Meditation Techniques

The Benefits of Meditation and Mindfulness for Youth Mental Health

Meditation and mindfulness have become increasingly recognized as effective tools for enhancing mental health, particularly among youth. These practices offer a range of benefits that can help young people navigate the complexities of adolescence, manage stress, and build resilience.

Below are several guided meditation exercises designed for youth workers to use with the young people they support. These exercises aim to address different situations and promote a sense of peace, belonging, and emotional balance.

By integrating these meditation practices into their routines, youth can cultivate a sense of peace, develop coping mechanisms for stress, and foster a deeper connection to themselves and the world around them. This holistic approach to mental well-being can support their growth into emotionally balanced and resilient individuals.

Why Meditation and Mindfulness matter for Youth:

1. Stress Reduction:
The constant barrage of crises—from pandemics to climate emergencies—has led to heightened stress levels among youth. Meditation and mindfulness can help alleviate this by calming the mind and body, reducing the physiological effects of chronic stress. This makes it easier for young people to cope with the overwhelming challenges they face daily.

2. Emotional Regulation:
Anxiety and depression are increasingly common among youth grappling with economic instability, social upheaval, and global conflicts. Mindfulness teaches young people to observe their thoughts and emotions without immediate reaction, fostering greater emotional control. This can be particularly beneficial in managing intense emotions linked to these complex issues.

3. Enhanced Focus:
With the proliferation of distressing news and the pressures of a volatile world, maintaining focus can be difficult for today’s youth. Meditation improves concentration and attention span, enabling them to remain engaged in their academic and personal pursuits despite external distractions and uncertainties.

4. Increased Self-Awareness:
Mindfulness encourages self-reflection, helping youth to gain insights into their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This self-awareness is crucial in developing healthier coping mechanisms and making informed decisions amidst the confusion and unpredictability of current global challenges.

5. Improved Relationships:
The strain from societal issues can take a toll on personal relationships. Meditation fosters empathy and compassion, allowing young people to build stronger connections with others. This sense of community and belonging can provide emotional support and a buffer against the isolation often felt in today’s fragmented world.

What is Meditation and Why Should I practice it?

The Power of Mantra, Chakra and Visualisation

Chakras are powerful subcenters of the mind which are linked to important hormone-secreting glands such as the pituitary gland controlled by the third Eye chakra and the thymus gland controlled by the heart chakra. Focusing on the chakras facilitates deeper states of meditation. Mantras are powerful sounds that help awaken our consciousness. The meaning of the mantra simplifies the spiritual goal of meditation into a single idea which is easy to remember and focus on. Visualization can be used to focus on what we want to realise or become – “As you think so you become”. When integrated together mantra, chakra, and visualization are a powerful basis for meditation.

Choose a chakra to meditate on, either the third eye point between your eyebrows or the heart chakra point in the center of your chest.
Visualize your chakra as a small point of light.
Bring a gentle attention to your chakra – not too hard not too soft.
Gently resist the restlessness of your mind by constantly returning to your chakra point
Now imagine your chakra point surrounded by an infinite ocean of love and light
Begin to repeat the phrase “Only love everywhere” as you hold this visualization
Gradually replace the English phrase with the mantra, “Baba Nam Kevalam”, “Baba Nam” as you inhale and, “Kevalam” as you exhale. The meaning of Baba Nam Kevalam is “Only Love Everywhere”.
When your mind wanders, keep returning to: the chakra point; the infinite ocean of love surrounding the point; and the mantra.

Like Harry Potter uses magic words to create a powerful spell the magical sound of the mantra awakens your consciousness.

The full yoga breath

Abdominal breathing activates the relaxation response.

Just as a jug of water fills up slowly from the bottom to the top imagine your lungs slowly filling up with air from the bottom to the top as you breathe in and imagine them emptying slowly from the top to the bottom as you breathe out.
It can be easier if you pretend your lungs are like a jug of water and visualize the water level rising and lowering as you breathe.
As you inhale first imagine your belly filling up.
Then imagine your chest filling up.
Then imagine the region from your chest to your shoulders filling up.
Then feel the top part of your lungs emptying.
Feel the middle part of your lungs emptying.
Feel your belly emptying.
Continue until you feel calm.
Stop if you feel dizzy.

