Madonna Gaulding, author of The Meditation Bible, gives you a beginner’s guide to easy serenity:

BENEFITS: Eating slowly and mindfully increases the pleasure you will get from your food.  Not only will you taste more, but by eating consciously, you will be more likely to choose to eat healthier foods.

TO START: Make yourself a healthy, balanced meal.

STEP ONE: Lay the table and sit down, but don’t start eating straight away. Take time to relax and settle your mind. Set your intention to eat mindfully and be a healthier person.

STEP TWO: Pick up your fork and place a bite of food in your mouth. Put your fork back on the table.

Chew carefully and focus on the sensations on your tongue, teeth and throat as you swallow. Is it sweet, salty, sour, bitter, or flavoured with spices or herbs? You will probably notice a combination.

STEP THREE: When you have completely experienced the taste sensations from the first bite, pick up your fork and take another.

Focus on what arises in your mind. Are you frustrated by eating so slowly? Are you anticipating the next bite before you finish the one you have? Are you continuing to eat even though your stomach feels full?

STEP FOUR: Try to let go of all your emotional baggage about eating and simply savour the taste of your food, as if you were eating for the first time. Try to bring mindfulness to your everyday eating.

Via Daily Mail

Via Wildmind Buddhist Meditation:

I often hear from people who are worried because their meditation practice doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. I think it’s good to be aware of the different ways that change happens when we meditate since your practice hitting a plateau may not be a problem, but just part of a natural process.

Read more — here.

Start with:

• A small corner or space, even if you need to convert it to other use during the day
• A set of comfortable cushions or a cozy chair
• A way of dividing that area from the rest of the house, even if it’s for a short period of time
• A little creativity and an open mind about found and available materials

Read more on Daily Cup of Yoga—- here.

Mountain Pose and Meditation for Beginners

Mountain pose is great for meditation for beginngers. Mountain pose, one of my “go+to” meditations, is a standing barefoot yoga pose. It is also known as Tadasana in the Sanskrit language.

I love this meditation because it’s great for beginners and advanced meditators. It’s accessible every day.

image courtesy of healthylivinglounge

How/Why Mountain Pose works as a Meditation for Beginners

If you’re outside, stand barefoot, close your eyes, inhale deeply and exhale deeply. Being barefoot or “earthing” has enormous benefits in itself, as we touched on in this post.

Place your hands by your side and face your palms forward. Relax your fingers. Placing your hands this way allows you to feel the energy (prana) flowing in your fingers and fingertips.

Make sure your big toes are touching and squeeze your shoulder blades together. This will straighten your spine, allowing energy to flow. Your chakras, especially the heart chakra will open.

Remember to exhale through your nose, using Ujjai breath. The inhale and exhale are longer than your usual non+voluntary breaths throughout the day. The inhale and exhale are even in length, strong, steady, and consistent. Your tongue is relaxed, not pressed up against the roof of your mouth.

Next Steps in Mountain Pose

Notice the difference of each intentional deep breath compared to your involuntary breathing. Notice what’s going on inside your body and mind. For me, sometimes 3 or 4 of my upper vertebrae crack on my first few deep inhales from taking in more oxygen and increasing lung capacity.

Focus your attention on the present moment. If and when your mind begins to wander, don’t become angry. Instead, gently bring your awareness back to the present moment.

With your palms facing forward and your feet in union with the ground, you will feel the energy pulsating in your fingertips and other body parts. Become keenly aware of your surroundings. The subtle breeze. The sounds of insects and birds. The smell of late summer. Take it all in and enjoy this escape from the “monkey mind syndrome” of jumping from thought to thought.

But I work a desk job, I can’t be barefoot outside

If you can’t be outdoors, you can still practice this meditation. Take off your shoes (it is important to remove barriers between you and the earth so you can more easily connect) and begin the meditation.

This is a great meditation for those with desk jobs. Even if it’s just for 2 minutes, this meditation will center you and help you connect to God or the universe.

