Meditation is a simple and effective way to create peace, joy,
harmony and manifestation in your life. It has been practiced for
centuries by students of many traditions, and there are as many
forms of meditation as there are colors in a rainbow. A simple
way to start meditating is to follow the steps below.

1. Sit comfortably in a quiet place. Make sure you have at least
15 minutes of quiet, undisturbed time to sit - early in the
morning is best. Feel free to sit on the ground, in a chair or
anywhere you find comfortable. You do not need to sit in the
lotus position, just any position you find comfortable.

2. You may want to sit with a lit candle, burning incense or a
fountain to improve your meditation. You may also want to burn
some incense or botanicals like lavender to help you relax.

3. Once you have set up your space and are sitting quietly, close
your eyes. Feel the breath moving in and out of your body, but
don't try to force the breath or breathe on purpose. Instead,
feel your body breathing by itself.

4. If thoughts come into your mind, let them simply pass through.
Here is a metaphor that will help: Imagine that you are sitting
on the shore of a river watching boats go by. The boats are the
thoughts that come into your mind. Every now and then, you will
get so fascinated with a particular boat that you will want to
jump on board and investigate. This is what happens when your
thoughts carry you away from your quiet place on the shore. When
you notice that you have been carried away by one of your
thoughts, just return to your quiet place on the shore and notice
your breath again.

5. If you have great difficulty being interrupted by your
thoughts, you can also meditate with your eyes open, focusing on
a candle flame or on the smoke from your incense burner.
Sometimes having a visual focus will reduce the internal chatter
from your mind. The sound of a fountain, which is irregular and
difficult for your mind to follow, can also help.

6. Sit for at least 15 minutes in this quiet meditation, or
longer if you desire. The length of your meditation is not as
important as the consistency. It is better to do a shorter
meditation daily than to do longer ones sporadically.

7. Do not judge the results of your meditation by how peaceful or
disruptive it was. It's the effort to reach a place of inner
quiet that matters, regardless of whether you actually reached
total quiet. Even a session filled with thoughts and efforts to
return to inner quiet can be effective. The results of your
meditation will appear in your daily life - during daily
encounters and events. You will find, over time, a new sort of
peace and inner quiet in dealing with all of life's events and
people. Most of all, enjoy your time of meditation. It is time
you are devoting to your own inner development. The more you
develop your inner life, the more your outer life will flourish
and grow.