Note: The process does not need to be exaggerated. It may lead to hyperventilation and dizziness. It is enough to pay attention to using the different parts of your lungs without over-inhaling or over-exhaling.

Synchronising body, mind and breath

Sometimes we feel out of focus, body and mind are not in sync with each other. This meditation combines walking, counting and breathing and is a great practice for getting the body in mind in sync with each other. Is also a useful gentle exercise for recovering your health after you have been sick. Finally it is calming for the mind.

Go for a walk at a comfortable normal speed.
Count your steps as you walk.
Count 1 to 4 as you breathe in.
Count 5 to 10 as you breathe out.
Stop if you feel dizzy.
Try it with mantra also.
For example Baba Nam Kevalam in four steps as you breathe in.
And Baba Nam Kevalam Baba Nam in six steps as you breathe out the ratio of four to six helps to come the mind and deepen your concentration.

Ujjayi Pranayama

This practice quickly triggers the relaxation response.

Concentrate in your throat.
Slightly tighten your throat so that you can hear the sound of your own breath.
The sound should be loud enough for you to hear but not loud enough for anyone else to hear unless they are very close to you.
Focus on the sound of your own breathing.

Focus on the space between the objects

Instead of focusing on objects, focus on the space between the objects, the space that holds the objects.
Objects come and go, here today and gone tomorrow. They are always changing and never permanent.
Objects are separate from each other. They are divided. The space which holds the objects, however, is always the same, it connects everything, it’s always there, it never changes, it’s eternal.
Practice shifting your focus from the objects you are seeing to the space which holds them several times back and forth until you get better at doing it.
Focus on yourself, then focus on the space around you, holding you, connecting you with everything.
Feel that the space which holds you is dissolving you like a soluble vitamin C tablet. You mix into that space and become part of it. Finally, you are that space.
Experiment with the thought “I am the space which holds everything”

The philosophical concept here is that that which is holding the space is awareness. And you are that awareness.

Shift your attention from form to substance

Focus on the atoms everything is made of;
Contemplate that objects are made of atoms, you are made of atoms, the air is made of atoms, everything is made of atoms;
Contemplate that atoms are 99.9% empty space;
Keep coming back to this idea as often as you can;
Notice what kind of effect it has on your awareness;
Does it bring a sense of space and freedom?
Does it help you feel more connected and a part of everything?

Forms divide and substance unites. If you have ten people or ten objects and focus on their differences you will experience separation. If you focus on what they have in common – that they are all human beings, that they are all made of atoms – you will experience unity. What do you have in common with a stone (or with anything else in the universe)? It exists and you exist. Meditate on this shared quality of existence.

Let go of limiting assumptions

When you think of yourself as a person (good person, bad person, white person, black person, etc.) you immediately limit yourself and separate yourself from others.
Try repeating the phrase, “I am not a person”. Does it help you feel more free?
Try repeating “I am not a person, I am energy”. You can try substituting “I am energy“ with other phrases such as “I am awareness, I am happiness, I am light, I am spirit, I am everything”.
Ideas and feelings like “energy, love, happiness, spirit and everything” don’t have any hard or narrow borders. Unlike “person”, they are borderless and free.

Questions that liberate

According to Yoga our essence, and the essence of everything, is undivided blissful consciousness. We separate ourselves from our essence, from each other, from God and from the universe by focusing on external shapes and forms, and treating them as the be all and end all of reality. One way to recapture the experience of oneness and limitlessness is to meditate on questions which undermine the assumptions ruling our day to day awareness. Here are some examples of meditation questions:

what would it feel like to have no history, no body, no personality – to be just awareness?
what would it feel like if there were no body, no time, no universe, no God – just light (remember the song “Imagine”)?
what would it feel like to be spirit?
what would it feel like to be immortal (undying)?
what would it feel like to be perfect?
what would it feel like to want nothing?
What would complete mental stillness feel like?
what would perfect concentration feel like?
what would it feel like to be omniscient permanently? (all knowing)
what would it feel like to be omnipresent permanently? (present everywhere, all the time)
what would it feel like if there were no words?
what if this is as good as it gets?
what am I?
what would it feel like to be a really nice guy/girl? 😉

As you think so you become. If you can imagine it you can become it. How daring is your imagination?

