1.   Over time you become less reactive. “Oh, my God! Did you see the way that guy cut me off? Holy cow! I coulda been killed!” Huge adrenaline rush. Bad for blood pressure.

2.   Over time, you become more responsive. “Hmm. That guy is gonna cut right in front of me. I’d better slow down so I don’t plow into him.” You get where you’re going far more relaxed and able to enjoy the party.

3.   The groups you participate in become more mellow. Violence in your  neighborhood decreases. Really! Experiments were done with 1% of the population using a number of US cities.

4.   Blood pressure goes down.

5.   Heart disease probability decreases by about 80%.

6.   Cancer probability decreases by about 50%.

7.   Hot flashes associated with menopause decrease by 90% in people who meditate twice a day for 20 minutes.

8.   You stay younger (with yoga in the mix, you grow younger).

9.   You sleep better.

10. If you have chronic pain, it decreases.

11. Overall, your life is healthier and more fun.

12. Meditation can be a doorway to psychic abilities as well, but that’s a whole other booklet.

1. Just Breathe: Become aware of each exhalation and each inhalation. Pay attention to how the air feels as it enters your nostrils, fills your lungs and leaves again. That’s all. Just give all of your attention to your breath and all of the sensations of breathing.

2. Contemplate Your Center: You can begin by paying attention to your breath. Then, gently, let the breath carry you deeper and deeper inside yourself. The deeper you go, the less external stimuli will disturb you. Little by little you will come to a place deep inside yourself where you can rest.

3. Contemplate an External Object: Prepare for this ahead of time by choosing some natural object. Perhaps a piece of driftwood, a feather or stone draws your attention next time you’re out walking. Bring it home and use it for this meditation. You could also use a lighted candle. Place your chosen item where you can see it easily from where you are sitting and where it is not surrounded by distracting clutter.

    You could also hold it in your hands. Observe every detail: color, pattern, personality. Imagine that you love this object. Imagine your heart reaching out to embrace it, to caress it. Imagine that it is actually inside your heart, at the core of your being. Imagine it loves you back. You may find that your eyes lose their sharp focus after a while and want to close. That’s fine. Just continue to hold the image of the object in your mind’s eye.

4. Mindfulness: The aim of this meditation is to be always present in this moment, right now, without the intrusion of emotions surrounding events from the past or anticipation of future emotion. Embark upon a chore, like cooking, or cleaning, or checking the spark plugs. The trick is to think about each dish or spark plug individually and pay attention to every step in the completion of the task without thinking ahead to the next chore on the list, or back to the concert last Saturday. This moment is precious. This meditation helps you experience it fully.

5. Music: Play soothing, beautiful music that speaks to you. Sit quietly and give all of your attention to the music. Be aware of the way your inner self responds to the music.

6. Movement & Music: Play soothing, beautiful music that speaks to you in a space with some room for movement. Sit or stand in the middle of the space and close your eyes while you listen. Don’t feel obligated to move, just listen until you feel some part of your body want to move. Perhaps you will begin to sway gently, or a hand might lift in a graceful arc. Your body wants to be graceful and move joyfully to the music. Be sure to open your eyes once the feet get involved.

7. Expanding Sensual Awareness: Find an isolated but beautiful place to sit and be still. I particularly like to be in nature for this. Begin by paying attention to the breath until you feel centered and at peace. Expand your awareness to include the sounds your breath makes, the sounds around you. Be aware of every sound you hear, but don’t let your attention focus on any one sound. Allow them all to be equally important whether you hear the crackle of a worm dislodging a dry leaf, or the scolding of a squirrel in the tree above your head. One at a time, expand your awareness further to include the other senses (touch, sight, smell and, even, taste) until you are maintaining awareness of all of them at once.

8. Breath Walk: In this meditation you link the rhythm of your breath to the rhythm of your walk. After getting centered using the breathing meditation, rise and begin walking slowly. Make your inhalation last four steps and make your exhalation last four steps (or two or three). This meditation concentrates the mind amazingly.

9. Nada Yoga (Toning): As the physicists have proven, all existence is vibration. Each of us has at our core our own unique vibration. The trick to a fulfilling life is to bring that vibration out. We can literally change the world this way. Get centered using the breathing meditation, and then begin listening, or feeling, for your unique vibration. Call it up from deep within you and begin to hum it (if you’re not sure, fake it). As it grows stronger begin to sing it using a vowel sound like, “ahhhhh,” or “eeeeeeeeee,” “ohhhh,” “oooooo,” or … whatever moves in you. When you feel like it, fall silent and pay attention to the way you now feel the vibration in your body.

1.   Assess your lifestyle. Where is there time (and quiet) that you could use differently? Then schedule the time right into your calendar.

2.   Assess your personality style. Can you to sit quietly? Do you need to move or is silence an irritant?

3.   Experiment with a variety of meditation techniques (a number are suggested in this booklet) and see which one(s) works best for you.

4.   Make a commitment to yourself. Regard it as seriously as you regard any promise you make to another person. If you tend to break promises, take this more seriously. Remember, any broken promise weakens you whether it is to someone else or to yourself.

5.   Create a place for meditation. Do you already have a quiet comfortable corner or do you need to claim one? Make your space beautiful and soothing to you.

6.   Begin with a minimum of five minutes per day of just sitting still and paying attention to your breath. If you get distracted easily, simply acknowledge the distraction, set it aside and bring your attention back to your breathing (or whatever you are concentrating on). A day will come when you lose track of the time and when you wonder how much longer you have to go, you’ll find it’s been ten or twenty minutes.

7.   If you have trouble settling down, give yourself five minutes in which to groan, and really ham it up. Imagine the groan comes up from the soles of your feet. Your household will get used to it. Warn them before the first time. When the groaning stops, pay attention to how you feel. Has it changed? Now, go back to sitting quietly with your attention on your breath.

8.   If you forget to meditate one day, let it strengthen your resolve rather than be an excuse not to keep it up.

9.   If you are concerned you might meditate for too long and forget to pick the kids up or go to work, you can set a kitchen timer or your own internal timer. To set your internal timer: as you begin paying attention to your breath, repeat to yourself a few times, “I will wake in 20 minutes energized and ready to meet my obligations,” or some such thing. Your subconscious will bring you to normal consciousness at the appropriate time.

10. Be gentle with yourself. An important key is consistency in tandem with compassion for yourself. Make an effort every day, but don’t beat yourself up if you feel you have not “performed” well. Meditation is not about performance. It is a practice like brushing your teeth.