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Once you feel comfortable with the count-every-breath meditation, try moving on to the count-every-other-breath meditation. This meditation is very similar to the count-every-breath meditation except, true to its name, you count every other breath. Get into your favorite meditating pose, and clear your mind. Watch your breath as you inhale deeply, and then exhale, counting 1. Inhale again, and exhale, counting 2. For this meditation, only count your exhales, and, same as before, if you catch yourself thinking, start over! The next logical step from the count-every-other breath meditation is to stop counting all together. It's time for the watch-breath meditation. As in the previous meditations, get into your favorite pose, and clear your mind. The goal of this meditation is to keep your mind silent yet focused on your breathing. Breathe deeply, and watch the breath flow into and out of your body. Imagine white light flowing into your body with the breath. This is an amazingly soothing meditation. There are so many other meditations that I can't include all of them here, but from the watch-breath meditation you can try the listening meditation where you meditate on the sounds around you. Listen for any sounds in your room, the building, the street. This is one of my favorite meditations--it's really fun! As always, clear your mind, and if you catch yourself thinking, stop thinking! Refocus your attention and carry on. Also, try meditating using a mantra (spoken sound). The mantra can be any word or sound you like. Many people use the sound om, and a classic Tibetan mantra is om mani padme hum. So far, I have only introduced you to still meditation, but moving meditation can bring about the same results. Examples of moving meditation include Qi Gong, Tai Chi, and Yoga. In each of these, the body is engaged in a rhythmic series movements while the mind is focused on breathing and experiencing the body's motion. In moving meditation, it is much easier to feel the flow of chi (life energy) throughout the body, and, after practicing one of these meditations, you should feel much more at peace and energized than you did when you started. I absolutely love Tai Chi and Yoga. Through my practice of those, much of my coordination, balance, and flexiblity have improved...and, while pulling an all-night study session, there is nothing better to keep you going than taking a Yoga or a Tai Chi break every hour or so. It's a fact--personal experience. |