We who are practicing mediation are doing it for various reasons, but mainly to reach heightened levels of awareness, to calm the spirit and be in better control of emotions in our daily activities. Now day’s meditation has become a way of finding your inner peace and a quiet mind. In these busy and stressful times we can use all the help we can get to find that special place. I find the use of Incense helps me in my practice and my hope is it will be beneficial to you.

Different cultures have created different meditative techniques, but they all have the same goal in common which is the calming your mind and balancing your daily life. If you wish to make your meditation sessions just that much better, then you should include the use of incense as a routine part of it. The use of incense in many cases can make a positive and productive difference in your meditation. Burning incense helps to create an environment which helps bring a calming to the senses. It will help you to more easily defer negative energy and help bring a more optimistic field of energy. It is also believed by many that burning incense may help to improve and stimulate ones spiritual abilities.

Knowing that Incense can make a great difference in your meditation practice, you will need to make sure that you choose the fragrance that will offer you the most effective ambiance for an effective therapy. Each person is obviously quite unique in there aromatic taste and will find what works best for them with a little experimentation. If you are new to incense I would suggest you try something soft with floral notes such as Lavender or Rose to use in your first session.

The following are some suggested combinations that might be helpful for you:

a. The Fruity fragrance type of incense has the role of enhancing your mood, and is highly recommended.

b. Try Citrus fragrances if you are looking to refresh your mind. Incenses like orange; apple and bergamot great choices!

c. The Vanilla fragrances are great if you are looking to enhance your spirit. It is also said to help improve your energy and emotional stimulation.

d. The woody notes such as Sandalwood or Aloeswood may be just what are needed for the deep contemplative meditation.

In conclusion, I want you to remember that even though incense is very helpful for your meditations sessions, it’s is highly recommended to use it with care and use proper utensils designed to safety contain and burn incense. Known for its mix of simplicity and purity, burning incense is one of the most widely used ways for creating a sacred meditation space for a deep cleansing and stimulation of the mind, soul and body….. Enjoy!……….. Namaste.

Due to the popularity (or perhaps notoriety) of some materials I put out about overcoming the fear of death, I thought I would make a few useful exercises available to a larger audience.

The fear of death is very common (even in those with no reason to believe they will die anytime soon). Some schools of philosophy and psychology suggest that the fear of death is one of the strongest influences of human behavior throughout life.

Be that as it may, the fear of death can definitely be reduced and probably transcended completely. Doing this leads to much more joy and much less fear in general throughout life.

If you face your biggest fear… all others pale in comparison!

One of the first things to do is adopt a sense of humor about life and death. There is no simple step by step way to do this. If you seek sincerely, you will find. There are plenty of comedians that turn death into a humorous affair, and I encourage you to make comedy a common experience in your life. The following quote always makes me laugh:

“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.” -Mark Twain

Once you have begun to see the light side of death, it is useful to play with some meditation techniques devised for reducing the fear:

1. Practice Relaxation, then Focus, then Acceptance. Get into a really relaxed state, pour your awareness into your relaxation or your breathing (pick one), and then accept whatever arises. Imagine you can relax internally around any concepts or feelings that come up. Whatever arises, you just allow it to be. The more you play with this, the more you recognize that you aren’t the thoughts or feelings that are coming up… you are the awareness within which they arise. This brings your awareness to context. Your physical body is content that arises in the infinite context of consciousness itself.

1. Meditation/Visualization 1: Imagine you are an angel already on the other side. Your task is to greet people who have just died, help them surrender their attachment to the mind/body, and assure them that all is well. Ask divinity to use you to transmit love and peace to these people. Imagine at least three different people who are very frightened and confused, and gradually helping them to transition. Don’t worry so much about what you will say… allow the peacefulness of Higher Power to shine through you. Notice how good it feels to help other people surrender the fear. (credit where credit is due… this technique was borrowed from Stephane Hemon of Ideagasms.net)

1. Meditation/Visualization 2: Imagine you have grown up to be a counselor who helps people to overcome their fear of death. Again, imagine doing this with at least three different clients. And remember, it is not so much what you say to the client… it is just your presence (and/or peacefulness, relaxation, acceptance, etc.).

Play with these meditation techniques to help reduce (and potentially eliminate) your fear of death. Even small steps can have vast results.

I offer this as a final thought:

“Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn.” -Mohandas K. Gandhi

If you have the courage to face a good night’s sleep after a long day of work, then you have the courage to face your own death.

Godspeed on your journey!

Benjamin Langley has been studying meditation, self-hypnosis, energy work, and other healing methods for over 15 years. He has taken the time to study, practice, and integrate these methods, and he has written over 400 articles on these subjects, as well as numerous podcasts and videos that can be found on his site and others.

It is widely accepted that Meditation is a relaxation and spiritual growth practice that leads to a great sense of well-being for those who practice regularly. But just how does meditation do this? And what are the benefits that meditators can expect? This article seeks to explore these questions, so that you too can realize the many benefits of meditation and perhaps start using this simple and positive therapy that has been practiced for thousands of years.

One of the eventualities that have been observed to be caused by high levels of stress in the body is chronic infections. The effect of stress in your body is therefore not just limited to your mind feeling tired. Stress has been linked with the inhibition of the body to create new white blood cells, which are important in our body’s defense of opportunistic infections.

Through meditation, the effects of stress are reversed and patients suffering from chronic infections are seen to respond better to medication and they also enjoy a greater sense of wellbeing. The effects of lower stress levels in a healthy individual are observed by an increased level of alertness, which ultimately leads to increased productivity in the work that is performed in a person’s daily endeavor.

Following regular meditation practices, people have been shown to experience lower blood pressure, as the calm conditions when the meditation is performed leads to a decrease in the heart rate. In doing this the bodies use of oxygen is more efficient and thus more cells are fully nourished – leading to a body state where you feel rejuvenated.

If you are worried by the ageing process, particularly in regards to the mind, then the practice of meditation is highly recommended as people who undertake regular meditation have been shown to age less quickly, and have their minds working with higher capacity even in their later years. The reason to this is because the regular practice of meditation lowers Cortisol, a hormone that is associated with increased ageing of the brain.

If you practice habits that are regarded as life-damaging; such as drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and using other drugs, then you can employ the use of meditation as it has been observed that people who practice meditation on a regular basis quit these habits easier than people who do not practice meditation.

It should be noted that the above outlined effects of meditation are not seen immediately – and patience should be employed for the progress you expect to achieve. You should also not be worried by practice sessions you might find difficult, as growth comes from challenge, and these hurdles will become smaller in time.