Guided and self-guided meditation deepen us into the subconscious mind for personal discovery, healing and transformation. In the quiet of the soul, we see, hear, feel and distinctly sense the presence of universal energies within us – the currents of light and sound flowing through the body's energy system, the seven chakras (spinning wheels of light) in the image above.

Having a spiritual focus in meditation makes it easier to open the heart and merge with universal consciousness.

How To Meditate

Find a quiet place and a comfortable upright chair. Place your hands in a relaxed position in your lap, with your feet flat on the floor, close your eyes and withdraw from the outer world into yourself. Follow the quiet, steady movement of your breath in and out of your body.

To help relax your bodymind, breathe into any areas of darkness or tension until these become light. Now take a long, deep inhalation and draw it up from the base of your spine to the crown of your head; hold your breath for a moment and allow spiritual light to enter the top of your head. On the exhalation, bring this light down into your body, pausing at the end of your breath to feel the currents of spiritual light collecting and moving inside you.

Repeat this breathing pattern for awhile, and when you are ready, say to yourself, "Arise, my soul and enter the Oneness." Use whatever words are meaningful to you. *

In a few moments, ask your inner being, your soul, for an ideal – a guiding aspiration – to repeat like a mantra during meditation. Simply ask your deeper self what you most need in your life at this time.

When you have a word or series of words that strike a chord of truth within you, create an "I am" statement such as "I am filled with Light," or "I am peaceful in the Oneness."

If your thoughts wander, draw your mind back to the words of your ideal. Let it be your anchor, but not just the words. Try to feel and experience your ideal, or mantra, to deepen your awareness. Repeat your affirmative, one-sentence mantra as often as necessary to focus your mind on the meditation. This repetition will build your intention into the atoms of your body and imprint it on your subconscious mind, thus making your life what you want it to be.

Should your bodymind become too aroused to concentrate, imagine a place in nature that you especially love. Use all of your senses to experience this place. Relax into the colors, shapes, textures and forms in this environment.

When you relax again, return to the silence. Repeat and experience your "I am" ideal as needed. Gradually, your thoughts will drift away and your meditation will deepen.

You will find in this calm, peaceful silence an expansiveness and sense of unity with all of life. In deeper meditations, you may receive guidance for your growth and happiness.

This feels like and is a gift. So is the experience of quiet listening and attunement with your Spirit. You will emerge from meditation with greater clarity of mind, an inner sense of unity and peace, creative solutions to challenges, and the strength and resources needed to cope with whatever comes your way.

You can consciously ask for wisdom or guidance by requesting help and watching for it to appear in some form – as a symbol, word, phrase, sense of inner knowing, a totem animal, angel, teacher or guide.

Stay focused and wait patiently. If you receive an insight, impress it on your conscious mind. Later on, you can write it down.

If nothing special occurs except a calmer, deeper sense of relaxation, then close with gratitude, open your eyes, wiggle your fingers and toes, take a full-body stretch, and return to the outside world.

Your guidance will appear in some other form, perhaps in a casual comment you hear, a vivid, movie-like dream, a synchronous event or a pattern of meaningful coincidences.

With your desire and intention, you have embarked upon the higher road of destiny and the blossoming of your life. This is the promise of the Source, the Creative Force that makes itself available in infinite ways for our healing and growth.

You can strengthen the light flowing through you by praying for others. At the end of your meditation, bring people to mind one by one and surround them with light. You need not pray for a specific outcome; the energy knows what to do.

Healing prayer will evolve your mind and change your life for the better. Immediately and over time, you will experience more peace, healing, growth and joy, and this will radiate outward into everything and everyone you touch.

May love, the excitement of discovery, and your chosen ideal lift your meditations to the mountaintop, where you soar like the freedom-loving eagle on currents of fulfillment and bliss.