Okay, here is a random thread, with a couple of basics tips which can be used by both beginners and those who are more seasoned in the art, so read, enjoy, and if you learn something new take it, make it your own and return the favour by teaching me ;)
Meditation
now this is a topic which is always referred to, what is the best manner to meditate, i can't meditate cause i can't clear my mind, i get bored while meditating etc. Well here are some facts on it, we all do it to some degree through the course of our day without realising it, meditation is any moment where we completely switch of all concious thoughts, even if only for a split second by accident, the trick is learning to expand these moments and create them, now the easiest way to learn this trick is by forcing yourself to meditate, even if it gets boring, force your mind to obey, this is the first step, next step is then incorporating it into every moment of your life to some degree, this is called the art of mindfullness, when studied and expanded upon it gives on the ability to always be in control of your thoughts, actions and emotions instead of visa versa.
Here is a tip for you if you cannot shut off your mind with conventional meditation, try a exertive type of meditation instead of an invertive eg. Move instead of instead of sitting still, tai chi is a good example of this, as is most forms of martial arts, the big trick is to cut off the focus of everything around you, only hold the focus on one single thought, now in exertive meditation one does this by focussing on the movement, breathing, and energy flow, in time these thoughts will merge into one, thus we learn control over the mind instead of mind controlling us.
Another form of meditation which has great effect and teaches us focus is meditation with focus on a mandala, now you get various styles and forms of them, if you search it on the net you will not only find but also see how to create your own, they serve to hold focus in the same manner as a single thought would during normal meditation, they are very handy for entering into various trance states, some also act as doorways to different levels of astral and light, infinite uses, yet something which people tend not to use because it takes effort to get the hang of it at times, here's a newsflash, if you want the easy way out of life maybe magick isn't for you, maybe you should rather then jump back into a lost reality of the rat race, if that sounds like a crappy idea take the time and put in the effort and then reap the rewards.
Another tool to be used for meditation is mantras, chants of sort, some serve to cause a certain vibration within ones being, thus lifting the conciousness to higher levels of being, a mantra can also bea sentence which makes perfect sense to you, in repitition one bypasses the concious part of the mind, thus one can implant the concept in the mantra directly into the subconcious to reap the benefits eg. I am energy, energy is all, therefore i will never fall. a simple sentence like this may seem silly, but if designed for your own personal concepts it can work wonders in the long run.
if anyone needs any further info on this drop me a message, please just don't ask what has already been said.