If you were going to teach meditation to beginners . . . ?

Just sit still and try to pay attention to your senses.

I've taught meditation to children... Usually guided imagery stuff seems easier as a starting point in that case. Even if the imagery is just imagining your muscles relaxing into the floor so you feel like ice cream melting, heh

When I was younger my school councillor taught me some basic mediation to assist with my serious anger issues.

What I did, playing off of River's comments, would use mental imagery with breathing. I'd breathe in and visualise all my body filling up with red (my anger, my hate, ect), and as I breathed out I'd visualise my body filling with blue as the red flowed out into the ground and away.

Perhaps not a great method of mediation, but was a great starting ground for me... perhaps it can be for others.

ReallyRiver wrote: I've taught meditation to children... Usually guided imagery stuff seems easier as a starting point in that case. Even if the imagery is just imagining your muscles relaxing into the floor so you feel like ice cream melting, heh

Back before I joined Jediism - My mom was into alot of new age practices with friends. We would do guided meditations.

Example:

Start with the toes. Instruct your student to wiggle there toes and flex them up and down.

Move to the foot, twisting and flexing. Note how the ankle rolls with the action....

Continue to move and flex your foot but draw your concentration up your calves, feel the muscles tug, pull and relax with the motion.

ect ect ect all the way up to the top of your head.

Once you reach the top.

The instructor tells the student to lay very still...Focus on breathing in real deep, as deep as they can....before letting it out slowly and allowing themselves to just.....Relax.

After the guided instructions the teacher would go quite and just let everyone to listen to the music until they were ready to get up and do whatever.

I don't remember how long that took.....But it was a real fun and soothing kind of meditation

Definately go over the "Why?"

Why do we meditate?
What are we meditating on?
What are we implying about ourselves, our world, and how we relate when we say "we meditate"?

I know it sounds simple, but there are some complex assertions that come with such a passive and seemingly innocent practice.