You are body, mind and spirit.

You are body, mind and spirit. The body and mind are limited and temporary. If you identify with them you limit yourself to something small and temporary. Try letting go of identifying with body, mind and thought objects. Instead, identify with spirit. Peel away the layers of separation.

Take the example of a necklace with many beads but one string running through them all. The bodies and minds of everyone are like the many different beads. Spirit is like the one string which runs through them all. Focus on the string, focus on spirit, and feel your connection with everything.

Focus in your heart chakra point in the center of your chest or the third eye point between your eyebrows and think of that point as your spirit. Hold your attention there as long as you can, feeling that this point is spirit.
When you open your eyes and talk to somebody, see if you can think of them as spirit also.

No universe, no body, no ego

One of the main problems in learning to meditate is being bothered by distractions. one way to deal with distractions is just to remind yourself “this is also god” the moment any distraction arises (if you’re not comfortable with the word god you could also say “light” or any other word that works for you. If you do this then somehow, each time a distraction arises, it reminds you of God. There is another way to deal with distractions. Distractions exist in some context – either the world, your body, or thoughts about yourself. By taking away the context that the distraction exists in you remove the distraction. Use negative visualization to remove the context of the distraction and then use positive visualization to replace that context with whatever it is that you want to meditate on.

Concentrate in your chakra point (between the eyebrows or in the center of the chest)
Imagine your chakra point surrounded by light and love
Repeat the mantra, phrase or word that you are meditating on e.g. “only love everywhere”
When distractions arise repeat and visualize the following:
- no universe – just love and light
- No body – just love and light
- no ego – just love and light
Then return to the mantra.

Cultivate a happy loving mindset

You become what you think about.
Repeat the word “Happiness” with your breath. Once as you inhale and once as you exhale.
- Try this for awhile. Then try adding adjectives such as “infinite, eternal, absolute, permanent”. Repeat the adjective (e.g. “infinite”) as you inhale and “happiness” as you exhale.

Expand

One of the things human beings need to feel happy is a sense of expansion. A narrow mind excludes others. An expanded mind includes others. To grow that feeling of expansion:

Meditate on the word “Infinity”. Repeat it with your breath. Once with every inbreath and once with every outbreath.
Don’t try to analyze it, just feel it.
As a variation try “Infinity” on the inbreath and “Eternity” on the outbreath.
As another variation try meditating on the question, “What would it feel like to be everywhere, all the time, permanently?

A simple way to be calm

Meditate on the word “Calm” with your breath. See where it takes you and how it makes you feel.

Meditate on “We”

The word “I” separates, the word “We” includes.
Most of the time we are unconsciously thinking “I”, “I”, “I”. This cuts us off and separates us. It makes us feel lonely and needy. ( Here we are talking about the small “I” of ego not the great “I” of awareness)
Try thinking of all the living beings in the universe and meditating on the word “We” and try remembering that word as often as you can during the day. It makes us feel connected and helps us feel that we belong.

According to yoga philosophy divine consciousness is the sum total of all individual consciousnesses. if you think like that God is not a he or she. God is we.

Letting go of names

Good and bad, right and wrong, stupid and smart, beautiful and ugly… all these divisions create pain, suffering and disappointment.
Imagine no names, no dualities. Or imagine only one name, for example “love”. Imagine what it would be like if there were only one name, one word.
Repeat that name with your breath. Whenever any other names or words or thoughts come up in your mind once again imagine that there are no other names except “love” and simply return to repeating “love” ( or “happiness”, “freedom”, “God” or whatever suits you). You can also repeat the mantra, “Baba Nam Kevalam”

I am not the doer

One type of yoga is called karma yoga. Karma yoga means the science of how to act without ego. When we do action with ego it causes a lot of stress and the quality of our action is affected by the limitations of our own intelligence (which, however intelligent you may be, is still very limited). If we can think of ourselves as a channel, however, for something greater than ourselves, for divine love or universal love, somehow the action will cause less stress, we will feel more energy, more spontaneity, and the action will acquire a deeper quality of wisdom. Here are some ways you can practice karma yoga:

Before any action think “I am not the doer”.
Imagine yourself is a channel for divine love.
Before any action imagine your action as a beautiful flower and offer that action to the Divine.
When you wake up in the morning think of the day ahead. Imagine it as a beautiful flower and offer the day.
When you are about to serve someone or some people think to yourself, “thank you god for coming to me in the form of this person/these people so I can serve you.
Before dealing with any object or person take a moment to imagine that the Divine has appeared to you in the form of this object or person.. You can repeat the mantra “Baba Nam Kevalam” or any other mantra or words that you feel appropriate.

