How to Meditate

Meditating is easy. Raja Yoga even has the name ‘Easy Raja Yoga'. But sometimes getting started needs a little explanation. Here is a simple five-step process to follow. Soon you'll arrive at the quiet still place with just a single stride - a single thought - and you won't even need to take five steps.

Steps

Experience

Step 1

Relaxation

Relaxation is about letting go of tension and stress and bringing the mind and body into a state of calm and peace ...

Relaxation in the forest
Relaxation of the muscles
Relaxation with the breath
Relaxation connection

Step 2

Concentration

Concentration allows me to use my time productively, once I have relaxed: I focus on the thoughts I choose to have ...

Concentration flow of breath
Concentration on a point
Concentration on the word shanti
Concentration counting backwards

Step 3

Contemplation

Contemplation is reflecting deeply on myself, my inner world and my values…

Contemplation eternity
Contemplation on the true self
Contemplation being of light
Contemplation your core quality

Step 4

Realisation

Realisation is when my understanding and feelings combine and I experience a more profound, more meaningful reality within…

Realisation love
Realisation pure light
Realisation eternity
Realisation soul shift

Step 5

Meditation

Meditation is focusing on a thought and remembering my eternal identity, and re-awakening a wonderful state of well-being …

Meditation Beyond
Meditation to the Source
Meditation the simple shift
Meditation beyond the story.

Learn more about Raja Yoga meditation - what it is, why, how, where and when to do it, and the kind of people who are using it in their lives here

For more meditation experiences here on this site, step across into Experience

Ever thought about going on a Meditation Retreat?

Do you feel you don't time to meditate?

Meditating for just one minute can make a difference. Find out how: just-a-minute

Thought of the Day

The Ripple Effect

Try this experiment today. Enter the office with a straight face (not too straight). As you meet others who have a similar kind of straightness on their face, force yourself to smile. Then watch the other person return the smile – perhaps not to the same extent or for so long, or absolutely immediately – but it will return. This is the absolute and often instant proof of the ‘ripple and reflect effect’. You get back whatever you put out. We know this, but we forget, and then wonder why everyone seems to give us a straight face, even a grumpy face, on a regular basis. Now learn to make the smile more real, deeper, smilier! Where does a real smile begin? From the heart. Can you smile at will from the heart? Why not? You need to find out soon, because you will live an unsmiling life if you don’t find out what is stopping your heart reaching your face! No one else is responsible – there’s only you in there! So don’t go blaming others if you are not radiating from head and heart. What’s blocking it? Take your time. Look in, listen in and see. You’ll be surprised. You’ll probably laugh. And say, “How silly!”