Meditation

Meditation is a wonderful practice and given the way folks seem to be attacking each other, it should become part of everyone's routine. A lot of pseudo-theological nonsense has been written on the subject and you can forget all of it.

There are various phrases, prayers, sacred passages and mantras that you can repeat to yourself that focus your attention. This is all meditation is, a focusing on one thing, to the point of releasing your mind from its normal patterns. If you wish to learn those words and any other techniques, there are countless books, web site and teachers around, so I'm not going into any of that.

Instead, I am going to offer a simple technique that will work, with no religious baggage attached.

Sit in a comfortable position. Or, lie down all stretched out. Breath in, following the air as it passes your nostrils. Breath out, again, feeling the air go out. Repeat, for as long as you have time available. Eventually, you'll get to the point where you will just no when you have been at it long enough; your mind and body just automatically tell you when. It does not have to be a long  period. If you are pressed for time, just a minute or two will help you feel calm and centered.

That's it.

Note: if you fall asleep, that's fine. It happens, especially when you are first beginning the practice. Until you get used to it, you may not want to start your meditating fi pressed for time. Again, falling asleep is fine. As you meditate more often, sleep will happen less often. Also, you can do this as often as you like, but, don't overdo it. You want to be calm, not lazy.