This is meditation for the beginner. You concentrate, or rather try to concentrate, get interrupted by thought, and then catch yourself thinking and go back to concentrating on the breath. Get the picture? Don’t worry if you don’t.
Now let’s give it a shot. You’ll need a time and a place where you won’t be interrupted for 15-20 minutes. It’s a really good idea to have foam earplugs. Insert them into your ears and seal yourself in from the sounds of the outside world.
First, do the energization exercises, which will remove excess tension from your body. Once you have tensed and relaxed your body from head to toe, you are ready for meditation.
Find a comfortable sitting position, be relaxed, but try to keep your back straight. Clasp your hands together in your lap. Lift your eyes and gaze at the top of the wall where it meets the ceiling. This is the position that you want your eyes to be in. Now close your eyelids. Take your tongue and turn it back and try and touch the uvula—that drop of flesh hanging down in the back of your throat—with the tip of your tongue. Don’t worry if you can’t reach it. Touching the tongue anywhere on the roof of the mouth or soft palette will do.
You are now in position. Take a slow deep breath and while inhaling think “I.” The inhalation should last 10 seconds or longer. At the end, pause momentarily and then begin a slow release, and while exhaling think “AM.” Inhale with “I,” exhale with “AM.” Use slow, deep breaths, 10 seconds or longer. The length of the inhalation and the exhalation should be the same. If you like, you can replace “I AM” with anything else that has meaning for you. Many with previous meditation experience know the mantras “hamsa” and “so hum.” You can repeat “sha - lom” or “All - ah” or “Je - sus” or “sci-ence,” for that matter, or whatever you want. The mantra is simply a device to help focus the mind.
that you’re thinking again, and you steer your concentration back to your breath.
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