There are many meditation techniques you can learn for relaxation, to lower stress, for health or even for spiritual reasons. There is the practice of vipassana, where you watch your thoughts and learn to let go. There is mantra meditation practice, where you recite a holy sound such as is done japa practice in Indian. Reciting the Prayer of Jesus is a mantra meditation technique.

There is the white skeleton visualization technique, where you visualize you body becoming just a shiny white skeleton, and then dust, and then emptiness. There is also the beginner's meditation method of anapana, where you watch your breath until your thoughts come down. And there are many more techniques as well from Christianity, yoga, Buddhism, Taoism and many Eastern or western traditions.

The following is an easy meditation technique which you can practice any time you have a few free minutes. It will help you learn how to quiet your mind. Free meditation lessons are available at sites like MeditationExpert.com that explain these techniques in detail.

This method is perfect for beginners who are just learning how to meditate. You don't need to sit on the floor and assume the lotus posture, where you cross your legs in a painful knot, though it is something you should learn later if you are really serious about meditation for health or spiritual reasons. But for beginners it is not necessary.

Here are the steps to a simple beginner's meditation practice:

Step 1: Sit in a comfortable chair, unbutton your shirt and belt and remove your watch or other jewelry. Place your hands in your lap and close your eyes. Basically, adjust your body so it's comfortable, but with you head erect and spine straight but relaxed.

Step 2: Let go of the thoughts that arise in your head, but just watch them, observe them without getting involved. Witness them as if you are a third party observer or passerby.

After doing this for awhile, slowly start observing your breathing. Know when you take an in-breath and know when you breath out. Know this by knowing when the breath goes through your nostrils.

Relax your body, watch your thoughts, and then eventually switch the focus to following your breath. When beginners want to learn how to meditate, they should either follow their breathing or their thoughts, and in both cases, just watch or observe it without getting involved. Thoughts and breathing happen all by themselves so there is no reason to add any extra energy or effort to the process. Just observe, and by observing you can learn how to detach from this energy.

Step 3: Slowly the thoughts in your mind will begin to calm down as you learn how to watch with detachment, and you will begin to feel a sense of inner peace and quiet, calm or stillness. That's the first benefit of meditation practice, but it takes awhile to learn how to let go of thoughts. Beginners must make meditation practice a regular routine in order to get these results.

Want to learn more? Countless meditation techniques are available. You can find out more at the premier teaching site for these techniques which has meditation books, tapes and guided meditation as well. Where? At Meditationexpert.com