Prepare Yourself Before Meditation
Quotidian stresses often leave our minds swimming in mazes of thought. It is important to calm your mind down and prepare yourself in body and spirit before beginning to meditate. Practicing proper "meditation hygiene" is important if you want to maximize its calming, spiritual and stress-reducing benefits. Meditation, an ancient practice that often relaxes the body while focusing the mind, is thought to be ideal by many for battling stress and stabilizing positive moods.
Instructions
Prepare Yourself for Meditation
1. Engage in a simple task that allows your thoughts to drift around with no particular structure. Take a shower, clean the kitchen, do some dusting or sweep the stoop. Whatever you choose to do, remember that the point is for you to begin to unwind mentally.
2. Enter the physical place you have set aside for meditation. Make sure it is clean, quiet and dark. This will aid your concentration when you begin your meditation session.
3. Light a candle or incense. Your local New Age store will have a selection of scented candles and incense helpful for meditation. Candles and incense are often used because, according to ancient Eastern tradition, the presence of the element of fire during your meditation session will aid you in concentrating more deeply.
4. Put some fresh flowers in a vase in the room where you meditate, if recommended by the specific type of meditation you practice. In such schools of thought, flowers are considered a friendly offering to the higher powers you will invoke as you meditate.
5. Pray before you meditate, if the purpose of your meditation session is religious or spiritual.
6. Read some spiritual teachings or other materials that will turn your mind towards matters of the soul before you begin to meditate. It's a good idea to spend 5 or 10 minutes just reading and absorbing the lessons of what you've read.
7. Breathe deeply before you begin. Experts recommend you draw 7 long breaths to calm your heart rate and soothe your mind before you begin your rhythmic meditation breathing.
8. Learn more about prepare for meditation at the Tharpa Publications Web site (see Resources below).
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