Find a good spot
You will increase the effectiveness of your meditation if you meditate in the same location every time. It will condition your mind to immediately go to a meditative state or to move there faster. Some people like to meditate in bed, but the danger with that is that if you’re going to bed for other reasons, you may end up in a meditative state without really meaning to. So before you decided that the bed is the best place to meditate be sure that’s really in your best interest. If you want to lie down, you can try a couch or a mat on the floor.

A lot of practiced meditators like to set up a spot in a corner or some other dedicated room location. Sometimes they use pillows or a mat or a chair that can recline. You can set up your meditation location with extra goodies like candles, incense, or a CD player so you can listen to meditative music. Make your meditation location comfortable and relaxing. Then, every time you go there, your mind will automatically start going into a meditative state. If you only use that location for meditation, all the better. You can also try meditating outside or in nature. Let the ambient sounds of nature lull you into a relaxing meditative state.

Pick a good time
It’s often a good idea to meditate at the same time every day. Setting a specific time each day to meditate will help you solidify the habit. In my audio program, Raising Your Vibration, I include a morning meditation designed to get you into a loving state for the entire day, and then an evening meditation designed to put you in a state of gratitude in the evening. By forming a habit of meditating at the same time each day you can help trigger a nice deep meditative state much like the trigger you get from meditating in the same location every time.

Make sure you pick a time of day where you will not be interrupted (especially if you have young children roaming the house) I like to do a personal meditation right before I go to sleep because I find it enhances the messages I get from my dreams. Some people like to meditate when they first wake up in the morning because they want to start their day with guidance or centeredness, plus you’re less likely to fall asleep while meditating if you’ve just woken up from a restful night’s sleep. Some people like to meditate midday as a nice pick me up, a quick mind-rest, or as a way to get insights into problems at work. Whatever time works best for you, try sticking with it for a month and you’ll be a more effective meditator.

Try a new technique
There are many meditation techniques out there. Some concentrate on breathing, some on visualization, some on getting perfectly still and quiet in your mind, and some on connecting and communicating with your spirit guides. Don’t be afraid to change up your technique every once in a while. You never know when you’ll find something that works even better than what you’ve been doing. Here are some things to try:

Stare at a candle: Light a candle, keep your eyes open, stare at the flame, and do your meditation with your eyes open.

Listen to music: Put on some relaxing new age or meditation music, or something with Holosync technology or binaural beats. See how that affects your meditative state.

Listen to a fountain: Some people find it very peaceful and calming to listen to the sound of water running.

Concentrate on your breathing: Make one of your meditation sessions simply about being aware of your breathing. Take deep breaths in through your nose and hold it for a few counts, then release your breath slowly through your mouth. Do this for 20 minutes. It will help clean your lymph system which will lead to greater health.

Automatic writing: Sit at your computer or grab a journal or some paper. Get yourself into a meditative state and start asking the universe, your guides, or your subconscious mind some questions. Write down the answers you get. You may see images, hear an inner voice, or feel a specific feeling. Write it all down.

What else would you like to try to enhance your meditation experience?

Set a specific goal
What is your goal for meditating? Do you want peace? Inner calm? Answers? Advice? Insight? Better health? A more focused mind? Mental clarity? A raising of your vibration? Before you meditate, think about what it is you want to accomplish, and select the meditation technique that will best accomplish that.

I like to use meditation to talk to my higher self and my spirit guides. Sometimes I use it to just calm down if I’m feeling emotionally charged. And during my intuitive counseling sessions, I meditate to connect with my clients’ spirit guides so I can answer important life questions. Meditation grounds me and also helps me achieve inner peace. It’s really a powerful tool!

Try a new position
During meditation you can sit, lie down, or even stand. If you are used to meditating in a certain position and you love it, that’s great. But periodically try a new position and see if you get different results. If you tend to fall asleep during meditation, try meditating while sitting in a chair with your feet flat on the floor. If your goal in meditating is to fall asleep, such as if you have insomnia, then definitely do it lying down.

One time I decided to see if I could meditate while exercising! I was walking on a treadmill, and I kept my hands firmly grasped on the rails so I wouldn’t tip over. I closed my eyes and did some meditative breathing, then imagined I was an Amazon running powerfully on a beach. What an amazing experience it was! I felt more powerful, I stayed on the treadmill much longer than I normally would have, and didn’t feel as tired when I got off the treadmill. I started doing that every time I exercised with great results. I also lost track of time, which is one of the reasons I think I stayed on the machine longer than I originally intended. If you try this, be safe!

