How I Meditate

I have been meditating off and on for some time now. It was only after I did one particular exercise in this book called "The Heart of Meditation" by Swami Durgananda that I really started going deeper into meditation than I had before. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand what Meditation is all about and to learn how to meditate. The exercise I picked was called "The Way to the Heart", I believe. What I did was sit comfortably and quietly in one place, and focus my attention in the center of my chest, a little above the solar plexus. This is the heart chakra - "anahat chakra", if I remember correctly. The goal is to focus your attention at the spot, and observe what you feel. No need to concentrate, or to try and "feel" peaceful. If you feel any pressure in that region, you just focus your attention on it - feel it. Nothing else. Slowly, any pressure you feel in that region dissipates, the feeling of "peace", calmness, contentment increases. Some days I would feel so contented that I wanted to hug everyone I saw on the way to work. I didn't do that, of course, but you understand the kind of feelings meditation aroused in me. The feelings don't stay for long, though, but you develop an overall sense of contentment in your life if you continue.