• Four Elements Basic To Traditional Meditation
• Simple Meditation
• Walking Meditation
• Transcendental Meditation
• Mindfulness (Vipassana)
• Journey Meditation
• Vibrational Meditation
• Movement Meditation
• Body Scan Meditation
• The Instant Calming Sequence
• Five Meditation Steps
• Taoist Meditation Methods
• Taoist Meditation: Microcosmic Orbit Meditation

Meditation is one of the proven alternative therapies. It can be broadly classified under the mind-body medicine.

More and more doctors are prescribing meditation as a way to lower blood pressure, improve exercise performance in people with angina, help people with asthma breathe easier, relieve insomnia and generally relax the everyday stresses of life. Meditation is a safe and simple way to balance a person's physical, emotional, and mental states. It is simple; but can benefit everybody.

The use of Meditation for healing is not new. Meditative techniques are the product of diverse cultures and peoples around the world. It has been rooted in the traditions of the world's great religions. In fact, practically all religious groups practice meditation in one form or another. The value of Meditation to alleviate suffering and promote healing has been known and practiced for thousands of years.

It has been scientifically shown that meditation works. We, at World Welfare Mission, take great pride in providing this in-depth treatment of Meditation. As always, we invite your comments. Or, perhaps, you may have information you want to share with the fellow readers. Please email your response @ krishnawwm@yahoo.co.in

Diagnosis, Prescription, Warnings and Precautions

Each aspect of meditation has its powers of healing; many have specific uses and, unquestionably, particular dangers and drawbacks for certain individuals. The diagnosis and prescription of meditative practices for the many varieties of ailments is an art that has received far less attention than it deserves

In general, concentrative practices should be avoided by individuals whose reality-testing function is poor, who are strongly paranoid, or who are likely to develop delusions of grandeur from the altered states of consciousness that these practices tend to produce. People with overwhelming anxiety should probably avoid insight meditations, in which the anxiety level can reach intolerable proportions. Long periods of meditative practice (as in contemplative meditation) may precipitate psychotic episodes in susceptible individuals.

Probably the safest course for those in the healing professions is to experiment with meditation practices for themselves, and then to share with participants and friends only those which they thoroughly understand. Also, in monitoring the meditation practices, the professional should bring to bear all the available tools available in evaluating the gain or the danger, regardless of the exotic or "sacred" origin of the techniques being studied. In the Bhagavad-Gita , Krishna gives Arjuna some timeless advice that is relevant here: "Fear not, Arjuna, for what is Real always was and always will be, and what is not Real never was and never will be."

MEDITATION TECHNIQUES

There are many meditation techniques (more than 20 to 25, all meditation techniques are not for every one, practice in proper guidance, practice only those which suits your mind and body). Some of the techniques are quite simple and can be picked up with a little practice. Others require training by an experienced instructor. We will cover some of the simple techniques to get started. Please note that because of the effects of meditation on repressed memories and the psychological impact, you may go through some discomfort initially; hence it is always a good idea to be under the care of a qualified practitioner as you start your meditation. (See the section on Warnings and Precautions).

In Christian spiritual training, meditation means thinking with concentration about some topic. In the Eastern sense, meditation may be viewed as the opposite of thinking about a topic. Here the objective is to become detached from thoughts and images and opening up silent gaps between them. The result is a quietening of our mind and is sometimes called relaxation response. In Christian mystical practice, this practice is called 'contemplation'.

When we look at the basic psychological procedure at the heart of Eastern meditation Christian contemplation, we can understand why the following activities are relaxing

• Prayer
• Lying back and listening to music on radio or record player
• Focusing attention, while sitting still, on a fishing rod float; rapt gazing at a loved/respected person, object, or scene
• Fireside contemplation.

All these activities and many more, involve staying still and passive attention to something.