Meditation Techniques

Meditation techniques are known to vary depending on the origin of the practice and the culture in that place. It also varies depending on the personality of the person and where he or she comfortable with.

Meditation techniques can be classified as "concentrative" that involves the means of focusing into a specific object and the other can be termed as "expansive" that involves a person's free flowing thoughts, observation, and reflection. The following are just some of the most common meditation techniques that are used for effective meditation:

1. The Mantra Meditation. This is one those meditation techniques that involve production of sound or the combination of one or more sounds that are played in a very spontaneous manner. When the sounds are spontaneously played, it can greatly affect the metal process and psychic consciousness of the person practicing it.

2. The Trataka or Steady Gaze. When translated literally, "trataka" means to "gaze steadily" into a specific object. This is one of those meditation techniques that have been commonly practiced by majority of the religious systems in the world such as Sufism and Christianity. Here, the person meditating is asked to gaze steadily in a certain an object and focus his or her attention to it.

Because of its effectivity in holding a person's concentration for a long period of time, the "trataka" is considered as one of the most effective yet simple means of meditating. The most common form for this meditation technique is through a use of a candle that is practically set up at the person's distance of the arm and leveled with the eyes. It is more effective if the candle is lit.

But if you are not a veteran in this field yet, do not attempt lighting the candle because it can lead to an accident. Among the benefits of this meditation technique is that it helps in the improvement of the person's external and internal optic function, alleviates visualization disabilities as well as poor eyesight, develops deep mental concentration, enhances the person's ability in maintaining single point sight as well as developing a person's sense of intuition.

3. The Chakra Meditation. This is also one of those meditation techniques that greatly help in the manifestation of energy and mind control. It is also known to be very effective in developing a person's deeper consciousness. For beginners, there are actually seven Chakras available to be tried on but the most popular among them is the "chakra anusandhana," which can be self-tutored. This meditation technique helps awaken the chakra of a person in a very gentle and balanced way. It is also one of those meditation techniques that are easy to do. What you can do is to sit or lie and close the eyes.

Once you have done this, you can now adjust body as well as your clothing for proper breathing control. Once you get hold of it, you can let the chakra flow into you slowly. Although this is very effective, don’t overuse it because it can lead to various side effects including exhausted mental capability. If you decide to do this, always make sure that a professional to avoid creating imbalance that can lead to various personality disorders guides you.

Other effective meditation techniques also include Vipassana Meditation, Raja Yoga Meditation, Zazen, and Nada Yoga, which have their own respective practices and postures. Read More...

Music that You can Listen to While Meditating

For people who are into meditation, one of the most crucial factors for them to do the practice properly is to hear some meditation music. Depending on the form of meditation you are practicing, meditation music plays a very big role in achieving the success in any meditation session.

What is meditation music should be

People who have been practicing meditation for so long would definitely agree that the hardest thing to fight off during meditation is chatters or babblers. This is because this tiny sound can penetrate the mind and distract it from whatever it has been doing.

To be able to avoid the distraction brought by this simple sound, they have found a way to fight it off using meditation music. Of all the many kinds of music out there, people—especially those who are just beginning—are having a hard time choosing which one would suit the practice.

Here are some guidelines in choosing the meditation music for you:

1. Make sure that it doesn't have lyrics. In choosing meditation music, it is always best to choose music that has no lyrics because it can only distract your concentration. If you find plain rhythm boring, try to play something that has lyrics that your don’t understand so you don’t have to think what the song is saying. Aside from distracting your thoughts through the words you understand, music with lyrics will also encourage you to sing along which will totally shatter your concentration.

2. Relaxing music with soft rhythm is always advisable. For starters, this type of music will do you good because it will help you clear your mind and focus on something. But, if you are already in a higher level of meditation, you can choose music that have faster rhythm and beats or anything that your truly enjoy because this can no longer distract you.

3. Try to experiment. Although soft and relaxing music is always advisable, try to play other types of music. Who knows? You might find better concentration of you play something that you truly enjoy.

4. Simple and soothing music is sure to focus your attention. If you don’t have the luxury of time to experiment on types of music to be played during meditation, then try surefire hits, which are simple and soothing music. Some of these may include classical sounds, sounds from the nature such as clapping of thunder, sounds of big waves, sounds of insects, and the wind. Other alternative options may also include simple instruments including tibetan singing bowl, flute, sitar, and tamboura which are known to have meditative inducing qualities.

