Steer clear of noisy surroundings, if it's not silent inside your room, go outside the house and go somewhere quiet, though, your room before bedtime should be quiet enough, if the people around are already in their respective rooms and resting.
Option 1 Binaural Beats:
Search in YouTube about Binaural Beats, try the Alpha Brainwave one.
Since I'm feeling generous right now, here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7dEkWvqrlA
(Remove any spaces you will find in the link)
Download that, convert that video into .mp3 file by going at zamzar.com, and go in the "Download Videos Tab" you will see there, you can figure out the rest.
Then put that newly converted .mp3 file into any portable music player and play it while you meditate, focus only on the sound, and the sound only, don't think of anything, if any thoughts enter your mind, acknowledge it and put it aside for the time being.
I've read this somewhere, though I completely forgot where, but I will call this the "Stream and Waterfall" method for easier reference:
You must visualize (while your eyes are closed), that you're sitting near a stream of water, and meditating there, if any thoughts enter your mind, acknowledge it and put it aside by "throwing" it into the stream and see it go down the waterfalls on where this stream is connected, then continue on meditating, repeat this step as long as random thoughts or any kinds of thoughts enter your mind while meditating).
Option 2 Zen Meditation:
Just go here: http://www.mro.org/zmm/teachings/meditation.php
(Remove any spaces you will find in the link for it to work)
Follow the instructions, and you're good to go.
That method is one of the BEST meditation methods there is in my opinion.
If you can't still concentrate, just keep on focusing on the focal point that the link I gave you said:
"It is important to center your attention in the hara. The hara is a place within the body, located two inches below the navel. It's the physical and spiritual center of the body. Put your attention there; put your mind there. As you develop your zazen, you'll become more aware of the hara as the center of your attentiveness."
This Hara they are talking about are somehow... in the same location as the Navel Chakra, to locate easily, straighten your four fingers (exclude the thumb), then put your index finger horizontally under your bellybutton, now the location of this hara is in the location on where your smallest finger (4th finger) is. And, since I think it was the Navel Chakra (somebody correct me if I'm wrong), you can visualize it as color Orange, an orange-colored lotus/flower.
Focus only on that, just visualize it while your eyes are closed.
(I highly recommend closing your eyes if you can't concentrate well during meditation).
And yeah, you can also use the Stream and Waterfall method I mentioned earlier if thoughts still keeps on bugging you, though this time, after you watched those thoughts be dragged by waters and gone through the waterfalls, you must resume your breath counting.
[hr]
Note:
I highly recommend the Zen Meditation method though, and I never would want to try to combine those two methods.
If I want to achieve deeper states of consciousness and concentration through meditation, I use the Zen Meditation one.
If I'm in a rush to do quick rituals and other energy manipulation exercises, while keeping my mind in a partially concentrated state, I use the Binaural Beats method.
Deeper relaxation, and concentration can be BEST achieved through Zen Meditation.
Regarding the way on locating this hara if you used my four finger style of locating.
So... since the little finger is more shorter than the index finger (which I assumed, that the tip of your index finger is just below your bellybutton), you may get confused, so yeah, just after locating it with the four finger method just visualize the hara being perpendicular to your bellybutton, so their positions are perpendicular vertically.
Then make this orange-colored flower/lotus quite bigger or just imagine it glowing into a bright orange color, size must not be so big and not so small, just right, what matters is your attention MUST be on that hara.
pureindigo i really enjoyed this you are very right I have been on here for hours and that seams to be what everyone was worried about casting (spells) they were simply forgetting step one the main one you need for most all meditation thank you this is most help full and it was great the way you put it all
I may have missed it, but you mentioned casting a circle, is the any specifics for doing this to know, or just visualise a circle around you in a shield sense?
uhm, hi, new to the site and all, but what are your views on active meditation? Also, how does one learn to create a meditation barrier in order to stop magic from leaking out?
