How to Meditate

"Your mind like water my friend, when it is agitated it becomes difficult to see, but if you allow it to settle, the answer becomes clear" - Master Oogway

With so many distractions we encounter each day, it is very difficult to let our creativity and focus shine. With the invention of all these noise trying to get your attention like facebook, twitter, youtube, tv, etc, sometimes we just need to quiet all that noise. How?

This is where meditation comes in. Meditation is the most effective way to quiet the mind so can achieve optimum focus. Here are some basic techniques to get you started with meditation.

How to Meditate:

• Sit Like the girl in the picture above: It's necessary to sit comfortably but not to the point where you will fall sleep. The sitting position demonstrated about accomplishes this. Sleeping is different from meditating.
• Start by relaxing: Think of each breath releasing tension in all parts of your body. Eventually you should be completely relaxed.
• Focus on breathing: The best way to start for beginners is to focus breathing only. It will be difficult at first to only think of your breathing but with practice it can be done. I understand it is the most boring task to think only of breathing, but that's the idea, if you can be comfortable with the boringness then you are doing very well.
• Silence your mind slowly: This goes in part with your breathing focus. It is impossible to completely avoid thinking but this is the tricky part. Every time a thought pops out of your mind, just smile at it and let it go. Don't attach any feelings to any thoughts just let them rise and then let them float away. If they come back, then let it float away. You will break your breathing focus over and over again because of these thoughts but make sure you always come back to it. Over time these thoughts become a lot easier to let go but never really disappear so don't worry about having them too often.
• Start with 15 minutes a day: Start out implementing these steps with only 15 minutes time. Theres a good chance you will enjoy the difference it brings to your life so eventually you might extend them for longer periods of time.

Meditation is a skill and like any skill it takes a little practice to master. It is normal for it to be very difficult and boring at first but the benefits it brings to your life more than outweighs the sacrifice.