Meditating, even for just a few minutes a day, can help eliminate stress and brighten your outlook on life. Sitting in an adequate position permits relaxed and easy breathing. This happens most naturally when kneeling. (We recommend kneeling on a carpet or yoga mat to provide a cushion for the knees.)
 

Meditation = complete physical relaxation + a state of mental alertness
 

Ideally when meditating, we want to achieve a state free from thoughts, which is possible with practice. With time, we fall into this meditative state in a matter of seconds, permitting us a state of harmony, joy and love – an increased level of self-confidence, translating in our daily lives to tranquility and compassion. So, we accept with complete equanimity whatever happens, full of joy.
 

Meditation is the best method to develop all of our senses – including our intuition.
 

Breathe through the nose, on the inhale and the exhale, without trying to lengthen the breath, and without going for too long. At first, a few minutes will suffice to experience relaxation and peace.
 

It is important not to expect immediate results. The purpose of meditation isn’t to turn you into a Zen master overnight. The best meditation is that which is done for its inherent value, not with a specific goal in mind.
 

Why use a stool to meditate? 

Few people have the flexibility to sit cross-legged for long, and this position usually leaves the knees above the hips, impairing the breath. Besides, it is not necessary to sit in this position in order to meditate. There are many meditation postures, and the use of a kneeling stool is one of the best. One reason is that it is quite comfortable, even for beginners, to sit in such a position as long as desired. It also allows the practitioner to be relaxed and comfortable, helping to keep her/him alert and attentive.
 

No matter what, if the position is uncomfortable, it will be impossible to meditate effectively and, in the long run, can even damage the joints.
 

An adequate meditation posture will have the following:
 

1.  The spine should be straight and relaxed, with it’s natural S-shaped curve.
 

2.  The shoulders should be relaxed, lightly pressed back and down.

3.  The hands should rest without any tension.

4.  The head should be balanced in one place, with the chin slightly down toward the neck and the nape relaxed.
 

5.  The face should be relaxed – forehead, eyes and jaw. The tongue should also be relaxed, lightly touching the backs of the top teeth.

Two fundamental principles to consider as a practitioner: 

1.  If you are uncomfortable, it will be impossible to meditate.
 

2.  If you can’t relax, you won’t enjoy your meditation.
 

The best way to effectively combine relaxation and attention is to remain seated with the knees on the floor. Sit up straight and allow the chest to expand in order to breathe freely and this, as you will see, helps to develop and maintain a state of conscious and alert attention, but without tension.
 

The Kneeling Stool is very useful in meditation, allowing you to maintain the correct posture no matter how long you sit for. 

Body Awareness 

It is crucial to be aware of the body during meditation. It is neither extraneous nor optional. In order to meditate well, it is important to give a few minutes to ensuring proper posture and bring the attention to the whole body.
 

You can start by being aware of your legs and their contact with the floor and, in so doing, the muscles will relax effortlessly. As you bring your awareness up the body, release all tension in each area. 

You will notice the subtle change in the quality of your meditation, as you continue to experiment. You will notice that you have more energy and a pleasant sensation, each time, of the body relaxing. 

After surveying the body, become aware of it in its totality. Then, bring the attention to the belly and feel how it moves, peacefully and rhythmically, each time you inhale and exhale. By being aware of the breath, you can relax and let go. Now, you are ready to begin meditating. In fact, you've already started! 

How to Meditate 

“The purpose of meditation is to stop thinking for a time, wait for the fog of thought to thin, and glimpse the spirit within. Controlling the flood of thoughts is very difficult for most people. Beginners can sometimes become very frustrated, but frustration is just another thought, another emotion that gets in the way. The goal is to release all thoughts, quietly, passively.
 

“A common way to begin meditation is to gently focus on one thing so that it becomes more difficult for stray thoughts to enter your mind. I like to start with a breathing meditation.
 

“To begin meditation, find a comfortable position...
 

“Place your hands in your lap with the palms facing upward. Close your eyes and begin witnessing your breath. Observe the inflow and outflow of your breath without attempting to control it in any way. You may find that your breathing spontaneously gets faster or slower, deeper or shallower, and may even pause for a time. Observe the changes without resistance or anticipation. Whenever your attention drifts away from your breath to a sound in the environment, or a sensation in your body, or a thought in your mind, gently return your awareness to your breathing. 

“This is the basic mediation. Once a person becomes comfortable with simply sitting quietly and focusing on breathing, I recommend adding a mantra, which creates a mental environment that will allow you to expand your consciousness.”

(Adapted from The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire, by Deepak Chopra. Three Rivers Press, 2003). 

Meditation
 

It is recommended to  meditate at least 15 to 20 minutes, two times a day. After practicing, you will begin to see a transformation in your life. You can meditate in the morning and in the evening – this is all that's required to initiate this transformation, with great benefits: a life of peace and fulfillment.
 

Mantra
 

Once you are comfortable with the above steps, you can now incorporate mantra into your practice, which can help expand your consciousness.
 

“The word mantra has two components to it: Man, which is the root sound of the word mind, and tra, which is the root sound of the word instrument. So the word mantra literally means an instrument of the mind.
 

“The ancient wisdom tradition of Vedanta examined the various sounds produced in nature, the fundamental vibrations of the world around us. According to Vedanta, these sounds are an expression of the infinite or cosmic mind, and provide the basis for every human language. For example, if you sound out all the letters of the alphabet, the vowels and the consonants, you’ll hear that these are the same sounds that all babies make spontaneously. These sounds also contain the same vibrations that animals make. And if you listen carefully, you’ll notice that these sounds are everywhere in nature. These are the sounds of the wind, of fire crackling, of thunder, of the river rushing by, of ocean waves crashing on the shore. 

“Nature is vibration. The infinite being vibrates, and that vibration is rhythmic, musical, and primordial. Vibration interacts with vibration. 

“The ancient seers are said to have heard these vibrations of the universe when they were in deep meditation. We can all hear the same vibrations any time. It is very simple. If you quiet your mind and sit silently, you will hear vibrations. If you sit quietly when there is no noise around you, you’ll hear a background hum in the air. And if you start paying attention to the background hum, with practice you’ll actually end up hearing all the mantras that have been recorded in the Vedic literature.
 

“The Vedas also maintain that if you recite a mantra out loud, its special pattern of vibrations creates its own effects, and can create events in our current physical realm. Reciting the mantra mentally creates a mental vibration, which then becomes more abstract. Ultimately it takes you into the field of pure consciousness or spirit from where the vibration arose. So a mantra is a very good way to transcend and go back to the source of thought, which is pure consciousness. 

“The mantra I use, and that I recommend for achieving synchrodestiny, is the simple mantra 'so-hum.' This is the mantra of the breath, if you observe your breathing you’ll hear 'so-hum' as air moves in and out of your lungs. As you inhale, the sound of that vibration is 'so.' And as you exhale, the sound becomes 'hum.'

(Adapted from The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire by Deepak Chopra. Harmony Books, 2003).