What are some other meditation for beginners methods?

~Stay Lucid

One of my favorite activities in the world is a post-work yoga practice. Yesterday I was blessed with the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful 55 minutes of Vinyasa yoga with my roommate, who decided to attend a class with me for the first time. Normally, as I lay down for Shavasana, a subdued elation comes over me as I relax and regroup. However, yesterday was different because I could not shake the feeling that I had gone about the day’s practice incorrectly.

For many of us who grew up playing competitive sports, the need to win was everything. This wasn’t an unusual feeling as our society is predicated on having a winner and a loser in all situations. In business, sports, and even social interactions, the drive to best someone else dictates many of the actions people take. The end result is an ego driven society, which is not what Lucid Practice is all about.

During Savasana I came to the realization that I had been comparing my own practice to those around me. I was looking around the room to see how I stacked up against everyone else’s Warrior 2 pose, instead of concentrating on my own breath. The need to “win” has stuck with me apparently, but instead of being an issue, this awareness is a beautiful opportunity. Now I know what I have to work on, and I can’t wait to get back on the mat and find my own breath, without worrying about winning or losing.

Relax that ego.

Hakuna Matata

Credit to Kev Ollier for the photo

He turned 78 last Saturday and still says he meditates for three hours every day, starting at 4 am. He says he is just a simple monk and that kindness is his religion, calling for love and compassion to promote world peace.

When we met with the Dalai Lama he was standing on his veranda overlooking the beautiful Himalayan Mountain range, smiling and waving for us to come. We went to bow as is the tradition but he lifted us, took our hands, and said: “We are all equal here.”

We really didn’t know what to expect as he walked us into his sitting room. We imagined this spiritual leader to millions would be a serene Buddha-like figure sitting on a throne, yet he sat between us on his couch, still holding our hands, for forty-five minutes. He was the most ordinary person we ever hung out with. The world’s greatest meditator was simple and unassuming, he felt like our best friend, and he laughed a lot.

Just by sitting with the Dalai Lama we realized the effect of his years of meditation, as his very presence emanated all those qualities that meditators seek, such as inner peace, loving kindness, authenticity, and mindful awareness. This is particularly seen in his devotion to ahimsa, non-injury, and his policy of non-violence, which is why he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

Research, such as that conducted by neuroscientist Richie Davidson, a friend of the Dalai Lama’s, at Wisconsin University, and shared in our book Be The Change, proves how meditation actually develops the part of our brain that increases compassion and loving kindness. “By training the mind, we can actually change the brain toward greater contentment,” says Dr. Davidson in Be The Change. “There is certainly evidence to show that meditation practices designed to cultivate compassion and loving kindness change the brain in many positive ways.”

However, the mind desires endless entertainment and much prefers being distracted than facing the constant dramas racing around inside it. The idea of sitting still and watching our breath can appear boring, meaningless, even a time-waster, and not at all fun or creative. Yet meditation invites an undoing of what isn’t and a revealing of what is; we don’t become someone else, rather we become more who we really are, which is far from boring! It is about being fully present in this moment, no matter what we are doing: if washing the dishes, then let any thoughts and distractions dissolve into the soap bubbles; when eating, be aware of every bite, taste, and texture.

–From Ed and Deb Shapiro 

One of the better feelings one can come across is “pure meditation.” The closest I get to “pure meditation” is during savasana at the end of a yoga practice. Letting go of everything and being one with world is an awesome feeling.

Over time, I know meditation will aid in destroying ignorance, hate, and greed. From the practice, a great path emerges.

Many including myself at times have been led to believe that happiness can come from worldly fulfillments.  When you are one with yourself, what job or material possession really matters?

When I get up from meditation, I see what really matters: the eternal gift of life. Nature starts to speak to me. Little things that I take for granted fill themselves up with beauty.  I begin to see God in a lot of different places. I begin to see Love and Truth.

Do you have similar realizations during meditation and/or savasana?

-BL