There are as many meditation techniques as there are people practicing the art. Meditation in the western world has become jumbled and confused at the mercy of marketing strategists and entrepreneurs. One very obvious misunderstanding is the axiom that one should attain a mental state with a clear/blank mind. Beginners find this mental state impossible and rightly so because it is the nature of the brain to think and so long as the organ lives it will function as it's intended to do. Those who seem to be able to do so have merely mastered the ability to ignore their own thoughts which can ultimately prove counterproductive. There is trendy meditation then there is practical meditation. Discerning one from the other will make all the difference in what results your efforts will reap.

Real meditation techniques are preserved in the historical purposes and applications of the art. These vary according to what objective the practitioner intends to attain. People meditate for a variety of reasons. Some do so to get in touch with their own body and live more in the now, others have discovered how such unwavering focus can increase strength and stamina to accomplish the impossible, many others do so to find solutions to complex problems, etc. All of which involve directing one's focus so intensely that when finished meditating the focus expands creating a unique sense of relaxation indigenous only to the art. One will find that when their focus is strongly directed so narrowly all the idle chatter the brain naturally produces will temporarily subside. This is the mysterious "silence" that the instructional videos and books keep promoting.

Getting In Touch With Your Self
If someone were to approach you and for no reason ask how your left leg feels you would have to direct your attention to that leg to discover how it feels. Over time we learn to ignore much of the information our nervous system supplies for us. At a rather young age we stopped paying attention to how our pants leg feels brushing against our leg as we walk and instead we only register sensations that are alarming or unusual. We can at any time, however, take a moment to scan and explore all the common sensations of our physical body. Just as easily we can also tense any chosen muscle for a second or two and then experience the relaxation that follows. In fact, we don't need to be in a special pose or even sitting down to do these exercises.

Meditating to Increase Strength

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