Any tips on "Clearing" the mind?

If you think in words, stop.

This is an effort at first, because you find yourself thinking words again and again and you begin to think that you will never be able to stop thinking in words. It can be done. What I am trying to say is that you must train yourself to think in pictures at first. While you are learning this method, you will soon find that without all the word mumble going on inside your head, your thinking becomes a lot clearer. You become more relaxed and begin to look forward to your meditation more and more every day. Soon your problems can be worked out more readily than when you jumble up your thoughts with words like:

"Why can't I concentrate?"
"What do I do to clear my mind"
"Why isn't this working?"
"How do I concentrate?

People are 'programed' to think before they speak, and most of the time many will think in words before they speak them aloud. Meditation is hard for many because of the amount of 'thinking' their brain does every day. Meditation is found to be almost impossible, but not if you stop thinking in words. Force yourself to stop. Every time you begin to think of something that conflicts with your meditation like something that may have happened at work that day, refuse to allow yourself to think in words. Hard? Yes, but only at first. Soon you will be able to concentrate and meditation will come much easier and more successful every time.

Hope that helps... I had to learn this myself....

Always with respect,

No1nptkulr

The mind will relax of it's own accord, given the disciplines of maintaining good posture and breathing.

Good posture for meditation is important for the flow of kundalini energy through the bodies chakra pionts. I like to meditate naked as it allows me to check my spine is straight and my shoulders and hips are square. Concentrate on keeping your shoulders level and your head level. When we are depressed we walk with our necks and shoulders craned foward and our head down, this in turn compresses our chest, lungs and diaphram. In meditation we seek to retrain our bodies to their natural healthy positions, you will be amazed at how much better you can feel simply by walking upright again.

Breathing in mediataion has a twofold purpose, one being to oxygenate the body, the second to encourage the flow of prana. When meditating try to breathe like a sine wave, not as in and out breathes, but as a slow deep smooth single movement. This is not as easy as it sounds and requires concentration and practise.

When you master this style you will begin to feel the downward pressure from the top of your skull when you inhale and your eyes may roll upward as the flow of prana courses through your body. You will begin to feel energised and will start to release built up emotions you have been carrying.

As we become stressed we build up emotional baggage we keep bottled up through fast short shallow breathing. Has anyone ever told you to relax and take a deep breath when you are upset?

Try and seek out a good rebirthing practitioner, to explain further about pranic flow breathing, going through your mudra's and to emotionally support you through the release of your repressed emotions...

I wish you the best...