I got some feedback recently regarding my recent articles and I got the question “yes, but how exactly does one meditate?”. So, I’m going to cover meditation and meditative techs in the next couple of articles. By the way, if you have any comments or questions, please do let me know. Feedback will let me know how to make the site better for you. Questions are especially good, because if you have a question, odds are someone else does too. Without further ado, on with the show.
Meditation Theory
Meditation is a very broad topic. I am not going to pretend to be an expert on the subject, but I will present what I hope will be a fairly rounded snapshot for you. There are different methods, different styles, and different goals for meditating. Some meditate to simply experience existence itself. Others use it as an effective tool for journeying inside and more. Use what works for you. With enough practice, meditation can become a powerful, multi-function tool for looking inside. All meditation practices have this in common: They work to get rid of the “noise” of your day-to-day mind so that you can work past it and thus get more clarity. Here you can commune, work on emotional issues, heal the body, and more.
Meditation Practice
Meditation is a practice, not a one-time shot. To truly reap the benefits of meditation, do it as often as you can. Once per day, if possible, but preferably at least a few times per week. As you practice, meditating becomes easier and more rewarding.
Here is a basic overview of a meditative practice I use. I have “loosened” it up to be a little more adaptable to your style.
First, find some quiet time. As little as 10-15 minutes will do in a pinch, but when starting out I strongly suggest something in the range of 30-45 minutes.
Sit or lie down, making sure that your arms and legs are not crossed. If you think you might fall asleep, then get some sleep instead and try it when refreshed. You don’t want to start setting a pattern of falling asleep while trying to meditate 
Now that you have gotten comfortable, and if your beliefs permit, you might take this time to ask a higher power for blessings. Often, this will aid in the meditation. If your beliefs don’t work with this, then omit this step. At this point I am going to mention a few ambience enhancements that you may find helpful. Soft, instrumental, calm music is favored by many. Make sure that it isn’t too lively or enticing. If your mind gets too wrapped up in the music, you won’t be able to meditate effectively. The other favorites are some incense or aromatherapy oil, and a lit candle. If you did opt for the candle set it some moderate distance from you, in a place where your eyes can rest on it easily. If you did not opt for the candle, then you can simply pick a spot on the wall and let your eyes gaze at that spot. Slowly let your eyes relax. Let your focus soften. Eventually, let your eyes close when they are ready.
At this point we are ready to relax the body. There are a couple of ways of doing this. One of the most popular is to deliberately and manually think about each body part and will it to relax, starting at the head and working your way down. What has worked for me when I was trying to help someone relax was to get the inner senses to help you. Specifically, touch.
Imagine a large pool of water. It’s quiet, and not too bright. There are steps leading down into the water. Step onto the first step. The water is warm and soothing. You can feel the muscles relax under the gentle massage of the water. You take another step. As the water rises to your ankles and calves, the wonderfully warm water makes your legs start to tingle with the relaxation. You take another step into the water. Now the water is around your thighs.Your feet and calves are as relaxed as you can ever remember them being. Take another step. The water is now surrounding your hips and lower back. Let the warm caress of the water take away any tension. Take another step into the water. Now the water is around your shoulder blades. Feel any remaining tension leave your back. Let your arms lower into the water, and feel the gentle warmth on your hands and forearms. Feel the tingle wherever the water has relaxed you. Take another step into the water. Now the water is up to your neck. Let your shoulders feel the gentle warmth of the water and let all tension go. Take another step into the water. As you do, realize that in this miraculous pool, you can breathe as easily as ever, the water turning into a fragrant breeze in your mouth and nose. Feel the tingle of relaxation in your entire body as the gentle warmth of the water around your jaw, your eyes, and your forehead melts the tension away.
Your body should now be pretty relaxed. Now, it is time to calm the mind. Start by imagining a trash can in your mind. This trash can can have any properties you want. It can be futuristic, or even funny. Any intruding thought that disturbs your feeling of peace, put it in the trash can. Don’t fight, just put them in the trash can. Keep doing this until you run out of them or until you feel that it is time to move on. If you follow a spiritual tradition, now would be a good time to reconnect with your higher power. Feel the Presence with you, and feel your connection. You may be pleasantly surprised at the results. Once again, if you do not happen to follow a spiritual tradition, omit this step.
Some would call this meditation, and some would call this simply a relaxed state. Either way, I would call this a foundation for some exciting adventures. Stay in this state for as long as feels good for you. When you are ready, let yourself float to the surface of the water and then, when ready, open your eyes. Take a moment to adjust. The outside world may seem a little weird at the moment. That’s fine. Don’t rush. Gently move your body around. Try running your hands over your head, torso and legs to help re-adjust. Maybe drink some water and a light snack. Don’t drive or operate heavy machinery until you feel you are ready.
