I've found that listening to Binaural Beats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binaural_beats) helps me during meditation. Often its hard for me to focus on the breath for some reason but directing my attention to the tones of whatever "beats" I'm listening to seems to be easier. It may help that "7 Hz frequencies were found to enhance meditative focus..." (Sample size of 8 people so, you know; caveat emptor)

I use a nice Open Source utility called sbagen (http://uazu.net/sbagen/) which in addition to allowing you to define your own beats comes several pre-programmed beats.

That brings back memories; one of the first business ideas I seriously pursued was actually social binaureal beat app.

It was designed to run on the Palm V back in 2004 though so I might've been a bit ahead of my time back. It might make a nice little SoLoMo app today though ;)

"The result of having all these unhealthy thoughts come into your mind while you meditate,"

I would hesitate to call these thoughts unhealthy, on the contrary they are completely natural and harmless. It is our reaction to those thoughts that can be unhealthy.

There is one reason that I can think of for why they would be classified as unhealthy - they distract you from what is happening right now and, as a result, you might miss something important. Multitasking is widely recognised as being a counter-productive activity. Do one thing at a time, with your full attention, and you will excel. Do many things at once and you will do all of them badly. Or one could say that multitasking is the process of failing at many things simultaneously.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_multitasking

I absolutely agree that you should focus on one thing, what I am saying is that meditation is training for that focus. Instead of forcing the thoughts out of your mind you just let them float and they disappear by themselves. But if you start seeing your thoughts as enemies and having power over you, you are losing ground.

The meditation that got me hooked is Quantum Light Breath, voiced by Jeru Kabbal. One version is available for free download online and a couple of others can be purchased from the usual places.

Jeru explains the breathing very clearly. I found this to be an easy introduction.

There's a great deal of scientific evidence for the cognitive benefits of mindfulness meditation. Here's a good survey of the literature: <a href="http://ideonexus.com/2012/08/27/the-science-of-mindfulness-m...;

Chirping in, I recommend Zen Bones and Zen Flesh as a accompanying read. http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Flesh-Bones-Collection-Writings/dp...

I've found myself relating to many of the koans and as a result, it has allowed me to "take a step back" from a hectic life. I'm not claiming to be a "better" person because of it, but instead, I have increased my sense of perception.

I've been looking for a good book on how to get started with meditation. Does anyone have any recommendations?

I liked Mindfulness in plain english (http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html) and The miracle of mindfulness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Miracle_of_Mindfulness). Both have easy approaches and stick to the basics.

+1 for MIPE

Thanks!

Hey - I've been meditating daily for the last 6 months and had the same issue as you, where getting started was really the hardest part.

Here is what I've done. The first book that really got me thinking was "Happiness: Developing Life's Most Important Skill" from Matthieu Ricards.

I then went on to use an iPhone app developed by a buddhist monk called Headspace http://getsomeheadspace.com - this is guided meditation, where he walks you through 10 minutes every day for 10 days. Absolutely awesome to get started.

I hope this helps you as much as it has myself to get started! :)

Thanks! This looks great :)

edit: a great first step would be to watch the meditative film: Baraka!!

To be honest, I would not recommend starting with a book. It'd be hard to go into meditation that way. I don't meditate daily, so what do I know? But I do know that the few times I've gotten to that place where I said "oh wow I love meditating!" were guided meditations led by someone who's good at guiding.

Basically for beginners, it's nice to close your eyes and let a guide take you through a series of thoughts/visualizations/concepts/sounds that end in a breathing- or mantra-focused meditation.

The goal in meditation is the ceasing of thought, which is probably why thinking too much and reading thus may not help. Tho it depends.

Search youtube for some good guided meditation and approaches and see if any work for you.

I often return to the best guided approaches in my own mind when I do try to meditate...

final edit: If you are by any chance near Berkeley, I strongly recommend checking out (any week is good) the Meditation, Mysticism, and the Mind decal (grad-student-led course) at UC Berkeley. They bring in a wonderful speaker each week from a different world tradition and mix lecture with guided meditation.

Thanks! I'll check this out...unfortunately I'm nowhere near Berkely :(

I got started with "Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation: A 28-Day Program" (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0761159258/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...)

It's a very easy introduction to several kinds of meditation. The CD that comes with it are guided meditations of all the types she talks about in the book.

Instead of meditating, you should exercise without headphones on. You get more benefit for the time spent.

I just saw this book the other day at chapters: http://www.amazon.com/Running-Mind-Meditation-Lessons-Traini...

Ultra-runner Tony Krupicka has written on this sort of "active meditation" (http://www.runnersworld.com/rt-columns/alone). Of course, running in, say, downtown NYC is going be a very different experience (mentally) than running up Green Mountain in Boulder in the dead of winter.

I've recently switched to no-music workouts. Awkward at first, listening to the sounds of others working out around you, but with practice you can tune that and your other thoughts out. After a week or two, I greatly prefer it!

Good point: you can meditate anywhere, any time. I just walk around cities and do the same thing.

I studied meditation for many years at http://www.clairvision.org and what I learned there made me a more robust yet fluid person. Now I intend to go back for further studies.