Tips for preparing to meditate:

1) Relax, meditation requires that you are calm, and free of stress to do it. If you lose your focus while trying to meditate, don't get frustrated or upset about it. just remain calm, and focus again. Other times you may relax too deeply and wind up falling asleep, this happens to me sometimes and I have been meditating for years, it's perfectly ok...

2) When you meditate it is important that you are comfortable and undistracted. Since I live in a college dorm I usual meditate with relaxing music on in the background to drown out outside noise. I also prefer to meditate in a dimly lit room, sitting on the floor with a light blanket wrapped around me. Choose a posture in which you are comfortable being in for extended periods of time (I sometimes meditate laying down but this often leads to falling asleep). Try to make it so that you will be warm, but not overheated, because being cold or hot will make you fidgety. Do what you can to minimize disturbances (either go somewhere where you won't be bothered, or put up a polite sign).

3) If you have a favorite scented candle, incense etc.. feel free to use it but they really aren't needed as long as there aren't any unbearable odors in your vicinity.

4) Sometimes it helps to take a brief, warm shower first... if you feel all sweaty and sticky you won't be able to relax... put on comfortable clothes.. or if it makes you comfortable... none. I prefer to meditate in cotton clothing only, and I would generally recommend natural fiber clothing.. especially if you are meditating for magical purposes...

5) Sometimes I drink a calming herbal tea before meditating, sometimes not.. I personally find chamomile, or anise seed teas the best... but any calming (but not sleepy) herb works well (ie: ginseng (with some calming herbs, otherwise it's a stimulant), chamomile, ansie, peppermint, lemon balm, etc.)

6) you shouldn't be hungry, but also not bloatedly full... I find about 1 hr after a lighter meal to be great.

7) you can meditate with any calming or insight generating crystals if you like them, otherwise don't... I sometimes meditate with an amethyst, but not always...

8) If you are a magician, I would recommend leaving magic out of your meditations at first, learn to use it as a deep relaxation tool first, then expand it's uses..

ok.. now you are all prepared to meditate ..

Actually meditating:

1) first relax yourself and get into a calm mood. If you have any stresses, troubles etc.. put them aside.. get yourself into a good, relaxed, semi-happy mood...

2) Breath slowly and deeply. As you breath in, start by expanding your lungs down by your stomach and work your way up, filling them up like a bottle of water. As you exhale, collapse your lungs up top near your shoulders first then work your way down. This completely flushes your lungs with fresh air, and is kinda tricky to get the hang of, but is a *massive* help.

3) close your eyes and put aside as much of the mental noise as you can, try to put aside thinking about all the things you did that day, your hair etc.. this is *very* difficult.

4) I personally find that slightly rolling my eyes upwards and not letting them dart about too much helps.. don't force or strain your eyes looking up, just as much as is comfortable relaxedly.. for me this point is about 30 degrees up if I were to open my eyes... *do not* strain your eye muscles at all.. you will wreck them, or wind up in a lot of pain (eye muscle cramps *hurt*). This is my own thing I borrowed from a non-meditation technique, try it if you wish, if it doesn't work for you.. feel free to not do it...

5) as you put aside all of the mental noise, bring your mental focus onto the visualization/meditation you have chosen (a list of good ones follows at the end).. calmly and relaxedly bring all of your attention to it and try too keep it there... if your mind wanders, calmly bring it back...

6) let you body muscles relax as completely as possible.. and you are there...

Good meditation visualizations to start with:

1) picture several points deep within the earth below you... bring lines from them up towards you, converging them in a way that they form the root system of a tree glowing a bright white attached to you where you sit. Visualize the energy of the earth welling up through you as you become the trunk of a great tree. As it leaves through the top of you it branches out, and arcs back to the earth much as a willow tree does. Continue the branches back into the earth to complete the cycle. (This is a slight adaptation of a grounding technique from starhawks "spiral dance" called "the tree of life")

2) Visualize a fresh clean water spring, flowing out from the top of your head and down your body to the floor.

3) just picture some beautiful natural place such as a waterfall, forest, mountain and keep it's details constant and vivid..

4) listen to some music with a very stable rhythm... let your mind dance to it...

Good Luck!