When choosing meditation music, it is very important to keep in mind that the type you should play must induce you to deep concentration and not into deep sleep. If you are the type who practices mediation in just one place, then it is best if you play the same meditation music all over again. But if you are the type who changes places, then it is best to bring along several types of medication music to help you adjust to the place.

You can download the meditation music that you like from various meditation sites in the Internet and burn in a CD. But if you burn have a portable MP3 player, it is best to upload the music there so you can listen to it anytime you want to practice meditation. Read More...

Learning About Reiki

What is Reiki? Reiki is a Japanese type of spiritual practice also used for stress reduction and relaxation. It is a technique that also helps promote healing either for self or for other people. It is characterized as a practice of "laying of hands".

The healing powers of the technique are based on the idea that there is an unseen "life force energy" that flows through each person. This life force is said to be the reason why people are alive. When one's life force energy is low, then people are likely to get sick or feel weak. If the life force is high, people fell healthy and happy.

Reiki is also a form of meditation used as a type of therapy for treating physical, emotional, and mental diseases. The name Reiki is taken from two Japanese characters that describe energy itself. The word "rei", which means "unseen" or "spiritual" and "ki" which means "energy" or "life force" is combined to become Reiki. In English, its meaning is usually given as "universal life energy".

It was Mikao Usui who was known to have developed Reiki in 20th century Japan. Story has it that Usui received the ability of healing after going through three weeks of fasting and meditating on top of Mount Kurama. Practitioners of Reiki use a technique similar to that of the laying on of hands.

This action is said to promote the channeling of "healing energy" to another person. The energy flows through the palms and brings along with it healing powers that can be used for self-treatment as well as for treating others.

Reiki is a simple, natural as well as safe method of dispensing spiritual healing and self-improvement. It is said to be effective in providing alternative treatment for virtually every known illness and malady. Not only that, Reiki also helps create an added beneficial effect, that of spiritual healing. This method is also said to work well when combined with other medical or therapeutic techniques to help relieve side effects and promote recovery.

Reiki, although seen as a very powerful healing technique, is an amazingly simple to learn. Reiki and the ability to use it effectively cannot be taught in the usual sense. The skill is said to be "transferred" to the student during a Reiki class.

This ability is not merely learned but is passed on by a Reiki master to the student during a gathering known as "attunement". After the skill has been passed on, it allows the student to tap into an unlimited supply of "life force energy" that can then be used to improve one's health and enhance the one's quality of life.

Although the practice of Reiki may be spiritual in nature, it is not considered as a religion. There are no set of beliefs that one should learn about before learning to practice the technique known as Reiki. The practice does not depend on any form of dogma.

It will work whether the student believes it or not. But it is said that the practice of Reiki helps people to keep in touch of their spiritual selves rather than the intellectual concept that it provides.

The practice of Reiki also aims to develop and promote living in harmony with others. Aside from practicing Reiki and its principles, the founder of the Reiki system, Mikao Usui also recommends the practice of simple ethical ideals that can lead to peace and harmony among people.

Getting to know what Reiki is may help people not only become a healing channel but also a tool to promote peace among other people. Read More...

Useful Meditation Instructions At Home

Different meditation techniques follow their own set of meditation instructions in order to be effective and lead a person to a higher level of relaxation and consciousness. These guidelines are there to help provide the steps that an individual can follow as he or she begins a meditation session. Duration may differ according to the different techniques and may involve different exercises to achieve that higher level of awareness.

Any meditation practice may be done at different parts of the day. But it is suggested that you do it in the morning. Morning is the ideal time to do a meditation session since it is the time of the day with the least interruptions. It is also good to find a place somewhere in the home that is quiet and private. Here is an example of how you can do your meditation in your own home.

First of all, try to sit upright, keeping your spine relatively straight. You can either sit on a bed, on the floor, or in a chair, whichever is most comfortable for you to sit on. You can cross your legs as you sit down, which is the usual position for meditation. But if crossing your legs will result in discomfort or stoppage of blood flow in the legs, try to uncross and extend them. You may also try to alter to a more comfortable sitting position. Meditation can also depend on how comfortable you are to be effective.

