The World Wide Online Meditation Center www.meditationcenter.com

A user-friendly site that offers instruction on a wide variety of techniques—including breath meditation, mantra meditation, and light meditation.

If you are just learning to meditate, you’ll find everything necessary to get started quickly and easily. If you are already practicing meditation, you may discover new methods to deepen your practice.

Shambhala www.shambhala.org/meditationinstruction.html

This website offers a wealth of information on basic meditation techniques as well as for “post meditation practices” that enable practitioners to carry their newfound sense of happiness and well-being out of their meditation space and into their lives.

Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society www.umassmed.edu/cfm/mbsr

Mindfulness meditation practice tapes are available here from this well-known University of Massachusetts Medical School-based MBSR center.

Insight Meditation Center www.insightmeditationcenter.org/imc-medinstruct.html

A five-week course titled Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation is available to listen to or to download.

Access to Insight www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/breathmed.html

Basic breath meditation instruction online.

BuddhaNet Audio www.buddhanet.net/audio-meditation.htm

This site offers a wide variety of downloadable audio files that give instruction on techniques including the “loving-kindness” compassion meditation, “cultivating peace and joy with the breath,” and the “open awareness” meditation.

Spring Forest Qigong www.springforstqiqong.com

Offers a comprehensive, easy-to-follow DVD program for meditation and healing. The program has four extensive levels, but it’s simplest to begin with the “Small Universe” sitting meditation CD that eases tension and removes blockages from the body’s energy pathways.

SpaSpirit www.spaspirit.com

Click on “workshops and retreats” to find the itinerary for two amazing teachers, Michele Hebert and Dr. Mehrad Nazari, who offer instruction at various retreat centers and spas. Hebert pioneered a meditation-based Stress Management Program at the renowned Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California, and teaches Introduction to Meditation at the University of California in San Diego. Nazari has been personally trained by meditation masters including Zen Master Kyozan Joshu Roshi and H. H. the Dalai Lama.

DharmaCrafts www.dharmacrafts.com1-800-794-9862

High-quality meditation cushions, benches, bells, gongs, incense and incense burners, wall hangings, Japanese screens, rice paper lamps, and a beautiful collection of spiritual statuary.

Equinox Gifts www.equinoxbooksandgifts.com 1-877-870-7369

A wide array of gongs, bells and chimes, malas (prayer beads), traveling altars and altar cards, singing bowls, and finger labyrinths.

Zen By Design www.zenbydesign.com1-866-903-0328

An elegant collection of meditation chairs (portable and stationary) that are said to promote spinal alignment. Select fabrics from an array of Thai silk brocades.

Samadhi Store www.samadhicushions.com1-800-331-7751

Cushions and benches, gongs and incense, calligraphy and flower-arranging (ikebana) supplies. A wide selection of books, audio, and video.

Four Gates www.fourgates.com1-888-232-7414

Meditation furniture, including “back jack” chairs for those with back problems, and a nice collection of tapestries, among other items.

Wildmind http://secure.wildmind.org/store/customer/home.php1-877-763-3488

A wide assortment of supplies, some quite practical, including an “invisible clock meditation timer.”

3 Pound Universe www.3pounduniverse.come-mail through site

The store takes its name from the weight of the brain (3 pounds)—and its concentration-enhancing supplies are geared to take that brain to a higher, calmer realm.

Well Baskets www.wellbaskets.com1-800-763-3488

Resources for the health and wellness of mind, body, and spirit—ideal to send to a friend or loved one you’d like to help be happier.

Ear Plug Superstore http://store.yahoo.com/earplugstore/whitenoisecds.html1-918-478-5500

Shop here for an array of white noise CDs and white noise machines that can help you close out distractions to your meditation practice.

Pure White Noise www.purewhitenoise.come-mail through site

Choose from a broad selection of calm-inducing, meditation-enhancing sounds, including waves, wind, rain, distant thunderstorms, and the like.

An impressive array of incense and starter “sampler packs” such as “Flowers and Spice” and “Harmony and Zen.”

