Deoending on what media you pay attention to, this might be old news to you. For those who are a little freaked out when the subject of meditation comes up, however, I am here to tell you that engaging in a simple, consistent meditation practice does not make you a weirdo!

Some of the hangups about meditation have to do with our pre-conceived notions about who meditators are and what meditation looks like when it’s happening. Images of pretzel-shaped, shaved-head, orange-robed men sitting on a floor in India somewhere often come to peoples’ minds. Or, how about the bearded Asian guy ensconced in a cave in the Himalayas, drinking tea made with yak butter? Or the lady you met in your Adult Ed art class who wore the flowing robes, sandals in the middle of winter, and was always talking about how her Spirit Guides told her that Burnt Sienna with Salmon and Turquoise accents were the colors she needed to paint her house in order to sell it quick..to high-vibration, ascended people, of course?

These kinds of stereotypes serve as a barrier to our really looking into what meditation is and how it can be useful to everyone. Today, I’d just like to show you ONE (of so, SO many) meditation techniques. I won’t even bother giving it a name, since variations of it are all over the place anyway, and no one can really agree on who invented what style first. If you are newcomer, it really doesn’t matter anyway…it’s just important to at least give it a try. So here’s the technique:

Get yourself in a darkened (not pitch black, but not so bright that you’re affected by moving shadows or bright light filtering through your closed eyes). UNPLUG the phone (or at least the ringer on the extension in your room, if other people are at home and need the phone), put the cat or dog out, and dispense of any flying insects.

Get a small timer…I use a digital kitchen timer that doesn’t tick like a windup one, and have that ready at hand. If this is your first time, I would suggest you set the timer for simply five minutes. Every time you meditate, set it for one additional minute. If you meditate five days a week, you’ll be up to twenty minutes a session in two weeks…easy!

Sit up straight in a chair, with your legs uncrossed and feet on the floor. Use firm pillows to support your back, if needed. I have a comfy, if unusual-looking, setup where I use one of those canvas folding chairs (people use them at picnics and sporting events), and put a wedge-shaped pillow with the tailbone part cut out on the seat, one firm throwpillow behind my back, and its double on my lap, to rest my forearms on. You do NOT have to sit on the floor, and you don’t have to kneel on a bench, either! The whole point of these positions is just to align the body so it is easy to breathe and remain still.

It doesn’t really matter what you do with your hands…for now, experiment with what feels good to you. Folded, unfolded, open, closed; later on, you can experiment with different positions or get very fancy using hand mudras to obtain particular effects and flows of energy.

So, you’re now sitting comfortably and still. Turn your timer on, close your eyes, put your tongue on the roof of your mouth, and breathe through your nose only. For now, just concentrate on the sensation of breath going in and out of your nose. Don’t bother counting breaths or repeating mantras right now, just concentrate on that sensation of breath coming in and breath going out.

Keep doing that until your timer goes off! You will be surprised at how on some days the time will seem to crawl, and other days it will fly by. Your thoughts will definitely intrude, and you will forget what it is you were supposed to be doing, but just return to the breath. Sometimes you will feel incredible internal “kicks” to get up, move around, sneeze, or otherwise stop or interrupt the process. Some days you will act on these kicks before you even realize what you’re doing, but as you get used to them, you’ll be able to notice them coming, being intense for a little while, and then gradually fading away. When that happens, you’ll know you are truly a meditator.

Meditators come from all walks of life, from all over the world and from every historical period. Meditation can be used to complement your spiritual practice (as I’ve heard said, “Prayer is talking to God, meditation is listening to God”), or can be used simply as a free, postive tool for mental and physical wellness with no spiritual purpose at all.

Give it a try. And welcome to the club!