Object meditation is an extremely popular form of meditation, but it is also the one type of meditation that causes more trouble than any of the others and this trouble stems from the selection of the object used as the focus of your meditation.

Each meditation exercise that you perform will have a goal. You may, for example, be having trouble sleeping and decide to meditate before going to bed with the objective of falling asleep shortly after your head hits the pillow. Alternatively, you may decide to meditate before leaving home and heading off to work for a meeting with your boss who frightens the life out of you. In this case the object of your meditation might be to give you the strength and confidence to face this particular meeting.

In both cases you should try to pick an object that is associated with the goal of your meditation and so here you might choose something like a picture of waves lapping onto a tropical beach at sunset and an iron or steel rod.

So far so good. However, at this point, you also have to be very careful that the object which you choose doesn't conjure up images that are likely to intrude into your meditation. This is especially true where the images that are likely to appear are negative in nature. For example, if your boyfriend dumped you during a beach party on a holiday to Hawaii then picturing a tropical beach at sunset is probably not a good idea when you are trying to relax in preparation for bed.

Think carefully about the object, real or imaginary, that you wish to use as the focus of your meditation and then try the following exercise.

Choose a comfortable pose and start your meditation exercise with a series of deep, relaxing breaths.

If your chosen object is in your line of sight, you can keep your eyes open but, if the object is being visualized, you should close your eyes and bring the object or scene into your mind's eye.

Take a moment to observe your emotional reaction to the object, if any. If at this point thoughts or associations threaten to interfere with your meditation then simply acknowledge them and then brush them to one side.

Continue to return your concentration to the object itself and observe the image closely, noticing any changes in the object. Does it, for example, change size, orientation or color as you observe it? Let your imagination go to work at this point, but keep your focus on your chosen object.

As you continue your meditation notice how various changes to the object, which are being created within your imagination, make you feel.

Once you feel yourself calm and relaxed you are ready to end your meditation and, at this point, you should simply dismiss the object and return to concentrating on your breathing as you slowly bring the other objects around you back into your vision and regain an awareness of just where you are.

Finish by stretching slowly before getting up.

Donald Saunders is the author of a number of health-related publications discussing the problems of sleep and giving detailed advice on using such things as daily meditation to help in curing insomnia. For more information about daily meditation please visit Help-Me-To-Sleep.com

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