I talk about meditation quite abit. The reason I do is that I have found it has changed my life in so many ways. When I first tried to meditate I found it a really hard thing to do - I thought that it was a special thing that only certain people could do. Then I received an email from a white witch in Canada  that changed my life.... Here is a step by step guide on how to meditate for the impatient person.... rest well friends.

1. Get yourself comfy - either laying down, sitting up - whatever.. but make sure you are nice and comfy and relaxed with no destractions - take the phone off the hook, turn off your mobile phone and pc, send the kids out for an hour and make sure the pets are fully fed and sleeping....done? ok then we can begin.....

2. I find it nice to meditate to music - everyone has got their own chillin choons .. you dont have to go mad and spend cash on "meditation" music, whatever chills you out will do. Stick on ya chillin cd and assume comfy position - I tend to sit cross legged on floor.

3. Listen to your breathing. In. Out. In. Out. Send your breathing to a slower rate and notice how this feels. Listen to your breathing but do not act upon your breathing. By this I mean its no use thinking" breath in" and then breathing in. You need to learn how to listen to your breathing without reacting to it if you see what I mean. This part is the most tricky part of meditation but I promise you that it is over come with perseverence and am available for coaching via messenger (see contact page for details).

4. Once you are aware of the fact that you are listening to your breathing but not making yourself breath, imagine a ball of light glowing in your stomach and on each breath in make this ball of light grow in size - hold the position as you exhale - then expand again - like you were filling up a balloon. Blow up this light from your stomach until it envelops you. Everyone has a different visualisation colour for this .. mine is like an electric cobalt blue but another person may have a striking peach colour as their colour. This colour you may see when you do this visualisation is your energy. Surround yourself with your energy and then if you like and feel strong enough you can try extending the bubble of light around your house/family/friends/town/county/country/world/universe......

5. You are now meditating. If at any time you lose your place or are disturbed by something - take your meditation back to step 3.

6. Now practice drawing in energy from the universe. Following the same theory as in step 4, instead of imagining a ball growing from your stomach .. imagine that energy is pouring into your head. For me this is always a white/silver/gold colour but it may be different for different people. On each breath in imagine this light pouring down into the crown of your head and feel it travelling down through your body to your stomach. On each outward breath imagine that you are sending this external energy out .. a bit like imagining an atom bomb going off .. only the explosion is one of love and not of nasty radtioactive stuff....

7. As you are nearing the end of your meditation, imagine energy flowing through you and into the ground. Imagine the energy curling around stones and roots in the soil beneath your feet and feel grounded. I often laugh at this point and have an overwhelming desire to lay on the floor as if hugging the world.

8. In this place, this meditative state, many things can happen if you so choose. Some people may wish to contact spirit guides, others may simply wish to feel centred and whole, others may wish to heal and others may wish to use this as a tool for creative outlet. It doesnt really matter but using these techniques offer one very important gain .. meditation is spending serious time on yourself and that is something that everyone could do with.

9. If at any time this feels like hard work then STOP. Don't stress or panic about it. Take each step one at a time because each step is as relevant and important in their own entirity as the experience as a whole. If at anytime you reach a state that you find uncomfortable then simply bring yourself back out of the state by listening to your breathing. It is always advisable to drink plenty of water but especially after a meditation as it can help flush toxins through. Meditation is not an indulgance but I think a necessity for the western world to adopt as our lives become increasingly more busy. We have only to observe eastern cultures who manage to operate a high-tech existance in complete harmony with ancient practices such as Tai Chi etc. to be inspired how to integrate meditation into our every day lives....

I often meditate holding a stone or crystal. It can make the step where you listen to your breathing a little easier because all your attention is turned to the object you are holding. If you choose a crystal then use your instinct to guide you in your choice as I believe we will all choose a rock that has something positive for us. Other people may choose to look at a view and meditate or to study a mandala or recite a mantra. Others may set up a ritualistic alter complete with incense but really whatever floats your boat. I meditated to banging drum and bass on saturday with my eyes shut and legs crossed holding nothing except an amazing close eye visual as my focus...

Something that has occured to me whilst meditating under the influence of psycho-active drugs is that the human brain works best when there is a sense of order amongst a sense of chaos. I love Mandala's for their simplicity but their complexity, their symmetry and their focussing power. Mandala's dont have to be pictatorial but can be lyrical or even found in the landscape .. what is a stone circle complex if it is not a grand Mandala on the ground? Why not have a surf and look at some of the patterns that you find. Notice similarities between crop circles, mandala's, old cultures sacred art work etc particulary celtic knot work. Observe Nature and her own Mandala's... :-) have fun and rest well when you need to.

Love Fly xxxxxx