Never meditate while driving or operating heavy machinery!

Make meditation a part of your daily life and see what results you get. If you’re brand new to meditation, try it for 30 days and check your results. I think you’re going to like it!

Now you can purchase and instantly download the teleseminar to hear it for yourself. It’s full of useful and practical information to help you improve your intuition, connect with your guides, learn how to meditate, and discover your life purpose.

Some of the questions I answered include:

Feedback from those who listened live:
“Your ideas are so grounded and practical. I like that I can use this information immediately to improve my life. Thank you!” – Jack

“Erin, the teleseminar was awesome. Even though I got to hear it live, I would totally buy it just to hear it again. Please make this available so everyone can benefit from your ideas.” – Laura

“You’ve got a real gift for explaining difficult concepts in an easy-to-understand manner. That’s why I love your work so much.” – Chantille

“Thank you for answering my question. I had no idea there were different intuitive modalities, and that explains why I couldn’t connect with my guides before. Can’t wait to try your suggestion.” – Jere

Get the program now for just $19.97.

Learn more
Buy now

Distracting thoughts during meditation are extremely common.  If you want to reach a higher vibration so that you can have a chat with your guides you’ll need to learn how to tune out distractions and tune in to the higher frequencies.  So how do you do that?  There are several ways.

Get it all out first
Make a list of all the things you need to do so you won’t forget them.  Tune in to what you need to do that day and get it all down on paper.  Take your time and do it right.  Then trust that everything you need to remember is on that list.  Set it aside and prepare for meditation.

Turn on some relaxation music
Meditation music is wonderful.  There are so many CDs out there that you really can’t go wrong.  I love R. Brian Caldwell’s music and I use it to tune in during readings and meditation.  It gives me an aural focal point to help my mind from becoming distracted.  Play it softly in the background.

Create a sacred space for meditation
Some people find it helpful to have a special place they use solely for meditation.  Some pillows on the floor, a yoga mat, a certain chair in the house.  Selecting one single place where you always meditate will help you create an anchor so that when you sit there,  your mind automatically goes into meditation mode.  Don’t do anything else in this spot like talking on the phone, journaling, etc.  Just save the space for meditation.

Concentrate on your breathing
Breathing is an important component of meditation.  Typically you want to breathe in through your nose for a certain count, like 4 or 6, and then breathe out slowly through your mouth for a few beats longer than that.  I personally am not a big fan of controlled meditative breathing as I actually find it distracting to try to keep the count.  So what I do is take three deep breaths to center myself then I just breathe deeply and deliberately without trying to hold my breath for any certain length of time.  You can concentrate on breathing without making it an exercise in holding your breath.  During your meditation just keep breathing through your nose and out through your mouth.  If your nasal passages are blocked it’s okay to just breathe through your mouth, and if you suffer from dry mouth it’s also okay to breathe in and out through your nose.  There’s really no wrong way to breathe during meditation.  As long as you keep breathing, you’re good!

Count
One thing I do count is stairs.  When you meditate, you have the option of putting yourself in a quiet, centered, peaceful state with the intention of just being in the present moment.  If that’s your goal, you won’t need to count; just breathe.  But usually when I meditate, it’s with the goal of connecting with spirit guides, my higher self, angels, Source, or a deceased person.  In that case I have to raise my frequency, or my vibration.  To do that, I select a metaphorical way of climbing: stairs, an escalator, or an elevator if I’m in a hurry.  I prefer the stairs though.  So while I’m doing my meditative deep breathing, I am counting the stairs as I go up them.  This keeps my mind from wandering as I have to focus on the count to get it right.  If I’m in an elevator I watch the buttons light up from 1 to 100 and keep count of them as I go.  It accomplishes the same thing.  When I use an escalator I count to 10 while I’m on the escalator and then stop off of that one and onto another one that takes me still higher for another count of 10.  It all accomplishes the same goal and keeps my mind from wandering.

