Simple steps to effective Meditation

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-harris/how-to-meditate_b_861295.html

Meditation Instructions:

1. Sit comfortably, with your spine erect, either in chair or cross-legged on a cushion.
2. Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and feel the points of contact between your body and the chair or floor. Notice the sensations associated with sitting--feelings of pressure, warmth, tingling, vibration, etc.
3. Gradually become aware of the process of breathing. Pay attention to wherever you feel the breath most clearly--either at the nostrils, or in the rising and falling your abdomen.
4. Allow your attention to rest in the mere sensation of breathing. (There is no need to control your breath. Just let it come and go naturally.)
5. Every time your mind wanders in thought, gently return it to the sensation of breathing.
6. As you focus on the breath, you will notice that other perceptions and sensations continue to appear: sounds, feelings in the body, emotions, etc. Simply notice these phenomena as they emerge in the field of awareness, and then return to the sensation of breathing.
7. The moment you observe that you have been lost in thought, notice the present thought itself as an object of consciousness. Then return your attention to the breath--or to whatever sounds or sensations arise in the next moment.
8. Continue in this way until you can merely witness all objects of consciousness--sights, sounds, sensations, emotions, and even thoughts themselves--as they arise and pass away.
9. Don't fall.

Those who are new to the practice generally find it useful to hear instructions of this kind spoken aloud, in the form of a guided meditation. UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center has several that beginners should find helpful.