Incense Galore www.incensegalore.come-mail: [email protected]

Unique, hand-dipped incense—long-lasting and fresh.

More Than Light www.more-than-light.com1-866-228-9132

Unique illumination and light-spreading products, such as glass oil candles, colored flame candles, and exotic tea light stands.

Illuminations www.illuminations.com1-800-621-2998

Every imaginable style of candle—tapers, votives, jar candles, and so on—in every color and scent. Also, a wealth of candleholders and other accessories.

Oriental Furnishings Club www.orientalfurnishings.com1-914-592-6320 or 1-203-853-7553

This wide collection of elegant screens in assorted sizes and materials can help you create a meditation space in a corner of any room.

Home Decorators www.homedecorators.com1-877-537-8539

A large assortment of room dividers that you can search by style (Oriental, Victorian, contemporary), fabric, color, or finish.

Tatami Room www.tatamiroom.com1-866-465-4068

Traditional and contemporary screens. Also, check out their lamp collection.

Retreat Finder www.retreatfinder.com1-800-889-6906

For those on a quest for inner peace, this search site helps you find what you’re seeking.

Zen Mountain Monastery www.mro.org/zmm/index.php1-845-688-2228

This upstate New York meditation training center provides Zen training for people of all ages and spiritual backgrounds. The “Introduction to Zen Training” weekend is a wonderful way to dip your toe into the well.

The Chopra Center www.chopra.com1-866-260-2236

Located at California’s La Costa Resort and Spa, this health and wellness retreat integrates the mind-body meditation techniques as set forth by internationally acclaimed author and philosopher Dr. Deepak Chopra.

Mount Manresa www.manresasi.org1-718-727-3844

At this Jesuit retreat house, a professional retreat staff will help you focus your inner journey.

The Garden at Thunder Hill www.gardenofone.com1-518-797-3373

This retreat—describing itself as a “personal research facility”—is located on 120 acres of forest, streams, trails, and natural beauty in the Albany, New York, area. Paths through old orchards and even older forests hold the promise of serenity and simplicity.

Angel Valley Spiritual Retreat Center www.angelvalley.org1-800-393-6308

A nondenominational organization located on the edge of breathtaking Sedona, Arizona. The 70-acre property is surrounded by National Forest where renowned Sedona red rocks radiate their magic. The retreat offers a perfect environment for individuals and groups on retreat. If you like you can bunk in a teepee.

Seven Circles Retreat www.sevencirclesretreat.org1-559-337-0211

Located in foothills just outside Sequoia National Park, this retreat is situated on 24 acres of scenic hills filled with native Oak and Manzanita. Visitors can take a short hike to appreciate the sunrise over the snowcapped high Sierra. The website has an ongoing list of retreat events and programs.

Our-Lady-of-Peace Spiritual Life Center www.our-lady-of-peace-retreat.org1-401-783-2871

A Rhode Island retreat in the Christian tradition, the Center enables people to re-encounter their spirituality in their personal lives. It offers individual and group retreats, and a hermitage is available for private retreats.

Green Mountain at Fox Run http://fitwoman.com/mindfulness_retreat.htm1-800-448-8106

At this Vermont retreat, discover and practice techniques of visualization, meditation, and journaling to help yourself bring more joy and peace to your daily life.

Earth Sanctuary www.earthsanctuary.org1-425-637-8777

Washington State’s Earth Sanctuary is an environment for personal renewal and spiritual connection, whatever your spiritual path. Accommodations are immediately adjacent to a 72-acre nature reserve, meditation parkland, and sculpture garden.

The Expanding Light Retreat www.expandinglight.org1-800-346-5350

Located in northern California’s Sierra Nevada foothills, this retreat offers meditation workshops.

Rancho La Puerta www.rancholapuerta.com1-800-443-7565

A unique spa resort, Rancho La Puerta, just south of the Mexican border and about an hour from San Diego, provides an abundance of opportunities for meditation instruction and practice, including an “Inner Journey” class. Its facilities include a breathtaking meditation room overlooking Mount Kuchaama, and a tree-cloaked meditation labyrinth modeled on the one at Chartres.