Guided meditation
Another way to keep your mind on your meditation is to listen to a guided meditation program.  In these programs someone else is telling you where you are, what you see, what you hear and feel, etc.  As you listen and concentrate on what they’re saying, you won’t have time for distractions.  Guided meditations are great when you’re just starting out and aren’t sure where to go in your mind.  Later you can create your own meditation ritual with your own locales, scenes, and sounds.

Acknowledge the thoughts and let them go
Even with a lot of practice you can still end up with the random thought passing through your mind while trying to meditate.  That’s okay.  Don’t beat yourself up about it.  Let the thought come, acknowledge it, and then let it go.  Get right back to what you were doing, you don’t need to start over.  If you try too hard to prevent thoughts from coming in, you won’t be relaxed enough to meditate or reach a higher vibration. 

***

Meditation is a wonderful tool you can use to bring peace to your life or to connect with your spirit guides, higher self, angels, and even Source.  Don’t let distracting thoughts stop you from learning to meditate.  Just learn how to handle them when they appear.  With practice you’ll find yourself getting less and less distracted and more and more in tune.

You see, when you meditate to the point where your mind is totally silent, you’re actually blocking communication with your guides.  It’s like they look down and say, “Shh, she’s meditating.  Everyone be quiet.”  It’s like putting a Do Not Disturb sign on your door.  They respect your space, your silence.

There’s nothing wrong with meditating to find your center, in total peace and quiet, with your mind totally blank, but it’s not a good tool for communication with your guides.  The goal is not to quiet your mind but to open it, to expand it, to prepare it to receive higher frequency communication.  But what of stray thoughts that threaten to derail you?  We’ll take care of those nasty buggers in a minute.

When you first begin meditating it’s quite common for unwanted thoughts to enter your mind.  “Did I feed the cat yet?”  “How am I going to get that proposal done by tomorrow?”  “I think I’ll make tofu tonight for dinner.”  And on and on it goes.  It’s like you’ve got a personal secretary in your mind running through your To Do list.  The goal is to move past these thoughts, to give your mind something else to think about.

Guided meditation is the way to achieve this.  With a guided meditation you are focusing your mind instead of quieting it.  You’re focusing on raising your vibration so you no longer hear the chatter of your day to day concerns.   You leave the ego behind and step into your super consciousness.

A guided meditation is usually sort of allegorical.  “You’re walking along a beach and you see a sea shell.  You hold it up to your ear and you can hear the whooshing sounds of the ocean.  You lay down on the warm sand and feel the heat of the sun on your body.  You look out upon the glistening waves crashing on the shore.  You smell the salt in the air.”  What this does is to get you out of your daily thoughts and into your sensory thoughts.  From there, it’s a short step to connecting with conscious energies, also known as, your guides.

You can buy a guided meditation CD, download one onto your Ipod, or you can have a partner guide you through the meditation.  You can even guide yourself.  Put on some relaxation or meditation music and guide yourself through a scene.  Maybe you’re in a garden examining the foliage and flowers with all your senses.  Maybe you’re walking through a forest when you come upon a cottage.  Or maybe you’re flying through the sky with an eagle as your guide.  The sky’s the limit, really, since this is all happening in your mind.

Once you’ve successfully disconnected from your ego and the day to day task list, it’s time to invite your guides to come speak with you.  Find a comfy spot in your “world” and invite them to come sit with you.  Maybe one guide will show up, maybe five will come.  Maybe you’ll see an animal, or maybe you’ll see a deceased relative.  Maybe your higher self will show up or maybe your 5-year-old self will make an appearance.  Start chatting.

Yes, at first it’s going to feel like you’re talking to yourself.  That’s fine.  Just keep going.  “Imagine” the whole conversation if that’s the frame you need to have.  As you keep going, though, I think you’ll find that the communication gets deeper and stronger.  Soon, what they are saying to you will not feel like it’s coming from your own mind, but someone else’s.  Maintain the connection as long as you can.  When you’re done, say goodbye, and slowly bring your mind back to the present. 

I personally love guided meditations, especially when someone else is guiding me through them.  I can just free my mind instead of being a slave to my daily thoughts.

Give it a try on your own and see what results you get.  At the very least you’ll be relaxed and vibrating at a higher frequency than before.  At best, you’ll get wisdom and insights from your guides that will help you navigate your way through your life maze.  Keep trying different methods until you find the one that works best for you.