According to yoga philosophy the world and everything in it are simply many different forms of divine expression. If we remember this we see magic meaning and beauty everywhere. We see the essence of things. If we forget this we see only objects and things and the world becomes mechanical, superficial and sometimes meaningless.

A meditation on balance

We are physical, mental and spiritual beings. To be happy we need to acknowledge this and properly balance and take care of all three. This meditation puts that idea in the form of an image – the image of the triangle. Yogis have meditated on the form of the triangle for thousands of years. The triangle is the most balanced and strong of all geometric figures. Meditating on it helps the mind to also become strong and balanced.

Visualize your chakra point which symbolizes the nucleus and essence of your being (you may use the heart chakra or the third eye chakra).
Imagine your chakra point in the centre of a beautiful triangle.
Contemplate the three aspects of your nature – physical, mental, and spiritual
As you hold this idea, repeat the word, “balance” with your breath
After some time try just holding the image without repeating anything

Hero’s journey meditation

There is a meditation based on the metaphor of the hero’s journey. It is a powerful way to connect with your inner hero and to explore the different stages of your own life journey.

To begin, find a comfortable place to sit or lie down. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Center yourself and focus on your breath.
Once you feel centered, imagine that you are standing at the beginning of a long journey. You are about to embark on a quest to find your true self and to fulfill your destiny.
You take a deep breath and step forward. You walk for a while, and soon you come to a crossroads. You do not know which way to go, so you sit down and close your eyes.
You take a few deep breaths and ask your inner wisdom to guide you. You see a vision of a path leading off to the right. You open your eyes and stand up. You take a deep breath and start walking down the path.
As you walk, you come across many challenges. You face your fears, you overcome obstacles, and you learn new things about yourself. You also meet many people along the way, some who help you and some who try to stop you.
But you keep going, because you know that you are on the right path. Finally, you reach the end of your journey. You have found your true self and you have fulfilled your destiny.
Now, take a deep breath and open your eyes. You are back in the present moment, but you are changed forever. You have experienced the hero’s journey, and you are now stronger, wiser, and more courageous.

Here are some additional tips for meditating on the hero’s journey:

As you meditate, visualize yourself at each stage of the hero’s journey. What challenges do you face? What lessons do you learn? Who helps you along the way?
Pay attention to your emotions and sensations as you meditate. What do you feel? What do you see? What do you hear?
Be open to receiving guidance from your inner wisdom. Ask your inner self for help and support at each stage of the journey.
Trust that you are on the right path. Even when things are difficult, remember that you are learning and growing.
Be grateful for the opportunity to experience the hero’s journey. It is a sacred journey that can transform your life.

Humanity is also on A Hero’s Journey facing crossroads, making choices, facing obstacles, encountering friends and enemies. It is a real journey with real dangers and some people die but everyone learns and everyone returns and little by little we become better as human beings individually and collectively.

A near-death experience

We have a small self and a great self. Both are forms of awareness. The only difference is that your small self identifies with your limited body and personality whereas your great self experiences the entire universe as its body. A significant part of the spiritual journey is learning how to let go of identification with the small self. Once you can let go of identification with the small self, experiencing yourself as the great self comes naturally. The following meditation gives a little taste of this experience.

