I meditate, and though it's partly spiritual for me, I think of it more as self-care. I definitely feel better, more focused, more balanced, and more relaxed when I meditate regularly.

I have a specific place in my home that I've set up as a meditation and yoga space. There I have my yoga supplies, a cushion to sit on, an oil burner for the essential oil blend I use during meditation, and a couple inspirational art objects.

I start by focusing in on my breathing, and when I'm ready, I chant the mantra: Ong namo guru dev namo, which means "I acknowledge (or call upon) divine wisdom." This signals the beginning of my practice and helps to "join me", whether it's symbolically or spiritually or whatever, with the creative/creator consciousness. Next I do a few stretches to prepare my body for sitting still, and then I sit back down and begin with whatever meditation I've chosen. I usually spend some time just following my breath, then I'll do a specific meditation called a kriya, which involves certain body or hand positions, certain breathing patterns, and/or certain mantras chanted aloud or silently. I usually end with chanting "long Sat Nams", which is sort of like singing in that you hold the words longer than in other mantras. I find this relaxing. Sat Nam means "Truth is my identity", and it's this truth that I seek in meditation. Finally, I get comfortable in the yoga corpse pose to relax for about 10 minutes.

I've learned various types of meditation practices over the last several years, though I never seemed to stick with any one of them until now. What I do comes from Kundalini yoga, which began with the Sikhs. I am not Sikh, nor do I identify with any organized religion, but I do find much I can relate to with this. The book I use is "A Woman's Book of Meditation: Discovering the Power of a Peaceful Mind" by Hari Kaur Khalsa. I've also listened to the audio version of LeShon's "How to Meditate", which gives descriptions and examples of many different types. That's a good reference. And John Kabat-Zinn's (sp?) books on mindfulness including "Wherever you go, There you are" are excellent.

This reminds me, I need to go meditate. I try to do it first thing in the a.m., but it doesn't always work out that way.

gg