Meditation can be as simple as sitting straight and quiet, eyes closed, hands relaxed on our lap and watching our breath for a few minutes. But, we in the busy west, make hard work of simple things and the busier we get the more they evade us. We want instructions, details, and proof. Often we are quicker to invest money in props or equipment than we are to invest a few minutes in quiet contemplative experimentation with simple sitting and breathing.

I have spent hours scanning shelves for guidance, and reading books on meditation from many different cultures over the last 20 years and it took a long while for the message to get through to me that meditation is incredibly simple and that I was making hard work of it. I didn't need to read how to do it, I just needed to sit down and do it for myself. That's when I discovered how meditation audio could help.

The dictionary defines the verb "to meditate" as an action of reflection, or contemplation. It gives the description of both Buddhism and Hinduism as using meditation to "train, calm, or empty the mind, often by achieving an altered state, as by focusing on a single object." And it gives a further example of meditation being used to engage in devotional contemplation, especially prayer.

These broad definitions tell us that meditation is both practical and accessible for everyone, it isn't bound by culture or religion and it isn't hard to do.

Meditation is simply the act of quiet contemplation. A withdrawal of the senses from their constant external bombardment of information and a reigning in of the mind, by quieting it's chatter and calling it to focus on one singular thing. That thing might be our breath, a candle flame, a single word, or a devotional prayer, or mantra.

 

Tina Su, at the excellent Think Simple Now talks about the power of pen and paper when it comes to getting your head straight: recently describing her busy life with a new home, and a new puppy, she wrote: "Last week, I came to a breaking point, “I’ve had it!!” I said to myself, and proceeded to spend the next 3 hours with my nose buried in a notepad, pen scribbling at accelerated speeds - as I collected and re-arranged my thoughts on paper.

As a result, I came up with an organized solution to solve my problem. I felt instantly relieved and no longer helpless, because now… I had a plan!"

When you’re running a machine, you have to give it the right kind of fuel. Your body is a complex machine that runs on vital energy. That energy is found not only from the building blocks that nutritionists advise up such as proteins and carbohydrates, but from the living vital energy known as prana in Ayurveda (or chi in Traditional Chinese Medicine).

 

To possess this energy, you need to take energy into your body. Prana comes from eating fresh vegetables, fruits and grains, and from the air your breathe.