Concentrate in your chakra point (the third eye point or the heart chakra point)
Imagine a beautiful light there
Think that that beautiful light is your immortal spirit which was never born and never dies
Now imagine that your body dies
That beautiful light which is your immortal spirit leaves the world and floats alone in space
Enjoy a feeling of lightness and freedom for a few moments
Now imagine that beautiful light which is your immortal spirit expanding until it fills the universe
Remain in that state as the light of the universe, witnessing Infinity.
Now let that light shrink once again to a tiny point
Let it return to the body and bring it back to life
When you are ready open your eyes
As you move throughout the day remember that you are not the body
You are the immortal spirit which was never born and never dies
You are the light of the universe
This is your great self

Divine doughnut meditation

Concentrate in your heart chakra.
Imagine your heart chakra surrounded by divine love and light.
Imagine that divine love and light, which surrounds you expanding inwards towards the core of your heart, and expanding outwards towards infinity at the same time.
When that divine love has expanded inwards and outwards as far as it can possibly go, imagine that it completely occupies all available space.
Nothing remains except one infinite and undivided Ocean of love and light.
No separate you remains. There is only Love and light.

3 Meditations with numbers

The secret of peace is simplicity. There is something simple and clean about numbers and, when you meditate on them they help you become simple and clean also.

As you inhale think the number “one”. As you exhale think the number “two”. The numbers are clean, simple and uncomplicated. The principle that “you become what you focus on” means that, as you focus on the numbers, you also become clean, simple, and uncomplicated. Enjoy the experience of feeling simple. (You can also try just meditating on the number “one”, just on the exhale. See which one you like more)
Meditate on the number “zero”. Zero problems, zero objects, zero distractions, zero ego. An empty mind. Does that bring a sense of freedom and release?
As you inhale count from 1 to 4. As you exhale count from 5 to 10. Linking the breath with counting synchronises the body and mind.

Meditations on the Senses

Close your eyes and:

Smell:
- meditate on the smell of a rose
- or the smell of your favourite herbal tea.
Taste:
- meditate on the taste of chocolate,
- the taste of pineapple
Sight:
- meditate on the universe full of stars,
- meditate on light,
- meditate on different colours that please you.
Touch:
- meditate on the warmth of the sun on your body,
- the touch of a cool breeze,
- the water that surrounds you when you dive into the ocean.
Sound:
- meditate on the distant sound of tiny bells
- or the sound of “Om” (don’t make any sound with your voice, just imagine the sound in your mind).
- Concentrate on hearing. Try to listen to the sounds around you without analyzing or identifying them. Just listen.

These exercises take you out of your head and put you in touch with different forms of awareness. They give an object of concentration with is soothing for the mind and not analytical.

A meditation on colour

It is helpful to have a clear understanding of what exactly we are trying to do when we do meditation. Basically, we are trying to do four things: “simplify, beautify, magnify, identify”.

“Simplify” means we are thinking of only one thing nothing else. simplicity is the key to peace.
“Beautify” means that the one thing we are thinking of should be something beautiful, for example love or god.
“Magnify” means we are trying to expand the idea that we are thinking about from small to big, from finite to infinite (for example: infinite love, absolute happiness, eternal peace, etc).
“Identify”: If we can exclude all other thoughts from the mind and concentrate completely on one thing, that complete concentration will give us the experience of identity, the experience of oneness. We become what we focus on.

Sometimes this can be difficult to grasp when we are trying to do it with some abstract idea like love. So in the below meditation we will use a strong color as our object of meditation. Once we have been able to achieve the goal of “simplify, beautify, magnify, identify” using a strong color then hopefully it will be easier to do the same process with a more abstract feeling like love.

Concentrate in your chakra point;
Imagine your chakra point totally and completely surrounded by a color that you like, for example pink.
Imagine total pink, inside, outside, everywhere, filling up all available space, past, present and future.
There is only pink nothing else. No you or me, no he, she or it, just pink
Hold this visualization and repeat the word “pink” with your breath
Feel yourself becoming that color. Feel that you are that color.
(if you don’t like pink use some other color that you like)
How does it make you feel? Does it make you feel strong? Do you get the feeling of consistency and simplicity? Could you feel identified with the color? Is it a pleasant feeling?

Absolute Chocolate Cake

Imagine absolute chocolate cake
Inside, outside, everywhere, forever

We want to achieve a state where the mind is balanced and still. As long as the mind is running after something or avoiding something it will have no balance. If the thing we are seeking (e.g. chocolate cake) exists everywhere permanently then the mind will become still because it doesn’t need to move in any direction – it is already absolute chocolate cake. After you can do it with absolute chocolate cake try it with something more abstract like love, light, God.

