Meditation Techniques

This easy visualization technique can be quite helpful and refreshing when you’re having trouble sleeping, feeling overly stressed, or feeling ill or fatigued. You can use this technique indoors or outdoors.

1. Get into a comfortable position. You can do this technique while lying in bed or on the floor or while reclined in a comfortable chair, wherever you are most comfortable.

2. Close your eyes.

3. As you lie there, visualize your body, wherever it is that you are at this moment. See yourself lying there on the bed or sitting in your chair.

4. Imagine your entire body is …Read more about the Light-Dark Visualization for relaxation

When most people think about meditation, they think of sitting cross-legged on the floor and trying to empty all the thoughts from their mind. Or they think of Tibetan monks chanting mantras in temples far away. While it's true those are forms of meditation, they aren't the only ways to meditate.

Unfortunately, many people never realize meditation doesn't have to be quite so complicated. They give up because sitting in the lotus position is too uncomfortable or because they can't stop the constant stream of thoughts going through their mind or for any number of other very legitimate reasons. They miss out on all the rewards of meditation — better sleep, reduced stress, improved health, deeper self-awareness, and a whole host of other benefits.

That's why we've decided to begin a new series of articles devoted to everyday meditation. We'll offer simple techniques you can incorporate into your day with very little effort, along with suggestions for how to turn daily tasks into a form of meditation.

I'm going to begin with one of my favorites, a technique so easy little children do it all the time. I can almost guarantee you've done it at least once in your lifetime, and …Read more about turning everyday activities into a meditation

Meditation, once considered a spiritual practice reserved for monks and yogis, is gradually achieving mainstream popularity as more people discover its many benefits.

Meditation doesn't have to be complicated, doesn't require you to subscribe to any particular spiritual belief, and doesn't necessitate sitting cross-legged on the floor and chanting mantras. It can be as simple as sitting in a quiet room and focusing on your breath, or counting your steps while walking around your neighborhood. You can also turn everyday activities like washing the dishes or vacuuming the carpet into a meditation.

There are many different forms of meditation, making it easy for everyone to find a style that best suits their lifestyle. At the end of this article, we'll provide a few simple meditation techniques, including one method that will allow you to meditate deeply without even trying.

But first, let's talk about the top five reasons you should try meditation. …Read more about the top five reasons you should try meditation

Here is an easy exercise to help you develop present-moment awareness. We call this technique "practicing opposite behavior."

This exercise also has the added benefit of stimulating activity in both hemispheres of the brain. By reversing your actions and by maintaining an awareness of each action as you perform it, you'll trigger synchronized activity in the left and right hemispheres. Whole-brain synchronization is often seen in EEG readings of the brain activity of people who have practiced meditation for many years.

For one week, try performing all your everyday tasks in reverse. If you always put on your right shoe before your left, force yourself to stop and think, to become aware of what you are doing, and to put on the left shoe first instead. If you always step into your pants with the left leg first, try it in reverse instead. If you always take the milk out of the refrigerator before you get the cereal out of the cabinet, force yourself to stop and deliberately do it in the reverse order.

While you're performing the actions in reverse, take …Learn more about the Opposite Behavior technique for enhanced awareness

This breathing technique is designed to help you learn to involve your entire body in the breathing process.

Seat yourself in a comfortable position, or lie down on the bed or floor. With relaxed concentration, focus on the idea that your entire body is performing the duty of your lungs, breathing air in and out. Inhale and exhale slowly.

As you inhale each breath, imagine you are breathing in the air through each and every pore in your skin. Imagine your entire body as …Click here to learn more about the Whole Body Breathing technique for relaxation

This is a very simple but highly effective visualization technique that involves your full imagination and all five of your senses.

Think of what you would most like to achieve — your primary goals or desires. As you think of what you would like to achieve, picture in your mind what it would be like to have already achieved that goal. Picture yourself wherever you would be, doing whatever you would be doing as you reached that goal.

Imagine every aspect of it, physical and emotional. View every moment of it in your mind. The goal is to immerse yourself in this process as completely and totally as possible.

For example, if you were a runner hoping to win the Olympic Gold Medal in the 100-yard run, you would begin by imagining yourself at the starting line before the race. You would see the other runners line up beside you. You would feel the texture of the ground beneath your feet and hands as you moved into the starting position. You would go on to imagine yourself …Click here to read more about using visualization to help you achieve your goals