How to Meditate

The basics of meditation are easy:

Wear loose fitting clothes.
Sit cross-legged on a firm pillow (sit in a full or half lotus position if able), with buttocks about six to nine inches higher than ankles.
Keep back naturally straight, but not stiff, while leaning slightly forward.
Let wrists rest on the thighs. Classically, your hands are folded together with palms up, the fingers of one hand lying on top of the insides of the fingers of the other hand, with thumb tips barely touching.
Rock slightly in all four directions to settle yourself in preparation for the meditation session.
Keep eyes lightly closed with some light leaking in between the lids, while gazing down at the hands. Meditation with closed eyes often causes you to start thinking about and visualizing things in your everyday life so avoid it.
Rest tongue lightly against the back of your front teeth and against the roof of your mouth.
Relax and concentrate on nothing, but do not force it. Stray thoughts are bound to arise. When a thought arises, acknowledge it calmly, and then watch it go. Observe it in an unattached and unconcerned fashion and then return to your meditation.
Use the breath as a centering device to channel the workings of the mind. Sit lightly and observe your breath. Breath deep slow breaths through the nose using the diaphragm and exhale slowly through the mouth using the diaphragm. On the exhale, use to breath to faintly hum some meaningless word (such as "Ohmmm"). If you find yourself enmeshed in a thought, do not be annoyed or dismayed, just think "not now," and effortlessly let the thought go, returning to following the breath without any self-criticism or judgments.

The benefits of "the relaxation response" and the use of meditation are well documented. The use of meditative states may appear magical to those unfamiliar with the science of the mind, but it is actually a simple process used by many sports disciplines and medical doctors to control such things as blood pressure and heart rate. If you feel a need to get deeper into the medication arts, be careful in selecting a teacher. Since you are in a relaxed state, you are susceptible to subliminal suggestions. Unscrupulous teachers may try to take advantage of you.

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