It is important in order to experience a meditative state of consciousness and to visualise, is for your mind to be relaxed and calm.
Meditation does take practice. The Buddhist does this 3 times a day to get in touch with their inner self.
You will feel at total peace and tranquillity once you have grasped it.
My suggestions would be to make the room warm. Have incense on the go and candles burning if you wish.
Play soft relaxing music that is preferable to meditating and other complementary music.
 
When you have chosen your choice of making the room right to enhance relaxation. Be sure that you will have no distractions, because this is your time, your journey and your chance to get away from all your problems and best of all away from the outside world. You could possibly use headphones for this to ensure that you can't hear other noises.
 
The key to meditation is not falling asleep but being relaxed and aware taking your mind on a deeper and visual level. This is a great time to address any problems, that you may have, and putting them to one side in the duration of your meditation.
 
The more you practice, the more you will notice your visualisation techniques being enhanced. These visuals can then start occurring when people are explaining things. Without going into your meditation.
 
If you practice this for only 20 minutes a day then you will notice that you can relief things such as pain, helping you choose the paths that you want to go down, confidence, Stress etc. I could go on but the thing is it can help with our everyday lives and situations.
 
*Stage one* - To make your senses relaxed.
1. Take a few slow deep breaths.
2. Close your eyes. Notice the tension around the eyes relaxing.
*Stage two* - Feeling positive.
Say to yourself something like "Everyday, in every way I feel myself getting better and better" Using an affirmed like I am not going to think of the negativity or upsetting thoughts that has happened to me during the day for the duration of this meditation.
*Stage Three* - Mind Slowing Down.
1. Become aware of your breathing. Without changing it in any way. Simply start to count after each exhalation. For example one: Breathe in ...breathe out, two: breathe in ....breathe out and so on up to ten.
2. Now choose a word that has a calming effect on you, instead of using a number. This can be any word try for example repeating between the out breaths and the in breath one of the following or all:
  * Relax or Relaxing
  * Peace or Peaceful
  * Love
  * Bliss or Blissful

After a few rounds of repeating this mantra (for this is what the word is), your mind would have slowed down enough for you to begin which will make you more aware of the body's sensations.
*Stage Four* - Body Re-laxer
In this stage we try to then relax the whole body starting at the feet and ending up at the scalp. Becoming aware in turn of the different parts of it. Feeling each part in turn. Feel the tension there is, tensing up the muscles then letting go. Start with the feet, tense up the muscles in both feet and try to feel the weight of the whole foot. Try to then feel the bones and structure of the ankle then repeat this through out the rest of the body tensing and releasing it, through the:
 

• Buttocks

• Anus and genitals

• Lower Back

• Spine

• Shoulders

• Left Arm (Upper, Elbow, Forearm, Wrist)

• Left Hand (palm, back of hand, thumb, fingers in turn)

• Repeat the sequence on the right arm and right hand.

• The belly (imagine that this part is expanding, opening up)

• Chest breath slow and deep into the heart imagine as you are doing this you are cleansing and energising our hearts.

• Feel the weight of your torso let it get heavier, expand it, then slowly release.

• Feel the tension in your jaw, mouth, tongue, let your face sag, and your jaw drop, around the eyes, let them become soft, feel them

  sinking into there sockets.

• End with the scalp, feel any tightness and wiggle your ears to relax. Try and think of your head getting massage at a hairdressers, this feels good don't it!

*Stage 5* - Letting Go
Scan the whole of the body and any pain that you feel just simply breathe into these areas. By now you should be enjoying your relaxed status and you should have let go of any tension that you may have left.
 
You will now be ready to start your meditation as this is about getting your body prepared and able to carry out meditation.
 

Tracy.