Meditation is an incredible tool capable of bringing peace of mind and creating solace in our hearts during challenging times. It has been used since ancient times to facilitate human connection to a source that we have felt to be unreachable.

There are many forms of meditation. I feel that meditation happens when we sit silently in a garden in the presence of nature or when we are perfectly still in the silence of prayer. Meditation gives us the opportunity to understand ourselves better as it is within us that we find what we are seeking to make our lives happy.

Oddly enough, men and women meditate in different ways. Women may sit in a bath with candles, essential oils and soothing music to create a calm environment within themselves. Men, on the other hand, literally get away from it all and go fishing. When they journey out into the water and sit in their boats, waiting for the fish to bite, the time spent on the water is a form of calming the mind and soothing the spirit.

I feel that any repetitive activity that creates calm within is a form of meditation.

From this calm of meditation comes control of the mind and ease in visualizing our goals. Being calm in our mind gives us the power of intense focus. This intense focus give us so much opportunity to figure it all out. In addition, visualization during meditation is an incredible way to use our imagination to affect healing in our bodies. Many have used meditation to travel into past lives, balance their chakras and connect with inner guidance.

The easiest way to meditate is to sit comfortably in a quiet place. Use music if it works for you. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Make it a game. Feel your breath enter through your mouth and leave your nostrils. Keep focusing and allow your body to relax. Soon you will feel weightlessness. I encourage you to set your intention before you enter into meditation. Is it mental quiet that you seek? or connection to your heart? or maybe it is to fall through time and visit a past life?

A complaint I have heard, time and again, is that most people find it a challenge to keep the mind still. Thoughts seem to fill their heads faster than they are able to remove them. My solution is to allow your thoughts to flow. Watch your thoughts flow through your mind and then watch them disappear in the distance. If you do not fight the thoughts flowing through your mind, you will achieve stillness much faster.

Remember, your ability to meditate will become easier with time. It takes some work at the beginning so dont feel discouraged right away. Simply begin with a basic grounding meditation and soon enough you will find yourself on the path to inner peace.

To listen to a free snippet of such a meditation, http://www.soniahaynes.com/page/page/2433134.htm