Stressed? Frazzled? A little out of focus? Don’t sweat it. Here’s a really simple 3-minute meditation you can use and customize to get you into peak state.
It’s from Paul Scheele, who’s on the cutting edge of mind technology and meditation. He has a unique combination of degrees in Biology and Learning and Human Development plus a rich background in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), accelerated learning, preconscious processing, and universal energy.
After his article, you’ll find a link to a free meditation gift he’s giving away for FinerMinds readers. It’s awesome stuff, so check it out.
Simple Is Better — The 5-Part Meditation To Identify With The Soul, Calm The Nerves, And Just Relax
By Paul Scheele
My meditation teacher used to say, “Unless you can meditate in Grand Central Station in New York City during rush hour, you are not really meditating.” Noise is a constant in modern society. But wherever you might be, there is stillness within you. That natural state of stillness is always available to you.
Instead of accessing our inner stillness, we tend to identify with the sounds of chaos and noise. For example, if you have ever tried to fall asleep and there is a dog barking in the neighborhood, what do you think about? Most people think: I want to go out there and stop the dog from barking, or tell the owner to keep that dog quiet. If it is not a dog, perhaps you can hear a faucet dripping in the kitchen and that drip is driving you nuts.
Paul Scheele is a super cool guy who has helped millions achieve extraordinary results in relationships, work, money and health by developing programs that stimulate personal and professional success.
He is the author of two bestselling books, PhotoReading, and Natural Brilliance and his work has been translated into more than fifteen languages and purchased by enthusiastic clients in 155 countries.
His work has made such an impact that other luminaries like Jack Canfield, Tony Robbins, Ken Blanchard, T. Harv Eker, and Brian Tracy have used and endorsed Paul’s programs too.
Consider that you can exploit the noise and leverage it to your benefit. Give yourself a suggestion that every time you hear that dog bark, the barking will bring you to a deeper state of calm, an interior relaxation. Or every time that faucet drips, the water brings you to a deeper state of inner peace. This way, you identify with your internal state as opposed to what is going on around you.
How You Identify Yourself
Similarly, many of us identify who we are:
First with our body—This is who I am.
Second with our emotions—I am what I’m feeling right now.
Third with our thinking—I am what I think.
In meditation, we dis-identify with the body, we dis-identify with the emotions, we dis-identify with the thinking, and instead identify with the soul. The first process in meditation is becoming aware of what is happening around you. Then you begin to withdraw your awareness from the external to focus on the internal.
This inward focus can happen quite profoundly within the first few moments of meditating. You are creating a distinct psycho-physiological state of low physical arousal with a high level of mental alertness. This process characterizes meditation. The quickest way to change focus is through the process you used to guide yourself into meditation. Let’s break the process down into its parts.
1. Withdraw Your Awareness
First, withdraw your awareness. Bring your mind that has been running around out in the world into the space your body is occupying. This establishes your intention so the mind knows that these next few minutes are not for the world, but for connecting inwardly. Where your attention goes, your energy flows. You are sending your energy within, bringing your mind to yourself so you are aware of your physical presence in the moment.
2. Relax Your Face
Next, you bring relaxation to your face. Focusing on smoothing your forehead has a very strong overarching effect through all of your physiology. Relaxing the forehead, the jaw, and bringing a gentle smile to your face, releases neuro-chemicals that rapidly pass through the entire body. Many studies have been conducted to show the importance of relaxing your face to enter meditative states.
3. Become Aware Of Your Breath
Next, you become aware of the flow of your breath. Notice the gentle touch of breath flowing from the base of your nostrils through your eyebrows in the center of your forehead. Concentrating on the flow of your breath automatically brings your awareness into the present moment. When you feel the sensation in your nostrils, it is a present-moment awareness, so this simple act brings you instantly into the “here and now.” In the present moment, you are not accessing past feelings or future thoughts.
