Believe it or not, daily meditation can have a great impact on your sense of calm. Learning how to meditate for only 20 minutes a day can have significant health changes. Whether or not you have a daily meditation in mind or not, regular meditation can create sense out of our hectic lives. This meditation article addresses how to meditate, and how to choose your own daily meditation practices.

Meditation: Practice the Art of Peace
"Calmness is the ideal state in which we should receive all life's experiences," writes Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952), founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship, in the book Inner Peace. Yogananda is regarded as one of the great spiritual teachers melding East and West. Through meditation, he writes, one can cultivate a wonderful inner quiet that will melt away stress and nervousness.

But to meditate, one must break away, however briefly, from the world. Turn off your cell phone and pager, disconnect the fax machine, shut down the computer and turn on the answering machine…allow no interruptions during this special time.

Meditation is the perfect antidote for the constant intrusion of technology in our lives. In fact, recent research has shown that meditating twice per day for about 20 minutes can actually reduce blockages in your blood vessels, significantly lowering the risk of sudden death by heart attack or stroke.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Where Should I Meditate?
  You may wish to set aside a special corner of one room, your own private sanctuary, a calm, quiet and peaceful place. You might furnish the area with objects or icons that have spiritual meaning for you, developing a little altar or shrine. Use what will put you into a contemplative frame of mind. You may want to enlist the help of Mother Nature. Spend time at the ocean listening to the surf crashing upon the rocks…walk through a shaded forest trail with a cathedral of trees overhead…stand near a stream with water playing over the rocks or a waterfall…or watch the moon rise or birds fly overhead.
• How Should I Sit When I Meditate?
  Although the classic posture is to sit with legs folded and hands resting quietly on the lap or the knees, the key is to find a way of sitting that is comfortable for you. And remember, you can meditate anytime, anywhere…even driving in your car.