Learn how to meditate

The Aro gTér Lineage free internet meditation techniques course is a series of weekly emails that are sent to you automatically by this web site.

The course takes a practical, down-to-earth approach. The first week’s email provides all the instructions you need to get started.

In the following weeks, you will learn refinements in the technique and additional meditation exercises. The course also explains ways of dealing with any problems that may come up, shows how to apply the insights of meditation to the rest of life, and recommends other resources and further steps.

If you already know that you want to learn how to meditate, you can sign up for the course now. The first email in the series will come immediately. We will not share your email address with anyone else. You can unsubscribe at any time if the course turns out not to be for you.

Or you can read on, to learn why you might want to meditate, and how the Aro course can help.

Why meditate?

Some benefits of meditation are:

• increased creativity and spontaneity
• greater self-acceptance, self-understanding, and self-confidence
• mindfulness: better focus, concentration, and patience
• the ability to recognize counter-productive habitual patterns of thought and to let go of them
• reduced tension (mental and physical), anxiety, stress, emotional conflict and turmoil
• clarity of purpose and a sense of meaning; the ability to see what is important versus what is urgent but superficial
• greater empathy, connection, harmony, and intimacy in relationships
• health benefits, including lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and improved sleep
• a sense of lightness, ease, peace, wholeness, relaxation, and well-being
• spiritual insight; understanding of one’s relationship with the vastness of existence
• passion for life, enjoyment, verve, and appreciation.

Obstacles and antidotes

It is also important to acknowledge that meditation can be boring, frustrating, uncomfortable, and confusing. This is particularly true in the beginning. These are perhaps the reasons not everyone meditates, despite the extraordinary benefits meditation can provide.

There is a tendency in some quarters to gloss over these difficulties. Some advocates seem to pretend that meditation is an easy and quick path to inner peace, if not eternal bliss. We do not think this is helpful. Meditation takes some determination. If you begin with the expectation that everything will go smoothly, you are likely to give up as soon as you see a difficulty.

Instead, much of this course is devoted to frank discussion of the obstacles all meditators encounter. None of these obstacles needs to stop you. The course provides ‘antidotes’ to each of the problems, including:

• boredom
• restlessness
• sleepiness
• physical discomfort (aches and pains)
• self-judgement and self-doubt
• fear
• confusion
• procrastination

Learn more

If you would like to know more about meditation in general, and the approach of the Aro gTér Lineage in particular, you may want to read our meditation FAQ (answers to frequently asked questions) and other resources.

Or, you may just want to sign up for the course.