United Nations Days & Years Meditation Initiative

Guidelines for those new to meditation

Individuals and groups can help to make UN Days and Years much more effective through meditation and prayer. Click here for: information on ways to participate in the UN Days & Years Meditation Initiative; and information on The Great Invocation, a world prayer that can be used to invoke higher energies of Light, Love and Power in support of the themes of the UN Calendar.

Set aside a certain time for the meditation when you can be undisturbed. Sit in a comfortable position with the spine erect. Relax any tenseness in the body. Drop the chin a little to release tension at the back of the neck. It is helpful to meditate in the same position whenever possible. See that your breathing is quiet, even and rhythmic.

Centre your awareness in the work which you are about to undertake as a service to humanity. This means that you drop from mind all thoughts of the day and all personal concerns.

If you are new to meditation you may find difficulty in concentration. Persist. Bring the mind back to the topic of reflection every time it wanders and you will find that, with practice, you become increasingly skilled.

It is recommended that the meditation is between 15 to 25 minutes as this is creative work which calls for full attention. Try to be regular in the meditation work to be done, for example once a day, or once a week. To do a brief meditation regularly is of more value than a longer one done only now and then.

Integration & Alignment

You may find this integration and alignment exercise useful:

Sit comfortably, alert and with the spine erect. Breathe quietly and regularly. Raise your consciousness to the centre between the eyebrows and without strain hold this focus.

Affirm to yourself: " I have a physical body, but I am not my physical body." Pause. " I have emotions, but I am not my emotions."Pause. "I think and have thoughts, but I am not my thoughts."

Pause and then affirm: "I am a centre of light and love and spiritual will. This is my higher Self."

Visualise the integration of the physical, emotional and mental aspects of your personality.

Now visualise harmony and alignment between the personality and the higher Self. Imaginatively see in the mind's eye an inner radiant sun formed by the merging of the life of the personality and the radiant light of the higher Self.

With practice this exercise can be done very briefly to centre your consciousness in preparation for meditation. By affirming the integration of your personality and its alignment with the Soul or higher Self you aid progress toward that integration and alignment.