How to Meditate For Beginners - New Tips on How to Meditate Effectively

Beginners who want to learn how to meditate effectively often come across a variety of meditation techniques that can leave them feeling frustrated and confused. There are variations in how long you need to meditate, whether you need to sit in a certain posture, what to do to still your mind and what to do with your breath while you're in that posture, and what kinds of results to expect and when to expect them.

Some techniques promise a reduction in your stress level, while others make larger, global promises. However, I suspect most beginners who want to learn how to meditate wish to experience results that increase the quality of their life in a relatively short period of time. For example, an increase in new insights, favorable synchronicities, occurrences of flow, and outer success. (This was my expectation when I began to learn how to meditate several years ago.)

After trying the standard meditation techniques with little to no results, I eventually learned that it wasn't how you sat or how you breathed that was important. It wasn't the breath or the mantra that was so important. It was whether your meditation connected you to that "higher self" aspect of yourself and whether you then integrated that part of you into your life through your actions.

Most meditation techniques lack this important step. In fact, many meditation techniques ask that you invalidate any thoughts or sensations you may have and return to some "silent source" or some outer point of focus. But what if this source wants to communicate with you? Besides, invalidating or dismissing any thoughts or sensations you have invalidates you as well as your connection to your higher self (the source of your intuition), making you powerless in the process and easy to manipulate. (And hasn't this been humanity's experience for ages?)

Now I know that some of your thoughts may feel silly to you at first, and some may bring up some fears, but your thoughts often come up because you need to work through them. You need to work through them to get to the next level, not to dismiss them. Your level of awareness, spiritual awakening and outer success will increase when you work through things, not dismiss them or disidentify with them.

How to Meditate for Beginners

With the help of the Counsel of Light I optimized a meditation practice that takes only 10 to 15 minutes, twice a day to do. It does not require you to place your attention on counting your breaths or on your posture but on your connection with your higher self. It does not require you to sit cross-legged. You may do it anywhere; you may lie down or be in any comfortable position of your liking.

Placing your hands on your heart and soul area (your sacred space) will help calm you so that you may begin to hear and distinguish the still inner voice of your higher self (and its wisdom) from the thoughts and fears that are keeping you stuck. Your connection with your higher self is the object of your focus, not some outer sound or forced mental picture or forced thought.

Sometimes you will find that there is some back and forth, some inner "battle" between your inner guidance and your mental conditionings. What are you going to feed? Work through the issues that come up, have a dialogue with yourself, if that helps. Write down your thoughts. Ask your higher self to help you work through them. You may find that you work through your old conditionings and fears in your dreams, for example. It is only after you work through your conditionings (by, for example, gaining a greater awareness or perspective about them) that they begin to leave you alone.

Of course once you begin to hear some inner guidance you will need to follow through promptly by taking action. Don't worry; you will not be required to make huge leaps if you're a beginner. Most likely, your higher self will help you gain gradual trust in your connection by asking you to take baby steps. For example, if you get an intuitive hunch to call a colleague and the call happens to land you an interview or a job, you will begin to have more confidence in your connection.

The more you do this, the more amazing insights and results you'll attain and the more inner confidence you will have--this is the upward spiral.

Integration with your higher self is your goal; it is the source of your spiritual awakening. It is what this "Great Shift" in consciousness (and what "Christ consciousness," and the whole 2012 thing) is about. The timing is perfect for this to happen now.

Learning how to meditate for beginners may seem difficult at first, but it is actually quite simple--if you release the things and techniques that don't work and replace them with what's really important.