Whenever someone thinks about meditating, they generally hope to find a quiet and serene location where they will not be distracted by worldly noises or other people. Though this may be the ideal and the hoped for location to meditate, for many it is rare that they can have such a situation on a regular basis. What then? Where can you meditate when you are not afforded the ideal placement?
 
I have believed forever that if you hope to truly meditate you must make meditation a part of your everyday existence. You must make what you do your meditation.
 
In many ways, if you do something in any repetitive manner in your life, it is very easy to make that action part of your meditation protocol. It is simply the way you focus your mind when you are doing what you are doing. If you decide what you are doing is a mediation, then it becomes a meditation.
 
Most people are not like that, however. If they are doing something that they do every day, say as a part of their job, for them it simply becomes a chore.

This is all based on a state of mind, however. If you can change the way you’re thinking about that something, that anything can shift from being an imposition to becoming a meditative tool.
 
One of the main things a person should develop, if they hope to advance their mind via meditation, is that they must guide themselves, they must allow themselves, to meditate wherever they find themselves.
 
For example, if you are waiting for your appointment in some office, and you know that you will be sitting there for a few minutes, that is an ideal time to shift your mind towards meditation. If you are riding on a subway, or are on a plane, yes, there may be a certain level of commotion taking place around you, but if you take the time to focus your mind, and take the incentive to meditate, these situations can be an ideal time to meditate.
 
Many believe that one must sit in a crossed legged position on the floor to meditate. That they must sit there quietly, with their eyes closed, with no distraction to meditate. Though that is an idealized image of meditation, it is almost too fabricated to be a reality in this modern world.
 
We are all dominated by the hands of time. We must all go places to do something. Yes, it is important to set a time for yourself to quietly meditate each day. Beyond that, however, if you truly hope to make meditation an integral part of your life, you must transcend beyond the common depiction of meditation and bring it into all aspects of your life.
 
Allow yourself to meditate where you find yourself. From this, true self-realization may be understood.