Introspection 101 - Meditation 2

Meditation is simple although somewhat time consuming. Sit on the ground cross-legged or in a chair (the way you are sitting isn't supremely important although it shouldn't be a position that you can fall asleep in) "Meditating in a darkened room presents fundamental physiological problems. When you sit quietly with your eyes closed in darkness, your brain interprets this situation as a signal to start shutting itself down for sleep. Sleep inducing hormones such as melatonin are released at the same time your heart rate and circulation are reduced due to lack of movement. You feel swept away on a sea of quiet relaxation. This pleasant experience may be light sleep state hypnosis, not meditation at all, and thus does you little more good than taking a nap. Meditation means that you are relaxed as if sleeping, but your consciousness is fully and intensely awake. Therefore, if you meditate with your eyes closed, the room must remain brightly lit, so that a significant amount of light passes through the eyelids." Find a place that is comfortable (causing yourself discomfort isn't really useful) and make sure you won't fall asleep. Next empty your mind, take each thought or stressor and set it aside, don't push it out of your mind just let go of it. Simply think of nothing and stay like that for a long period of time, gently setting aside random thoughts that enter your consiousness. It's easy to loose track of time when you're meditation so if you need to you can have an alarm set to tell you when it's time to stop.