Is your mind to busy to meditate? The answer is absolutely not.

There are four basic categories of experiences you can have during meditation, each of them are signs of a successful meditation.

1. Repeating the Mantra: As you repeat the mantra, you will notice that it is just like a thought except it really has no meaning. Repeating this vibration over and over again will not create thought because it is a vibration and not really a thought or a word. As you repeat the mantra, it may change. The mantra will become faster and slower, louder and fainter, it may even become jumbled or distorted. How ever it changes, continue to repeat it innocently without resisting changes. Sometimes you will notice that you are having thoughts simultaneously while you are repeating the mantra. When you notice this, just drift back to the mantra.
2. Turbulent thoughts and restlessness: When your mind is turbulent, your body may feel restless. The experience may occur at the beginning of a meditation or if you have recently been engaged in emotionally charged or mentally intense activities. As you continue meditating, your mind will settle down and your body will relax. Continue your meditation with an easy attitude when you are feeling restless, coming back to your mantra when you realize your attention has drifted away from it.
3. Slipping into the “gap”: We refer to the experience of “no mantra, no thoughts” as the gap. It is the space between the thoughts.  Effortless use of the mantra enables you to disengage from the flow of thoughts that is perpetuated thorough meaning. Because the mantra is a sound that has no meaning, the mind can quiet as the meaningful association is suspended. Because we are not having thoughts while in the gap, we only become aware of this experience after it has happened. We were not asleep, we were not repeating the mantra, and we were not thinking thoughts. For a brief moment we had stepped out of space and time into pure awareness.
4. Sleep: If you fall asleep during meditation, in means your body has accumulated some fatigue and is taking the opportunity of your relaxation in mediation to rest. When you wake up, finish whatever time of meditation is left. If you regularly fall asleep during meditation, consider going to bed earlier.

The experiences you have during meditation depend on how your physiology is functioning at that time. Therefore as long as you are meditating effortlessly, every experience is a good experience. We encourage you not to judge your meditation by the experiences you have during meditation, but by the benefits you notice in your life.

At the end of your meditation time, stop thinking the mantra, and remain with your eyes closed in silence for two or three minutes. Gently stretch or move, allowing your attention to gradually come back to you environment before getting up.

The basic principles of mindful meditation are simple:

Gently bring your attention to your breath.

Start with three questions: Who am I? What do I want? How can I serve? Then release them.

Think your mantra gently, effortlessly.

When you become aware that you are not thinking the mantra, gently come back to it.

Relinquish expectation or resistance during mediation.

Enjoy the benefits!