Meditation is a practical method to make ourself and others happy. Anyone can practice meditation, whether Buddhist or non-Buddhist.

Although meditation is an action of mind, rather than of body or speech, as our mind and body are closely related it is helpful to have a comfortable seat and a good posture. This will help us to maintain a clear and concentrated mind. 

If we are sitting on a cushion we should try to sit cross-legged, but if this is too difficult we should sit in a posture as close to this as possible while remaining comfortable. If we are sitting on a chair we should have our feet resting on the floor. Our back should be straight, and the right hand should be placed on the left hand with the palms facing upward and the tips of the thumbs slightly raised and just touching at the level of the navel. The mouth should be gently closed, with the tongue touching the back of the upper teeth. The head should be inclined slightly forward with the eyes slightly open. The shoulders are level and the elbows are held slightly away from the sides to let air circulate.

It’s ideal to make meditation a daily practice. Just by doing breathing meditation for a short while each day you will notice the benefits. However, don’t worry if you can’t do this right away.  Some people initially find it helps to attend a meditation class and then gradually they are able to establish their own meditation practice at home.

Our meditation session needn’t be very long. For example, regularly practicing a simple breathing meditation for 5-10 minutes will reduce your stress,  increase your mental peace and your ability to control your mind. Initially it is better to practice for a short time with a focused mind, rather than for a long time with a distracted mind.

You can meditate at any time but meditating first thing in the morning is helpful because your mind is usually less sleepy and a morning practice means you have a clearer mind and better intention for the day.  It can also help to meditate at the same time each day so it becomes a regular habit. 

Throughout our life we have allowed our mind to follow distractions, so now when we meditate at first our mind will be very busy. We might even feel that the meditation is making our mind busier but in reality we are just becoming more aware of how busy our mind actually is. There will be a great temptation to follow the different thoughts as they arise, but we should resist this and remain concentrated on our meditation. 

If we practice patiently in this way, through the force of familiarity gradually our distracting thoughts will subside and we will experience a sense of inner peace and relaxation. 

In the beginning it is best not to worry about doing meditation correctly as this tends to cause discouragement or a self-critical attitude and that actually gets in the way of learning to meditate.  Instead, remember that whenever you meditate you are creating causes of happiness.Check you are making an effort to follow the meditation instructions as best you can and try to practice consistently without expecting quick results. 

The reason we sometimes fall asleep when we are meditating is that, without being aware of it, we have developed dullness. When dullness develops it is as if our mind has become enveloped by darkness and its object has become unclear, just as external objects become unclear when it is foggy or dark. We can overcome this problem by making our mind lighter and more energetic, for instance, by remembering the benefits of training in meditation. We can also meditate at a time of day when we are more rested and make sure the room is bright and not too warm.

Yes, meditation can help us to understand and control our mind. Meditation practice enables us to identify which states of mind produce happiness and which produce suffering.

Regular meditation practice enables us to stop giving  inappropriate attention to negative thoughts and feelings. This helps us to stop identifying with our negativity and to realize we can change. Gradually we become more familiar with positive feelings and beneficial thought processes that help us to see things in a constructive way and this increases our resilience and well-being. 

The first stage of meditation is to stop distractions and make our mind clearer by practicing simple breathing meditation.  You will find three guided breathing meditations on the app. 

Buddhist meditation not only calms the mind, it helps us to change our mind and to progress on a path of inner development.

It’s normal to experience mental busyness and distraction when meditating.  Because meditation is a mental training we should expect it to take some time to become comfortable with the experience of a still mind. However, we can gradually reduce our mental busyness by first training in a simple breathing meditation. If we practice patiently in this way, gradually our distracting thoughts will subside and we will experience a sense of inner peace and relaxation. See  How to Transform Your Life 

Many people find it helpful initially to be guided in meditation by a teacher at a class or you could try using the Modern Buddhism free meditation app

We should know that if we do not find the object of our meditation, our meditation has no function.  Whenever a line of thought is indicated for our contemplation we should first consider where that line of thought is intended to take us. 

In a disciplined way we use our own thoughts and experiences to strengthen our meditation while remaining careful to avoid engaging in thoughts and recollections that are irrelevant.  

Every meditation has a final beneficial thought or peaceful state of mind to concentrate on as the object of our placement meditation. 

When we first start to meditate, our concentration is poor; we are easily distracted and often lose our object of meditation.  Therefore, to begin with, we will probably need to alternate between contemplation and placement meditation many times in each session. 

Just making the mind go blank may be temporarily relaxing, but it is not meditation.

Having pacified our distractions using a breathing meditation we then need to identify, or find, the object of meditation. 

There are many objects of meditation. We find our object  by using analytical meditation, or contemplation. This involves contemplating the meaning of a spiritual instruction that we have heard or read. By contemplating such instructions, eventually we reach a definite conclusion, or cause a specific virtuous state of mind to arise. This is the object of meditation.

We then concentrate single-pointedly on this object for as long as possible to become deeply acquainted with it. This single-pointed concentration is called placement meditation.

At the end of the meditation session we can make special dedications, intending our meditation to bring good results.  Finally we put the meditation into practice by integrating it into our daily life. 

A fully qualified meditation session follows these five stages: Preparation, Contemplation, Concentration, Dedication, Subsequent practice out of meditation.   You can read more about these in the book The New Meditation Handbook.