YELLOW MANDALA Breathe regularly and deeply, relax and gaze at the picture as you meditate.   There is no effort needed to meditate optimally.  It is easy to slip into a state of alpha brain waves.  You do it every day.  Just stop and forget your worries.  Nothing will happen in the next 20 minutes.  All your problems will still be there later.  Don’t try so hard to meditate.  It is easy.  Just focus on one thing.  This could be your breath, or the image of a flower, or a landscape that is a favorite of yours.  You could focus on the sounds around you, or the smells in the air.  If you are trying too hard, you are undoing all the good of meditating, by setting yourself up to fail. Meditation is natural; just watch a child with his favorite TV program. Just start focusing, and you naturally go into alpha.  Try Japanese flute as a backdrop to meditation.   (back to color meditation)