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HOW TO MEDITATE
PRACTICAL TIPS
An aspirant desirous of undertaking meditation should choose a quiet place for meditation. It should be free from noise and disturbance of movement etc. It will be beneficial if the place chosen for meditation is made a permanent place and is not changed frequently. The time chosen for meditation should be such when general environment is quiet and for that purpose early morning is most preferable. A comfortable piece of mattress or carpet measuring about 1.5 ft by 1.5 ft should be used for sitting in a comfortable posture. Those who cannot squat or sit on the ground should choose a straight armless chair. While sitting, whether on carpet or on chair, the back should remain straight in line with the neck and accordingly posture should be chosen. One should remove the specs, if any, and sit for meditation for about an hour with no other business or agenda on mind. When meditation is the only agenda on mind, it will ensure that one is sitting for meditation with sincerity and not for mere show or formality. So long as other agenda is on mind, one cannot concentrate and take meditation seriously.
The first thing to be done in meditation is to close the eyes and start concentrating on the breath that is coming out and going in naturally. No attempt is to be made to retain the breath or exhale it with force. One has to watch with full awareness the incoming or outgoing of breath as it is coming and going naturally. One should be aware whether it is coming from left nostril or right nostril or both. One need not evaluate or attempt to breathe from a particular nostril. It is a natural process and one has to just build awareness around breath which is to be later on extended to awareness about sensations on the body and the thoughts coming in the mind. But this is a later process. Once one is firmly and fully aware of the breath and the sensations around the nose and the upper part of the lip below the nostrils,
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