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Discover a tried and tested way for you to achieve happiness in 2006.
Imagine being happy all the time. How would your life be different if you were happy all the time? All of us want to be happy. In fact in most polls people say that they want peace and happiness more than anything else in the world....

Mindfulness and Contemplation: New Ways to Navel Gaze
There's been a lot of talk about navels in our house lately. You see, my youngest daughter is asking to get hers pierced, and we are saying no--for now. So, naturally, I have been noticing navels more than usual. The term "navel-gazing" means...

Nothing Ever Stays The Same
Nothing ever stays the same. On the one hand we despise change yet on the other we don't want to stagnate and become boring. Yet our habits keep us locked into a course of action day after day, year after year. The way we think, the way we...

Start a New Career
After coaching hundreds of people on how to break free from the corporate world, I have created 7 fundamental practices to help you successfully start a new career. I share them with you here. 1. Center Yourself When you are trying to...

The Gift My Brother Couldn't Give
The Gift My Brother Couldn't Give (from the book A Heartland Christmas Collection) Gary Anderson www.abciowa.com In the first years after my brothers, sister, and I left home, there were several Christmases in which our ability to give fell far...

 
Meditation - Advice for the beginner

Maybe you've heard about the wonderful benefits of meditation; "It will relax you, center your thoughts, allow you to escape from your stressful day". Why wouldn't you want to take part in such an activity?
The truth is - most people never reap the considerable rewards that a quality meditation session can offer. After a few unsuccessful attempts, these individuals give up and conclude "meditation doesn't work". If you don't believe meditation can work for you, I'd like to offer you a bit of perspective via the following exercise:
Go to a music store that sells pianos (if you can play piano, substitute this instrument with one you've never played before). Sit down at a piano and play some beautiful music. What, you can't......? But I've heard that a person can play beautiful music on a piano. Maybe try a few more times. No doubt, if after three or four attempts you are not producing exquisite sounds from this instrument, you will come to the conclusion that "pianos don't work".
We all know that the piano is capable of producing music, so why are you not able to get it to work? It's because, in order to play the piano successfully, you must take the time to learn how to the instrument works, and then spend many hours practicing.
Meditation is not a practice that will "work" the first time you try it. It took you awhile to learn how to ride a bike. You probably couldn't catch a ball the first time you tried. Most likely, your first few meditation sessions won't be very successful either. Instead of giving up, read some literature on meditation, research the subject on websites, and try to practice once a day for a month. Your local library probably has some meditation audio recordings or videos that you can borrow. Try a variety of meditations to find an approach that works well for you. With a bit of effort, you will get results from your meditation sessions.
About the Author
Mark Altman is the webmaster of http://www.soundsleeping.com>www.soundsleeping.com, a website containing free relaxing music, sleep-aids, stress reducing tools, relaxation advice, and an active discussion.