephone, a pet, or another person. Turn off all electronics and the world around you. When you feel safe and secure, you are ready to start meditation practice. It is suggested to close your eyes during meditation so that other things in your room do not distract you and keep you attached in the self-made world you created around you. But you can leave your eyes open — see how it works for you. You might want to focus on the tip of your nose or keep your concentration on a candle flame (which is good practice to develop your concentration just be careful not to fall asleep with the candle burning).

Observe Your Thoughts Meditation
One type of meditation, which is good to begin with is to simply (ah, there is the challenge) observe your own thoughts. Sit quietly and watch your thoughts until your mind gets quiet. Your breath will settle down too for thoughts need breath. When thoughts come into your head see them as you would a movie — a movie that you do not get emotionally attached to. Just watch your mind’s doings – it can be fascinating when you are the watcher. Be neutral — no judgments (the book, Face Your Self^® Achieve Your True Potential will help you with this). If you find yourself following a thought down the garden path to other thoughts, just mentally let it go and bring yourself back to your meditation practice of observing and being the witness. It takes practice like anything else you want to learn — the more you practice –the better you will be at meditating until one day your whole life will be a meditation.

The Face Your Self^® meditations were created with much love. Use them as a tool – play with them at first, explore them to see and feel what they are about. With all honor, as you continue to practice them you will go deeper and deeper – but feel lighter and lighter. If you feel any fear or anxiety (see Young to Old Age below) for whatever reason you may have, just slowly open your eyes looking at your hands and bring your attention back into your room and space. When you feel game again, (perhaps another day) try to face the distress when it arises, explore it – ask where this fear is coming from, what is it about and then move through it. It is normal for issues and uncomfortable feelings and thoughts to come up – that is why a teacher can be a helpful guide. Thoughts may appear like: you are not your body or mind and you may feel like you are losing control. Others may appear like: you are not connected to anything. But the more you practice you will move through this – all of the negativity and fears will be washed away and you will see that though you are not connected to anything, you are, in reality, connected to everything. You will feel a quiet joy that will have no connection to your outside world when you open your eyes.

Take baby steps if you want — there is no race to the finish line – as a matter of fact — you are already there — you may not just know it yet. Truth is always present — you do not need to seek it. Accept it. Just give yourself a hug right here, right now.

Young to Old Age Meditation:
The process of life — the old are wise so they say — why? Because life is a meditation whether you know it or not. As you live your life you are practicing a form of meditation. As you go through life you see and observe, you try on different hats, you travel far and wide, you jabber and talk, you do different activities, you hurt and cry, you laugh and sing. As you begin to reach your 50's (if you live so long) you may even find that you resist, fear, feel anxious and do not like what you see. You may try to "go back" to attach to and to recreate feelings and body shapes you long for from your youth. But eventually, if you are fortunate, you can only resist so long, you begin to let go and come to a place of joy, peace and serenity (and I am not talking about the graveyard which my Dad would always call "the quiet place"). You surrender. You see what is real and what is an illusion. You begin to see what people create as frustrations to complicate their lives and what is the natural reality of life. In this letting go and simply being — the practice of life’s meditation is complete. You have succeeded and can live the rest of your life in a silent meditation of your heart — even when you laugh and dance — eat, sing and make love. You smile to yourself, a knowing smile and you give yourself a hug. You realize that you are nothing but everything and you are complete just as you are. And you are happy – you say that you have no problems and you ask, “Is everything good?” to your loved ones.

A story of a man sitting under the apple tree:
One day a wealthy man came riding by on a horse and noticed a man in a tattered hat and clothes resting under an apple tree. There were many apples on the ground around him. The man on the horse said to the man sitting under the tree, I dare say, how can you be so lazy and not help yourself? Look at all of those apples lying around on the ground around you. You could gather them up in that basket and bring them into town to market. Then with the money you make, you could buy another tree and eventually in some years buy some land and have a farm that will bring you lots of money.

The man sitting on the ground looked up to the man on the horse and said, And what then? Sell the land and retire so I can relax and sit under a tree like I am doing now?!

So it is with meditation — you do not need to seek awareness and quiet joy. It is your birthright. But clarity and awareness is clouded over by beliefs and notions that were taught to us by parents, teachers, religions and societies. In our lives tools such as meditation can be helpful to guide back to ourselves to see what we are missing — our true potential.