Meditation
Do you feel that life is getting busier all the time and you have no time to get away and get your life in order? Well, you dont have to take a holiday. Why not try meditation as a tool for calming a stressed-out mind?
Stress is literally all around us. Chances are youre worried about something, whether its work the single biggest cause of stress money, or family. Stress is bad for us because, as well as causing mental upset, it can also cause physical illness.
Meditation is becoming a vital tool for managing our stress and calming our minds. There are many benefits of meditation; it lessens anxiety and stress, improves self-esteem, lowers depression, increases our levels of creativity, and lowers blood pressure and cholesterol.
Meditation also helps you gain better control over your emotions and it can help you to build better relationships with the people you love.
But if youre thinking that youd never have time to meditate, or could never master the skill, think again. Anyone can successfully meditate, with a little bit of practice.
One simple meditation technique is to focus on your breathing. All it involves is being aware of your breath, and counting your breaths as you breathe in and out. If you prefer not to count, you could simply say in as you breathe in and out as you breathe out. Theres no need to speak out loud; counting in your mind is fine.
Another breathing technique involves breathing in and out and imagining that you are breathing in healing, golden light while expelling negative, black energy. Let yourself become immersed in the light. Its relaxing and healing.
However, using a mantra is probably what most of us think of when we first think of meditation. Your mantra doesnt have to be a word, like om. It can just as easily be a phrase (such as, who am I?), your name, or a self-affirmation (such as, I am beautiful).
Using such a phrase really personalises your meditation and increases your chances of success. Just get yourself comfortable in a quiet room with some gentle light (so you dont fall asleep!) and focus on repeating your chosen phrases over and over.
It can be difficult to keep your mind focused during meditation as its only natural for your mind to wander when youre first starting out. The key is to not become annoyed but to acknowledge that your mind has wandered and gently bring it back to your meditating.
Dont get angry with yourself if it takes you a while to master the skills of meditation after all, youre trying to learn something new. Meditation is an individual experience so its just a matter of experimenting and finding out what works the best for you.
As for how long you should meditate for, there are no right or wrong answers. Whether its a few calming breaths in the elevator or twenty minutes in a calm environment, any amount of meditation is enough to soothe your mind and soul. Just go for as long as you feel you need to. 