After finding yourself in a comfortable sitting position, the next step is to close the eyes and relax. Do this for a brief moment to calm your body and mind. The next step is to try and visualize a certain object. Visualization is one of the important steps in meditation. Try to focus on the object in your mind and try to be aware of its characteristics. Focusing and concentrating on something in your mind may take time and it will take a lot of practice. This is important since meditation depends on putting your focus on just a single object in your mind while minimizing the distractions as much as possible.

Now that you have visualized a specific object in your mind, try to feel yourself as if you are that object. Try to get a sense of how it is being that object. Feel how it is to be that shape, that color or that texture. Become the object in your mind. In doing so, try to feel calm and relaxed. Don't try to force your mind to do it. Just be aware of that object and let it effortlessly become you. This too may take some time to get used to. But practice will make you get better at it.

What is important in this meditation exercise is that you try to make yourself visualize a certain object effortlessly without forcing your mind to do so. What may be even harder to do the first time you are doing this exercise is how to maintain your visualization. There may be times that a passing thought or a distraction may occur in your mind that may let you lose focus.

With practice in following these simple meditation instructions, you may be able to get used to developing your focus and concentration and keeping your mind free form distractions. By then, you will learn how to relax not only your body but also your mind. Read More...

Using Meditation Tapes

Meditation has become a popular form of relaxation among people who always find themselves stressed out often in their lives. Meditation can be a very effective coping mechanism and as a valuable means to combat stress. The most convenient means of practicing meditation techniques can be done with the use of meditation tapes.

The practice of meditation can be perfected through the guidance of experienced masters of the different meditation techniques. Others join into meditation groups in order to enhance and improve the meditation techniques that they practice. But sometimes, people may not have the time to spend in joining such groups and may rather practice meditation in their own homes. In this case, meditation tapes would really become very valuable items to have.

An effective meditation practice would depend on a knowledgeable guide and a willing student. The guide is usually the master experienced in the techniques of meditation and will help provide students with the different steps towards relaxation. The willing student then tries to absorb and follow each step carefully in order to reach an enhanced state of relaxation. The meditation guides have these steps taken from ancient practices that have been handed down from generation to generation. And when it is impossible to have a live meditation guide walk a student to the different steps of meditation, the use of meditation steps would help bridge the gap.

There are many ways in which you may be able to find a meditation tape that you can use in the comfort of your own home. You may even be able to use it when driving to the office or when working, that is, depending on what type of meditation technique you plan on practicing. Choosing the right one may depend on certain factors that may allow you to meditate more effectively for relaxation.

When choosing a meditation tape, it is important to check them out before purchasing them. It is important that you may be able to listen to them first before deciding on buying them. Buying them through mail order may not provide you with an opportunity to check out one in terms of quality in sound as well as playability of the tape. When you do choose one, try to get those that have meditation guides narrating the steps with a peaceful yet commanding voice. Choose a meditation tape with a voice that you will want to listen to and do what has been said. Choosing a tape with a wrong voice may hinder you from reaching your full potential in your meditation. It would usually depend on your own preference on which type of voice you would likely follow to lead you to the different meditation steps.

A good way of looking for good meditation tapes is through the Internet. You may be able to find them in various websites that deals with the subject of meditation. It can be as easy as using a search engine online to find those meditation tapes. What makes looking for meditation tapes online even more convenient is that most of them offer brief audio clips of what each tape contains that you can check out.

This will help you choose and determine which ones will suit your own meditation style. Try looking for those sites that do offer audio clips in order to help you get the most effective meditation tape guides that would satisfy you. Read More...

Why Relax?

Experts have determined that heart disease is connected to anger and. Too much stress can lead to or cause a heart attack. Relaxation takes on extra meaning in light of this matter. Managing your anger and attitude is important to heart health, and relaxation can help you manage stress. We will examine some ways that relaxation can be effectively achieved. Hopefully one will appeal to you.

One method of relaxation is transcendental meditation. Studies have shown that this method may lessen artery blockage, which is a major cause for heart attack and stroke. The researchers found that practitioners of transcendental meditation radically reduced the thickness of their arterial wall.

Another manner of relaxation, acupuncture, seems to reduce high blood pressure by triggering the brain to release chemical compounds known as endorphins, which help relax muscles, ease panic, decrease pain, and reduce anxiety.

