Meditation is an act of detaching yourself from the hustle and bustle of life around you. It is being at peace and gives you a deep level of self awareness. It calls for emptying your mind of all worries and cares and just surrendering yourself - surrendering yourself to whatever energies will fill you. Meditation is enervating and renewing.

The practice of meditation has existed in India and the Orient since time immemorial. In the late '60's it spread to the West and took off like wild fire. People began flocking to meditation centers. They found that their lives were consumed by ambition and the quest for material possession. They were hungry for peace and harmony and they believed that meditation was their route to the bliss of peace.

The mind is an incredibly powerful tool. It places our dreams and ambitions within our grasp. All it requires is single-minded focus on our goal and the conviction that we can achieve our goal. This requires us to first identify our goal and make it tangible. Give it form and shape. Then it requires us to focus on our dream with certitude of achieving our goal. The final step is to embark on the road towards our goal, with our eyes focused on our goal.

Identifying a goal and giving it shape will give focus and meaning to our life. Our goal could be a physical goal for material possessions, or it could be a goal to develop an aspect of our personality or it could be an altruistic goal to improve the lives of a few specific people who live around us. The goal has to be defined. Writing it down and looking at it often, helps to maintain focus.

The next step is to develop a positive attitude or certitude that we will achieve our goal. This is easier said than done because as a race we are filled with doubt and other negative emotions. We use
doubt to shield ourselves from disappointment. Doubt is demotivating and discourages us from embarking on the journey to achieve our dream. Meditation is a wonderful tool to be used here. It requires us to be peaceful, to surrender ourselves. It requires us to empty our minds of all thoughts. When we focus on our dream from this peaceful platform, we will find our dream gradually becoming more real and achievable. This will fill us with positive energy. It will be enervating and motivate us to carry on our journey towards our goal. Slowly we will find that the hurdles along the way become lower and disappear altogether.

Along the road, we will face diversions and distractions. We will have experiences that will revive our doubts and fill us with negative energy. Meditation is a useful tool to use along the way to our goal. It will be a platform from which to keep re-focusing on our dream. The peace that comes with meditation will show us ways to get closer to our goal. It will dissipate our stress. It will make our burden lighter and the journey shorter.

Meditation is a tool that will not only smooth the path to our goal, but will also get us there filled with energy to enjoy the fruit of our success.

People continually tell me they think they meditate "wrong".

The truth is...as long as you take time to quiet your mind...you meditate right.

Some meditation myths:

I need to leave my body/levitate in order to meditate correctly
When meditating, one becomes so relaxed, they may get the sensation that they are floating. You are not physically rising above your body. Your senses come to a place where you may feel beyond your body.

I have to sit in an uncomfortable position for a long time
As long as you are in a peaceful setting, you can sit however you are comfortable. You can meditate in a chair or lie on your back.

Meditation is a religious act
Meditation is for anyone of any background who wants to find time for peace and quiet.

The only way to meditate wrong is to hold the thought that you are doing it wrong.
Just breathe and relax. Quiet your body and your mind and feel relaxed and renewed