Quite Sitting

Taoism, Buddism, Zen, T.M. all employ quiet sitting to meditiate. The techniques that I outline here are summarized from the work of Herbert Benson who studied meditation as a means of reducing stress and evoking the relaxation response. He emphasised the need for four pre-requisites

A quiet environment with as few distractions as possible
An object to dwell on - a mental device - to shift the mind from externally oriented thoughts. It can be a positive word like love, joy, peace.. a sound.. an object to gaze at such as the flame of a candle, a picture, a quiet place in nature, a flower
A passive attitude - distracting thoughts will occur, acknowledge them, set them aside to be dealt with later. Reaffirm that this is not the time to deal with these external events. This is the time for you to quieten your mind. With practice you will focus for longer periods.. return to your mental device. Some other techniques you can employ here include passive awareness - watching your thoughts as if watching television, acknowledging them with a degree of detachment. However, these thoughts may lead to muscular tension. Watch your breath. Give it a colour. Watch it enter and leave - maybe use two colours, one for the in breathe and one for the out breathe. Meditate on a core theme that is meaningful to you on the day. Breathe in patience, calmness, lightness, compassion, peace, forgiveness...It is hard to relax if one feels hurt, anxious, resentful or hard done by. Negativity can cause the emotional tensions that lead to being stressed. Do your best to make your peace with the world and let go of the negative emotions with the out breathe
A comfortable position - to prevent muscular tension you should be comfortable and relaxed. This may be a cross-legged sitting position on the floor, on a seat, the lotus position, kneeling, lying. If sitting keep the back straight and the arms relaxed. Take in a few deep breaths and think relax, let go, release.. Breathe slowly and rhythmically