Breathing is one of the easiest methods to relax. Breathing affects our mind, our moods and our body. Simply focus on your breathing, after some time you can feel its effects.

Another simple way to attain relaxation is exercise. If you feel irritated a simple half-hour of exercise will frequently settle your mind.

Hypnosis is one controversial relaxation technique. It is a good quality substitute for people who think that they have no idea what it feels like to be relaxed. It is also a good alternative for people with stress related health problems.

The above relaxation techniques are just a few of the ways you can accomplish relaxation. An additional inspiration for why we must relax, aside from lowering blood pressure in people and decreasing the chances of a stroke or a heart attack, is because stress produces hormones that hold back the immune system. Relaxation gives the immune system time to recuperate and in doing so function more competently. Read More...

The Benefits of Meditation

Meditation plays a large part in Eastern philosophies and religions. Later on, the West also got hold of it and has realized that it has a lot of health benefits.

The one thing students and those work deal with everyday is stress. Meditation for just 15 minutes or even longer allows you to relax and later enables you to make an effective decision. It also lowers the level of stress anxiety in your system thus decreasing the risks of heart disease significantly.

The practice of meditation also makes you self aware of what is happening around you. This enables you to focus on the present rather than events that happened in the past or the future. It teaches you to be in control of your mind and not make you do anything based on your emotions.

Believe it or not, meditation also develops insight into our subconscious. This is because our attitudes, behavior, feelings and perceptions are all connected and if you are able to harness it, you will be able to understand yourself better.

This allows you to have a positive outlook in life and even make changes in yourself. You become content or thankful with what you have instead of harboring feelings of anger, anxiety, greed, hatred and jealousy towards yourself and others.

You will also be able to see the big picture instead of the small one when given a task at work so even if there are a few setbacks a long the way, you are still able to keep your eye on the end game.

Medication can also make you feel younger. This is because in one study, people who have been practicing this for many years were physiologically 12 years younger than their chronological age. The results of the test were based on the test subject’s auditory discrimination, blood pressure and eye sight.

So now that you know the benefits of meditation and what it can possibly do, you are probably asking yourself right now how does it work? Well, let us first correct the common misconception about meditation.

A lot of people think that you have to sit in a pretzel position or go off to some far away place to make this work. The truth is that you just have to find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed, sit on the floor or on a chair in whatever position you like best and slowly clear your mind of all thoughts.

You should keep in mind that sitting in a comfortable position may sometimes make you doze off. So concentrate otherwise it defeats the purpose of this exercise.

Next, you should close your eyes, focus on your breathing and let the positive air go in and the negative thoughts go out. You might hear sounds nearby and since you can’t do anything about that, just acknowledge that it is there and just concentrate on this exercise.

This can be done at work or at home and how long it will be done depends on you. Some people may start out for 5 minutes and then extend the time in the future. The important thing is that you feel recharged and ready to taken on whatever challenge is out there when you are ready to open your eyes. Read More...

The Types of Spiritual Meditation

Spiritual meditation aims to help a person dig deep into the inner self in order to discover the wisdom and tranquility that lie within. It can be done by developing awareness, harmony and natural order into life through meditation. Different techniques can be employed in order to achieve this.

Different meditation techniques have been developed since ancient times in the effort to help people experience a higher state of consciousness. This usually makes use of the ability to clear the mind of distractions and focusing mainly on the self. Here are some of the techniques that most people use to get in touch with their spiritual consciousness through meditation.

One of the ancient techniques in meditation used is one that Buddhists practice. This technique is called mindfulness meditation and involves learning how to be aware about the things that one does and the things that is happening around at the very moment. This type of meditation technique can take time to master and involves four steps.

The first step is the abstinence from the five moral rules which is killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct, and the use of toxic substances. The second step is the practice of Anapana Meditation for three and a half days where a person is taught how to meditate while focusing on one's breathing. The third step involves purifying the mind which involves self observation for six and half days. The fourth step involves speaking and living an extroverted life. This meditation technique closes with the practice of metta bhavana which involves sharing the purity developed with others.

Another type of meditation technique is Transcendental Meditation, the most debated and researched one among the many meditation types. This type of meditation aims to help one attain enlightenment if practiced on the long term. This meditation technique also can help increase intelligence and creativity. This technique does not require the mastery of difficult breathing techniques or the use of some special postures. A person needs only to learn how to concentrate by sitting in a relaxed and comfortable posture and position.

