To start meditating, choose a time and a place where you won't be disturbed for the duration of your meditation session.

When you are starting out, you may decide to set aside 10 or 15 minutes for your meditation session. This is plenty of time when you are beginning to meditate and in our hectic daily lives it may well be that this is the maximum amount of time that you feel you can devote to meditating. That's fine. Whatever works for you is good – it's much better to spend a few minutes a day meditating than to put it off completely. Over time, you may decide that you are getting sufficient benefits that you want to increase the amount of time you spend in a meditative state, but that's completely your choice.

If you can spare the time, your aim should be to have two 20 minute meditation sessions each day. Research has shown that spending this amount of time meditating leads to better health and can help reduce the stresses and strains of daily life.

Your checklist for starting meditation:

· Choose a meditation method from the chapters that follow.
· Choose a time of day when you are unlikely to be disturbed.
· Choose a place where you feel comfortable and can relax.

That's all!

The time of day should be one where you can make it a habit to meditate at that time. Some people find that meditating first thing in the morning is a good time for them. Other people, myself included, meditate last thing at night before going to sleep. You may find that the best time for you is whilst the rest of the family is watching a program on television. There is no exact time that is best for everyone. Whatever works for you is good! Just make sure that you practice on a regular basis.

The actual place where you decide to meditate is again up to you. A few people set aside a room in their house as their meditation room but if you're just starting out, that's probably a bit too extreme. Instead, you may decide to meditate in your bedroom, the lounge, the kitchen or even the garden. The exact place where you meditate doesn't matter too much – it’s much more important that you actually start practicing meditation.
If you find that the original place you chose isn't working for you, don't be afraid to change it. The same goes for the time and the method that you chose. The ultimate benefit of meditation far exceeds the precise method of meditation that you use to reach the benefit.

One of the easiest ways to start meditating is to use a guided meditation. This is a CD or MP3 that contains all the instructions you need to achieve a state of meditation. All you need to do is to find somewhere that you won't be disturbed, sit or lie down and play the audio file.

You can find a range of pre-recorded guided meditations available for instant download at http://ultimatemeditationkit.com