Observe your thoughts and feelings

Observe the flow of your own thoughts and feelings;
Allow them to be present without judging them, resisting them or getting caught up in them.
Ask yourself, “Who is thinking?” “Who is feeling?”
Realize that thoughts and feelings come and go and that you are not your thoughts and feelings.
Think about all the thoughts and feelings that have come and gone in your life.
You were there before they came and you are still there after they have gone. This will continue on forever. You are the awareness that is witnessing these thoughts and feelings coming and going.
Imagine that thoughts and feelings are like clouds moving across the sky. They appear for awhile and then they are gone. But the sky remains. The sky is the witness in you, holding the space, eternally.

Self-Acceptance 1

Sometimes we are overwhelmed with powerful feelings and emotions which we don’t want to have. If we suppress them or ignore them they build up steam and come back stronger. Psychologists have observed that the physiological lifespan of an emotion in the body and brain is 90 seconds. If you leave it alone, if you just sit with it, be with it, accept the fact that it is there and give it permission to be there without resistance then it will naturally dissipate by itself.

Sit still
Look inside and see whatever is there
Just sit with it, allowing it to be present without resistance
Once it has dissipated continue with your desired form of meditation
Or just get up and continue with whatever you were doing

By practicing this regularly you can learn to accept your feelings and, at the same time, not let them define you. This is a healthy basis for self-transformation.

Self-Acceptance 2

We are all at certain points in our journey and that’s beautiful. We have made some improvements and there are still things we need to improve and that makes it both rewarding and challenging. In order to move forward we have to accept both the need to change and the reality of where we are. But there is a major difference between acknowledging the need for change and constant self-criticism. The first one helps you move forward the second one pushes you backward. The following meditation focuses on acknowledging the need for change while focusing on the positive factors that can help you move forward.

After doing something you are not happy with repeat to yourself,

I may be weak,

I may be confused

But God is still God,

And I still love Him/Her

The first two lines accept your weakness without blaming
The second two lines take your attention away from your faults and focus on the resources that can help you keep moving forward – the eternal presence of a higher power which is infinitely capable and always willing to help you, no matter how bad a mistake you have made
And the love you have for your higher power which is also always present and can help you make progress if you focus on it.
The second two lines help to bring a feeling of hope and confidence that the situation can improve and that both you and the universe are fundamentally good.

Self-Acceptance 3

While negative feelings about oneself are damaging it is also not healthy to deny or suppress them. We need to find a way of both acknowledging our feelings and healing the pain. Yoga teaches that there is a higher power that has unconditional love for everyone, no matter what mistake you have committed. This higher power not only loves you unconditionally it will always support your efforts to go forward in a better direction. Here is a helpful meditation/affirmation that allows you to experience the unconditional love from your higher power and through that learn to accept and love yourself, the necessary precondition for positive transformation.

Think of some negative name you use to blame or criticize yourself, e.g. “Idiot”
Then recall that the higher power has unconditional love for all
Using that knowledge remind yourself, “God loves idiots” (or whatever word you are calling yourself)
Draw comfort from this and by this beautiful example learn to accept and love yourself
Then, out of love and gratitude towards your higher power, renew your efforts to improve.

Integrate your other half

Do you believe in re-incarnation? Could you have been the opposite gender in your past life? Perhaps the spirit is neither masculine nor feminine.

If you are a boy, imagine that you are a girl.
If you are a girl, imagine that you are a boy.
Does that have any impact on your desire for the missing opposite?
Imagine that you are everything, complete and total.

We only long for that which we think we don’t have. If we can find what we are looking for within ourselves then our need will be reduced. The mind makes no distinction between what it experiences through the senses and what it experiences through the imagination. This is because what comes through the senses is recreated in the mind and gets translated into imagination. Then only can we experience it. Ultimately everything is imagination.

Meditations on the virtues

You can grow and develop all qualities simply by focusing on them. As well as meditating regularly on the qualities you want to develop remember that quality (or those qualities) as often as you can during the day. Keep coming back to that thought. Write out the list and look at it often. Make it into a checklist that you review every day. Then observe if those qualities start to get stronger in you.