Another meditation technique is the vibrational meditation which involves the repetition of a mantra, a particular word or a sound that becomes the focal point of the meditation process. The vibrations that are produced by making the word or sound is experienced passing through the body. During meditation, the individual is to concentrate on nothing else but the sound as it is uttered again and again.

The Walking Meditation is one of the many other types of meditation techniques that may help one get in touch with one's inner self. It involves learning to focus the mind while walking. Although this meditation technique can be difficult to practice it can prove to be very beneficial. This type of meditation involves focusing on the feet while meditating and trying not to let the mind wander away from every step taken.

These different types of spiritual meditation techniques take time to master. It may be hard for some people to get used to focusing on one thing, due most of the time to the influence of the world in general and how it has clouded and cluttered the mind with thoughts of problems, worries and stress. But with regular practice and eventually making a certain type of meditation technique a regular habit, people may be able to look into their inner selves more effectively and then achieve a higher sense of consciousness that may help one attain inner peace. Read More...

What Is Transcendental Meditation

Meditation has been practiced for centuries. In the years that followed, various movements have evolved and one of them is called transcendental meditation.

Transcendental meditation was a movement founded in 1957 by a Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Today, it has over 6 million followers and some of them include Hollywood celebrities and singers.

The organization that practices Transcendental Meditation is better known as the Spiritual Regeneration Movement. What makes this form of meditation different from the others is the fact that you don’t just learn everything there is to know by reading a book but by learning from a transcendental meditation expert.

The ultimate goal of Transcendental Meditation is to make each member achieve pure consciousness. By doing so, the individual will be able to find peace with him or herself and also with the rest of the world.

The practice of transcendental meditation takes about 15 to 20 minutes each day. In order to be part of this organization, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created a seven step process which everyone must go through that also includes two lectures, a personal interview with a trained instructor and four days of practice. Apart from that, you are required to pay a signup fee that is almost $2,500.

More than 500 clinical studies have been done on Transcendental Meditation. One study shows that members who are in their 50’s feel much younger. Another study shows that it improves your academic achievement, creativity and intelligence.

Those who have been practicing it claim that it reduces problems such as anxiety, insomnia and stress. Even those who have had addictions with alcohol or drugs in the past say that this has helped them kick the habit.

In short, Transcendental Meditation is able to improve your physical health. Probably the biggest surprise is that one study showed that members of this movement have had fewer medical problems than those who are not.

Given the benefits it can do to those who practice it, this is probably the reason why some companies in the US offer this program to their employees. This is because management knows that stress costs them more than 200 billion dollars annually which means a decrease in the worker’s productivity.

One example of such a company that offers this to their employees is General Motors. This car company has been practicing Transcendental Meditation for several years and results from a study showed that this increased the productivity in the workplace, improved morale and had a good impact on the physical health of their workers.

There are even some who have mistaken Transcendental Meditation and the organization itself to be part of the religious cult. This is because another name by which it is known is the “Science of Creative Intelligence” which in fact is a degree that you can get after you graduate at the Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa.

It should also be pointed out that Transcendental Meditation is scientific so you don’t have to abandon your current religion. In fact, it can be done with little effort so it is possible for you to achieve pure consciousness regardless of your age, gender, educational background, culture or religion.

Transcendental Meditation makes you look inward so you are able to turn those dormant potentials into realities. Of course, this can only happen over time and with practice so you will soon be able to experience an endless world of possibilities. Read More...

Understanding Transcendental Meditation

Transcendental Meditation is a meditation technique introduced in 1958 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It is a simple, natural, relatively effortless meditation technique where the mind can easily and naturally look into the source of thought and achieving the settled state of the mind which is known as the Transcendental Consciousness. It is said to be the pure consciousness which is the source of all creative processes in the human mind.

Transcendental Meditation's origins can be traced back sometime in 1955 when the Indian ascetic Maharishi Mahesh Yogi started teaching a new meditation technique that he said was derived from the Vedas. Maharishi had previously studied with Swami Brahmananda Saraswati. Maharishi even served as his secretary from 1941 until Saraswati's death in 1953. It was sometime in 1957 that Maharishi began the Spiritual Regeneration Movement in Madras, India, at the conclusion of a festival that was held in remembrance of his deceased teacher. Maharishi then began going on a number of worldwide tours promoting and disseminating his technique sometime in 1958.