4. Balance The Length Of Your Breath
The next step is to balance the length of the breath. Inhale and exhale for an equal time with no pauses between them. The breath is an invisible link between your mind and body. Balancing the breath brings about balance in the mind and body. The active and the passive sides of the brain, the active and passive sides of the body all come into harmony as your breath flows in one continuous cycle of inhalation and exhalation. That is why a sense of peace begins to emerge during meditation. As you calm the breath, you calm the mind, which calms the body simultaneously.
5. Your Focus Word
The final stage of meditation is a “focus word.” This keeps the conscious mind in a state of concentration and contemplation, so that it does not wander off. Your focus word can be anything; One, Peace, Love, OM, the holy name of your spiritual master, rosary prayers—you can decide. Simply imagine a sound flowing with the breath. A common focus word that’s often used is the Sanskrit word “Soham”; “So” with the inhale, and “Ham” (pronounced “hum”) with the exhale. It means “I am that” and as you keep saying “Soham” you are saying “I am that I am that I am…”
To Summarize This Meditation Practice
- Withdraw your awareness to the space your body is occupying.
- Relax your face and shoulders.
- Notice how the flow of your breath feels in your nostrils.
- Breathe in one continuous cycle of inhale and exhale.
- Imagine the sound “So” with the inhale, “Hum” with the exhale.
You are meditating!
If you want to enhance your meditation practice, I’ve prepared a free meditation audio you can download. Just head here to grab your copy »
FinerMinds is hosted by 
Great. I’ve enjoyed the reading of this article on meditation. I fully identify myself with it. May it bring benefits to all who use the explained technique.
Joaquim
THANKS A LOT for the beautiful meditation and free audio..
As simple as it is..connecting with the Breath is like Soul-Tonic..!
Thank you!!
Thanks, practiced it, it’s great, no word o explain it, wonderful feeling, can do lots of times a day.
Thanks for the gift
Better and better
Emdad
Thank you for these techniques, they will benifit many people.
Also I tried signing up for the e-mail subscription offered, but your offer box is positioned so low I could not check the box to subscribe.
Thank you for bringing this Genius information to my life. It really changed me very much. Reading through the palms, a new expereince, could help to read more books in less time.
Very informative and easy to practice — Thanks a lot. — Rajendra
I needed this article. My mind is constantly wondering. I cannot stay in the present ever seems like. I really am going to focus and try this 3 minute meditation. I know if I could just quiet my mind it would be better in every aspect of my life. Thank you!
Thanks for the wonderful, calming and easy meditation! The chapter on reading with your palm was definitely a BIG bonus! A beautiful feeling of awe at the universe and myself came over me. Thank you so much! I can’t wait to practice this on more books!!!
I like The 3-Minute Meditation so much, I would like to re-publish it on my http://assetebooks.com/zen-enlightenment.php blog. If you allopw this, I would give you 100% credit, including a link back to Finer Minds. Do I have your okay?
Thanks for the 3 minute that anyone can do. It was a great help in my meditation. I have been using monaral, binaural, and isochronic sounds whichhelp me to go deeper, but I love your approach. We can never learn too much. Thanks again.
When you set yourself up as “Finer Minds” you are creating the shadow “Inferior Minds”.
It is not about minds is it about Mind, Consciousness, far beyond anyone’s egoic claims of superiority.
Wow. Picky, picky, picky. Finer as in when you sift flour to make lighter baked goods perhaps? Lighten up Dan
I’ve been practicing this since the day it was posted (3-days ago) and I have to say, its been really really helpful, especially when things feeling like they are going out of control (and you’re beginning to feel quite out of control as well).
Being able to know how to stop, relax, focus, and have control over myself makes such a big difference in how I’ve been approaching the different challenges I have everyday. I was able to compartmentalizie and be more solutions oriented.
Thank you sharing this!
so so good so so easy
many thanks
thank you for this small but highly useful meditative practice
So busy in my retired life that I had forgotten how much I needed to ‘stop’ for a bit– thanks a lit for making it simple too. Am remembering to relax the face and breath , whilst walking the dogs by the river– the regular rhythem acts as the mantra, and the round breathing works with the steps( two steps with in-breath and two with out-breath) —if anybody has dogs out there, try it !
remove from facebook
i don’t want it to appear publicly