As I mentioned earlier, some would simply call this a relaxation exercise. My answer is twofold: First, relaxation is a big key to meditation. Secondly and more importantly is this: Regular relaxation alone is a massive boost for the mind and body. Relaxation aids healing, boosts your immune system, improves reaction time, and stabilizes your mood. What more could you want? Quite a bit more, as it turns out.
Plug-ins for your new meditation tech
Ok, ok, Some people may scoff at these being plugins. Some would consider them essential, while others would see them as completely un-necessary. As always, I encourage you to try them out and see what works best for you. Start off with what I outlined above for a while. When you are ready, try some of these.
Counting down. You may even have seen this in TV or the movies, but like most myths, there is a grain of truth in there. After relaxing completely, imagine that you are descending a staircase of a certain number of stairs. Some people prefer 10, while others prefer 12 or 13. Choose what your intuition prompts, and descend, counting downwards. Remember to stay relaxed. My conscious mind used to keep a death-grip on my experience. Learn to let go and let it happen. When you get there. state to your self that you are in a meditative state. Take note of how you feel. Your body may feel heavy, or light. Warm or cool. Pay attention, as the sensory clues you pick up will serve you later on. Keep practicing and before you know it, you will be able to literally feel yourself enter a meditative state. After taking note of how you feel, it’s time to descend again. Yes, we go down deeper to really bring the point home. What may help you in this case is to gently feel yourself drifting downward like a leaf gently wafting toward the ground. Count down as you descend. When you get to the bottom, state that you are in a deep meditative state, and take note of how you feel. Note that if you use these methods, you will want to reverse them to come back out. Coming back too suddenly can be….unpleasant. Just feel yourself gently rising as you count upwards from one. Stop at the halfway point, and then finish the ascent, again counting up from one. From there, proceed like normal.
But, while you’re there, you have a great opportunity to explore your inner frontiers. You can try working out your inner senses. Try to visualize simple shapes, and pieces of fruit. Engage all your senses. Produce music for your inner ears. Smell that apple or orange, and bite into it. Feel the crunch of the apple, taste the citrus of the orange. The more you work with these, the better they become, and the better communication you have with your inner mind.
Speaking of which, you are in prime real estate for doing just that. State to yourself that you want to consciously contact your inner mind. Ask for a name to use. A name will come to you. Use it to address your inner mind. Maybe ask “Do you want me to call you (name)?” If you feel a rush of euphoria, then you know you hit the jackpot. Ask your inner mind what it wants to show you. You may get a jumble at first. Keep asking for clarification, and you’ll eventually get the idea. Going the other direction, here is also a good place to use affirmations. Of course, you’ll want to be sure that you use good ones. Bad affirmations will do nothing at best and sabotage you at worst. Keep it positive. Yet again, if you follow a spiritual tradition, here is a great time to ask for guidance. If your beliefs extend that far, you can ask your guardian angels, your higher self, your patron saint, or your ancestors for perspective and protection.
I would be remiss if I did not mention Kel’no’reem. When I adapted it from it’s fictional Stargate origins, I did it in meditation, and that is where I use it to this day.
Going further
This is just the tip of a very, very large iceberg. You can find meditation books in almost every decent size bookstore. Each will have something to offer you. I personally would suggest The Inner Temple of Witchcraft and the CD Companion If the name freaks you out, don’t sweat it. This book is an excellent resource on meditation, and development of inner techs based on meditation. If you go in with the engineer’s mind, you will find that you can reverse-engineer the book to fit into your worldview quite handily. The CD companion is the cream of the crop. The meditative exercises in the book are adapted to the CDs, and the author will guide you through them. This series is one of my favorite resources.
There are other meditation aides out there that will propel you into a meditative state. One of my favorites would be the paraliminals by Learning Strategies corporation. They are very good at what they do. The Brainwave Generator is a nifty little program that uses binaural beats to shift your brainwaves into the alpha-and-lower states associated with meditation. I would strongly suggest waiting with these tools until you have a solid block of meditative experience upon which to draw. Otherwise you will be limited to what they can do, and some have reported running into the law of diminishing returns. With meditative practice, you have greater ability and versatility. I’ll go into these tools later on, but for now, focus on what you already have. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I’m not saying that all external tools are bad, just that you don’t want to get dependent on an external tool doing it for you. If you do want external help, then I’d suggest a biofeedback solution like The Wild Divine like I mentioned earlier. This will train you without your becoming dependant.
Stay tuned, as we cover more on meditation, and meditative tools.