Maharishi started to plan on establishing one TM (Transcendental Meditation) teaching center for each million of the world's population in 1978. During that time, it would mean having to build about 3,600 TM centers throughout the world. Since then, Maharishi has continued the teaching of Transcendental Meditation from the Netherlands through an organization called the Global Country of World Peace. This organization has reported that over six million people all over the world have learned the Transcendental Meditation technique since it was introduced.

The Transcendental Meditation technique is taught in a standardized, seven-step process. The process is composed of two introductory lectures, a personal interview, and a two-hour meditation instruction session given on each for four consecutive days. The instruction starts with a short ceremony that is performed by the teacher. After that, the student is taught and starts practicing the technique. The following sessions are given in order to provide further enhance the correct practice of the meditation technique as well as to provide more information that the student might need to know about.

The goal practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique is, according to Maharishi, to achieve enlightenment. He states that enlightenment comprises of seven major states of consciousness. The first three are commonly known as waking, dreaming, and deep dreamless sleep. The fourth state, Transcendental Consciousness, is said to be achieved and experienced during the practice of the technique.

Maharishi says that a person who practices Transcendental Meditation will eventually learn how to maintain the experience of transcendental consciousness even while living everyday life. This is what he refers to as enlightenment and calls it as the Cosmic Consciousness, the fifth state of consciousness. The sixth and seventh states, the God Consciousness and Unity Consciousness, are further improvements of the Cosmic Consciousness.

Transcendental meditation can be practiced for as short as 15–20 minutes in the morning and evening. It is usually done while sitting comfortably with the eyes closed. While undergoing Transcendental Meditation, a person's awareness starts to settle down and begins to experience a unique state of relaxing alertness. As the body further becomes deeply relaxed, the mind begins to transcend all mental activity in order to experience the simplest form of awareness, which is the Transcendental Consciousness. This is the state where the consciousness is open to itself. The meditation technique used is said to involve neither concentration nor contemplation. Read More...

Things You Should Know About Zen Meditation

We all have to deal with stress from either work or school. You can’t close your eyes to make it go away but you can find peace so you can deal with it. One technique that can offer this is called Zen meditation.

Zen meditation is often referred to as the study of the self. It involves sitting in various postures so you are able to bring the mind and body to a peaceful and stable condition. This happens as you focus on images and thoughts that just pop up as your heart rate slows down until you reach a reflective state of meditation.

One of the best seating positions to do this is called the Burmese position. There is also the full lotus, half lotus, kneeling or “seiza” posture and sitting on a chair.

The key here is to keep your back straight so that your deep breathing will go naturally. This allows more oxygen to enter that will help cleanse and energize the body.

The buttocks must be thrust out and the chin tucked in. The hands should be placed close to the body with the left hand resting on top of the right with palms open and up. The joint of the middle fingers are resting on top of the other with the thumbs slightly touching.

Your eyes should be half closed and your head should be positioned to a 45 degree angle towards the body. Given that it is not easy to keep the eyes like this the whole time, you can try closing them first and then opening them later on. Should you get sleepy, just open them wide.

The challenging part is staying in a stationary position for 15 to 20 minutes. After you have developed a breathing pattern, you slowly relax the muscles from your face all the way down to your feet. As it slows down and oxygen enters, you should focus on positive thoughts and exhale those that are negative.

By concentrating, you are able to unite the body, mind and soul so that your mind is aware of only the present and no longer the past or the unforeseeable future.

Aside from the right posture, you should always wear loose clothing. It is not wise to practice this after a heavy meal because a full stomach usually creates discomfort which in itself is a distraction.

If you would like to learn Zen Meditation, you can read about it or better yet join a group. Once you get the hang of things, you can even buy a few accessories to make the experience a fruitful one like incense sticks, a bell or even a ringing bowl to mark the start and end of a session.

Short incense sticks burn for about 45 minutes while the longer ones are double the time. You can even use the kitchen timer since no one will be there to ring the bell to say time is up.

Zen meditation experts recommend that beginners should try for 10 minutes first until you get used to it before you decide to extend this for 20 or 30 minutes. Should your mind wander off, concentrate a little harder to focus once again on your breathing so your thoughts will settle down naturally. Read More...