Choose one of the positive qualities below. Meditate on it by repeating the word with your breath.
Feel rather than analyze
- Forgiveness
- Gratitude
- Kindness
- Courage
- Power
- Patience
- Determination
- Wisdom
- Simplicity
- Humility
- Purity
- Detachment
- Calmness
- Trust
- Generosity
- Discipline
- Strength
- Responsibility
- Integrity

Cycle through the list on a regular basis or make your own list.

Meditate on God in whatever form pleases you

Instead of asking god for things just try to develop a sense of connection by repeating his/her/its name with your breath.
Choose any name that pleases you.
You can think of God as being formless or as having a beautiful form that you are attracted to (as a divine figure or as divine light, for example)
If you imagine God with a form you can imagine God looking at you with love and inviting you to come closer with open arms.
If you imagine god without a form, you can imagine it as a loving presence that surrounds you and welcomes you, folding you into itself.
Allow your own feelings of love, gratitude, and a desire to give something in return, to develop naturally
Hold on to this feeling as you repeat the divine name which you chose, offering your full attention.

The deeper the concentration and the longer you sustain it the stronger will be the feeling of connection. (This is true for any form of meditation).

Creation in reverse

Concentrate in your heart chakra or third eye chakra.
Visualize it as a small point of light.
Imagine that this point is the nucleus of whatever exists, including yourself.
Imagine that all creation emerges from this point.
Imagine creation in reverse. Imagine everything that was created returning back into the point from which it started, your chakra point.
Now there is nothing left except this point. No universe, no body, no ego. Just this point nothing else.
Now you are completely free.
Holding this idea and holding your focus on the point, remain in that state of freedom.

I am a mystery

Once someone asked a great master, “please write your biography for us”. The master replied, “I can write my biography in three sentences”, “I was a mystery”, “I am a mystery”, “and I will always be a mystery”. Celebrate the mystery in your own being. Celebrate the mystery in the vast universe around you.

Close your eyes and focus in your chakra point
use the chakra point to detach yourself from your body your history and your everyday world
imagine that your chakra point is spirit, pure being without any definitions or limitations
repeat the phrase “I am a mystery” to yourself in the rhythm of your breath
feel the same mystery surrounding you and filling the universe and think, “the universe is a mystery “
be the whole mystery
transition to a mantra later if you feel like it

Remember the phrase “I am a mystery” often during the day. And when you meet other people celebrate the mystery in them also and think to yourself “You are a mystery”. When you look around you contemplate, “the universe is a mystery”. What connects everything is mystery.

The Last Airbender Meditation (aimed at self-control)

Have a big chart of the chakras. Explain the location of each chakra and how the first five chakras are the controlling points for the five elements, how the sixth chakra is the controlling point for the mind, and how the seventh chakra is the seat of the Divine within the body and controls all the chakras below it. Explain that your body is made of the five elements and that if you can bring those five elements under control your level of self-control will grow stronger. By focusing in each chakra and thinking of the element that it controls you can gain control of that element.

Concentrate in the first chakra at the base of your spine. Contemplate that it is the controlling point for the Earth element. Repeat the word, “Earth” with your breath until you feel your mind is steady.
Concentrate in the second chakra at the root of the genital organ. Contemplate that it is the controlling point for the water element. Repeat the word, “water” with your breath until you feel your mind is steady.
Concentrate in the third chakra on the level of your navel. Contemplate that it is the controlling point for the fire element. Repeat the word, “fire” with your breath until you feel your mind is steady.
Concentrate in the fourth chakra in the centre of your chest. Contemplated that it is the controlling point for the air element. Repeat the word, “Air” with your breath until you feel your mind is steady.
Concentrate in the fifth chakra at the vocal chords. Contemplate that it is the controlling point for the element of ether (space). Repeat the word “Ether” with your breath until you feel your mind is steady.
Concentrate in the sixth chakra just above the nose between your eyebrows. Contemplate that is the controlling point of the Self. Repeat the word, “I” with your breath until you feel your mind is steady.
Concentrate in the Crown chakra. Contemplate that it is the seat of the Divine which is imagining and controlling everything. Repeat the word, “God” with your breath until you feel your mind is steady.

