Timer Tip: Having a timer has allowed me to go deeper in my meditations and breathing practices because I don’t have the stress of counting breaths, checking the time, or worrying about doing things at a balanced pace. For those just beginning meditation practice and have trouble sitting still, a timer can be a great training tool. No one says that you “must” sit for 20 minutes or longer each day. In fact, if you can begin by just sitting quietly for five minutes, you can begin to see some benefits. And if five minutes seems impossible, you can use the timer to teach yourself to first sit still for two minutes, and then three and then more… it’s a great tool to gradually learn to sit for longer periods of time.

Learning to meditate is as much about learning to relax as it is about learning to go inward and you have to start at your own pace. Some worry that using a timer can interfere or disturb practice or condition users to only a particular time frame. However, I haven’t found that to be the case. In fact, I have been able to gradually teach myself to sit longer using the timer and if I don’t want to listen to it or use it anymore, I can simply press the off button with little disturbance to my practice.

Witches do it: In my opinion, meditation is part of the foundation for learning to practice the Craft. I won’t go as far to say you can’t practice Witchcraft without it– there are certainly those who do let meditation slip or fall by the wayside. But to me, a Witch not wanting to meditate is like an athlete who doesn’t want to do conditioning exercises. No matter how well you do, you could have done better had you not skipped the simple, basic exercises that enhance your overall function and performance.

No matter how much raw talent was present, I’ve never known a student of the Craft who did not benefit and improve with meditation. Not only that, but even among long-time practitioners, a ‘growth spurt’ in Craft abilities is usually following or accompanied by achieving deeper, advanced levels of meditation.

One more thought: Once you have mastered the simple breathing meditation while learning how to meditate you can then take the clean canvas that is your mind, body and soul and start to work on other meditation techniques that will teach you how to become a more loving and kind person who is truly one with themselves and the world around them. Remember that patience is a virtue when you are first learning how to meditate and in time it will become easier to attain that state.