People who have tried Meditation, and most of us have, would say the problems we have are distraction or falling asleep.

So what are we trying to do in Meditation? 

I would suggest we are trying to communicate with our spirit. That means primarily listening to the quiet voice of our spiritual selves.

Distraction
The difficulty we have is that our chatterbox mind wants to bring up worries, preoccupations and even just random thoughts to get our attention. It is similar to a child constantly trying to get our attention.

The challenge we have is to build up our concentration to the point where we can quieten the mind for long enough to hear what our spirit is saying to us.

Meditation and Yoga are practices that that have been around for thousands of years. I have heard that Yoga was developed as a preparation routine for Meditation.

That would mean that our Body has a part to play in the process of Meditation. The exercises in Yoga are designed to stretch and discipline certain muscle groups to make them more relaxed and receptive.

That should wake us to be more receptive to meditation but it is also likely to make us receptive to sleep,

Falling Asleep

Many people carry such deep levels of fatigue that their body will take any opportunity to fall asleep.

You may find sitting in the traditional meditation posture with crossed legs under you uncomfortable enough keep you awake. However, does it help with meditation?

And is it necessary?

Maybe a better way is having something external to keep you focussed on as part of your meditation. This could be a recording of music or someone speaking soothingly or chanting.  However this doesn’t guarantee you wont fall asleep.

Some spiritual teachers say it doesn’t matter if you fall asleep because you are still receiving the beneficial input and it is putting you in a receptive state.

Or it could help to read a text or quotation before you start and you keep bringing yourself back to it in your thoughts. This can result in a half-asleep state where you can still control your thoughts to some extent. Is this meditation?

Another key ingredient I find helpful is to have a meditation ritual. That would behaving a particular place and procedure to accompany your meditation procedure. This can include music, perfume, joss sticks or gongs.

Some people report that they cant remember what they thought or where they went during meditation, but they felt better for doing it.  A good feeling of having changed your state of consciousness or awareness is a key indication of successful meditation.