You are not alone

Feel you are being witnessed by the Divine which surrounds you like a great ocean of love and light

Imagine that Divine Ocean holding you within itself and repeating the words, “I see you”.
Repeat this phrase with your breath, feeling the Divine affirming your existence, your importance and that you belong to the whole.
Imagine the Divine in every atom of your body and mind, in every atom of the universe, repeating, “I see you”… Affirming your existence, your importance and that you belong to the whole.
After some time you may no longer need to repeat the words “I see you”. Just feel your self being witnessed, being affirmed, and being part of the whole.
From a place of gratitude, repeat the word “God” with your breath.

I am imagination

Imagination is fluid, spontaneous, adaptable – only limited by what it dares to imagine. Whatever we experience – dream, memory or reality – we experience through our imagination. The millions of things that you are experiencing now are all in your imagination. Instead of identifying with the objects of your imagination, identify with imagination itself. And if you’re going to imagine something, imagine Infinity, eternity, totality.

Let go of identifying with your body and personality
Instead identify with your imagination
Repeat “I am” as you breathe in, “imagination” as you breathe out
Maintain this for some minutes and observe what feelings arise
Imagine the universe. Be the universe.
Imagine happiness. Be happiness.
Imagine the Buddha. Be the Buddha
Imagine anything. Be anything.
Imagine everything. Be everything.
Imagine forever. Be forever.
Remember that whatever you experience is your imagination
Return to repeating “I am imagination” with your breath.

Recovery After a fall

We are all struggling with our own complexes and weaknesses. Sometimes we succeed sometimes we fail. You can’t grow without failing. One of the most important things after a failure is learning how to pick yourself up again, how to recover. “Do the next right thing” and “think the next right thought” are helpful guides for getting back on track. They get you moving forward in small doable steps mentally and physically. As a meditator you might focus on saying your mantra or thinking of the Divine instead of beating yourself up. Forget the past which weighs you down, forget the future which may seem overwhelming, and concentrate on what you can do with your next breath. Some helpful affirmations are:

Baba Nam Kevalam (only love everywhere)
God loves idiots (or whatever other name you have been labeling yourself with)
I am light
Shame is also God (if everything is God Then every thought feeling or emotion is also god. Remembering this helps to transform the negative feeling just by looking at it at a deeper level). Anger, fear or any negative emotion can also be dealt with in the same way.

A Sufi Story

To succeed in meditation you need a daring imagination. You need to be able to imagine things that you never imagined before. You need to challenge your old ideas and your limiting assumptions about yourself and the world. There is an old Sufi story about a crazy Mullah (priest) called Nasrudin. Nasrudin lived in a small village by a lake. One day one of the people who lived in the village was taking a walk around the lake. When he came to the opposite side of the lake, there he found Nasrudin holding a giant wooden spoon and stirring the lake. Taken by surprise, he said to Nasrudin, “Nasrudin, what on earth are you doing?” Nasrudin replied, “I am making yoghurt”. His friend said, “Nasrudin, you can’t make yoghurt in a lake”. Nasrudin replied, “I know that. But….. Imagine if you could!!!”

Some Inspiring Quotes

“Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. Between these two my life moves.” Swami Nisargadatta.
“The most important decision a person has to make is whether they believe the universe is friendly or unfriendly. If they believe the universe is friendly, they will spend their life building bridges. If they believe the universe is unfriendly, they will spend their life building walls.” Albert Einstein
“You are never alone or helpless. The force that guides the stars guides you too.” Shrii Shrii Anandamurti

Teach what you feel to be true from your own experience

If you feel excited about the experience you get from any of the above meditations then share that excitement with others by teaching them how they can do it themselves. Don’t try to teach the techniques that don’t work for you. Keep practicing them until they do work for you. Then only are you ready to teach them.

MEDITATION MUSIC

Here are some videos featuring one of our esteemed trainers, a senior monk with over 40 years of experience in teaching meditation. In these videos, he shares valuable insights on depression and anxiety from an Eastern perspective, drawing on his extensive experience and deep understanding of traditional practices.

Material for Youth Workers

Meditation Techniques

Yoga and Diet