I have been very busy at work but I have found this great article that I would like to share.

Lots of Love Forest Spirit Queen

By Dr. Pradeep Kumar

Meditation is the realization of one's individual and universal nature which brings freedom from fear and allows the person to live in a state of wholeness and well-being.

Meditation begins with a technique, an intentional awareness of outer world, sensations in the body and of one's feelings, emotions, thoughts and experiences. During such practice a person discovers that his/her mind was programmed and conditioned by the society and culture. Later on, meditation becomes spontaneous and effortless, and life itself becomes a meditation. Whatever we think, speak or do, positive or negative, is a meditation because meditation is not a virtue, morals, good behavior or thinking; it is the awareness of all that is.

Active and Receptive Meditation Techniques:

Meditation technique can be either active, which is a focus on a certain image, word, thought or point, or receptive, which is a calm, non-judgmental awareness of both the inner and outer worlds. Mindfulness meditation is a receptive technique while visualization is an active one.

In both, meditation techniques are cognitive in nature because they are put together in a particular sequence by thoughts. There is no need to believe in god, God, or a creator, to engage in meditation.

Stages of Meditation:
Meditation is a movement from less awareness towards more awareness. In this movement we may experience the following stages or states which may not be in chronological order and various stages may follow or precede others.
• Relaxation: Beginning of Awareness and Healing
• Joy: Mind-Body Integration and Witnessing
• Tranquility: Experience of Universal Consciousness
• Natural State: The Biological Being

Relaxation: Beginning of Awareness and Healing

People live in stress and conflict which awakens an old physiological response in the body called the "fight, flight or freezing" response. In humans, this response is more active because they carry the fear of death both consciously and subconsciously in their minds at all times, and are constantly engaging in activities to make them safer.

Early signs of meditation are reversal of the stress reaction to relaxation response in mind and body. A relaxed mind is an aware mind because it has enough energy to observe and contemplate. Such a mind sees life's problems clearly and deals with them rather than escaping, which leads to healing.

During meditation some people see colours, visions, prophets, angels, gods and goddesses. Some may hear sounds or smell various aromas, or feel light or heavy, cold or warm. Some experience energy sensations that cause a sudden startle response or jerking of a limb. These experiences simply indicate that meditation is progressing. The person should not get attached to these experiences, or else they may become an obstacle to deepening the meditation.

Joy: Mind-Body Integration and Witnessing

When a person is established in deep relaxation, and the mind and body remain calm in life's turmoil, a point may come when they unite in full awareness. When the great divide between the mind and body ends consciously, a profound integration takes place between these two components of existence, out of which a sense of well-being and joy are born. This integration leads to the awakening of the body's intelligence, which was always there waiting to be expressed but had been suppressed. With this awakening of body's intelligence individual accepts his/her mortality.

Beside joy and well-being the individual starts witnessing outer world and one's own thoughts and emotions. Slowly witnessing becomes spontaneous and continues all the time without effort. At this point, intentional meditation ends and life itself becomes an effortless meditation.

Tranquility: Experience of Universal Consciousness

Relaxation, joy and well-being are the experiences which mark the moment when the fragmented person becomes an integrated individual. This is truly a wonderful step forward, but it is not the final step. Another step on this path is to enter into the experience of the universal. In experiencing the universal, individual boundaries are broken and the individual arrives at the realization of God, nothingness, Nirvana, Moksha or Samadhi. Tranquility and peace is the primary experience of such realization which expresses itself in compassion and love.

Natural State: The Biological Being

Natural state is another state arrived in meditation spontaneously. This state is different from God or Nirvana experience and can't be willed or given by others. It's a biological state in which body becomes the part of the nature. Individual cells in the body are transformed, cleaned of thoughts and function at their peak. Mind is active only when it is needed otherwise it rests in peace without interfering with body and brain.