[jbsmith]

WIth over 7 years of meditation under my belt, here are some tips you can perhaps use to improve your meditation sessions...

1. I cannot listen to guided meditations - for me the voice is too distracting. I am better with silence or better yet with relaxation CD's (especially repetitive water, ocean or forest nature sounds). I do not pretend this will work for everyone, but for me it makes a big difference what is going on in the background.

2. As was mentioned by others - initial sessions (perhaps even for over 1-month) can be quite chaotic, each day different than the next. It takes a rather giant leap of faith to keep going and not give in to the seeming futility of it all - but little by little you are training your mind to focus.

3. Try heading into your mindset by acknowledging that this is YOUR time - this is time that nobody else (no matter what is going on in the world) can take away from you. It helps to value this time highly.

4. I've found that very intense focusing for the first 5-minutes can give way to completely giving yourself to the moment in the next minutes - when you get to this state it is sheer bliss. Even better, once you get into the habit, it becomes easier and easier to place yourself in that state. It is now possible for me to do it in just a minute or so no matter where I am.

The benefits of sticking with it are incredible. I used to have MAJOR digestive problems, after about 6-months of daily meditation I haven't had these problems for almost 6-years - this was chronic problems for almost 20-years overcome in just a few months.

Lots of other benefits too...

Good luck.