Simple meditation techniques for profound changes in you.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati revolutionised yoga by making it simple, practical and scientific.

Here are some very simple meditation techniques that can be found in the numerous books he has written, like, Meditations from the Tantras, Yoga & Kriya, Sure Ways to Self-Realisation, Kundalini Tantra, ( all published by Yoga Publications Trust, Munger, Bihar).
The wonderful part is, you can devise and evolve your own techniques with a little bit of imagination & inventiveness. Moreover, you need very short time slots and can be done almost anywhere.

Before we go on to the techniques, just some hints on preparation, posture, etc.
Meditation can be done in any of the classic yogic poses, padma asana, sukhasana, vajra asana. But those who are not able to sit in these poses, they can sit in a chair, or even lie down in shavasana. What is important is that you are comfortable, relaxed and your spine and head are in a straight line. 

Breath awareness techniques:
1. Sitting quietly with eyes closed, merely watch each and every inhalation & exhalation. Observe the rhythm of your breath, is it wet or dry, fast or slow, soft or sharp, equal in both nostril or one is more open than the other. Is watching it bringing about change? If your mind wonders off, bring it back to the watching. You can do this anytime, anywhere for 10 to 20 breaths or for 3-5 minutes.
2. With eyes closed, watch every inhalation and exhalation at the nose tip. Apply same parameters like above to observe the breath at the nose tip. Do it for 3-5 minutes or 10 to 30 breaths.
3. With eyes closed, watch the passage of breath in your body from nose tip to lungs and lungs to nose tip as you inhale and exhale. Maybe read up on how every breath passes through the nostril to the lungs. For example, how the respiratory tract cleans, warms and moistens the air . From the nose to the nasal cavity, pharynx (throat), larynx, the upper part of the trachea (windpipe), lower part of the trachea, bronchi and the lungs ( which contains bronchioles and alveoli).


Body Awareness:
1. Eyes closed, become aware of your whole body from head to feet. Then systematically starting from the top of your head come down in slow deliberate steps to the different parts of the body to the tip of the the toes, at each part of the body become aware of that part and relax it. For example, start from  top of the head and then descend to scalp, forehead, both eyes, nostrils, cheeks, jaws, throat, shoulders, both arms, chest, stomach, hip, both legs. 
2. Chose any part of the body and internally with eyes closed examine it in detail. For example, the palm of your right hand. The colour texture of the skin of the inside of the palm, the lines on it, the skin on the outside of the palm, the shape of fingers and nail, the structure of the bones holding the palm together. Then shift to the left palm. 
3. You may look at your digestive system, the excretory system, the liver, heart, etc etc.

Visualization:
This is very important part of meditation as it also helps in all other techniques because most techniques involve keeping eyes closed. This is also fun practice.
1. With eyes closed try to visualise the most beautiful place you visited lately or any scene. Then recall each detail. For example, if you were on a beach at sunset, then visualise the the sun, the changing colour of the sun, the sky and the sea, as the sun went down, waves, the beach, the people on the beach, the sound of the waves, the sound of people, etc etc.
2. A book you have read. Try to recall what you have read with complete picturization  and every emotion and feeling the book evoked. Recall some profound sentences or aspects of the book and mull over it.
3.With eyes closed try to relive the happiest moment of your life or the most painful. Again evoking all the emotions, feelings, sensations, etc felt then.

Mantra chanting ( Jaap):
1. The simplest of mantra chanting or jaap is Om chanting. It can be synchronized with the breath in different ways, like, taking a deep inhale, then as you exhale, internally or audibly chant Om ( A-A-U-U-M-M). Or with every inhale and exhale Om.
2. Another simple mantra is So Hum. With every inhale, internally, mentally say the mantra So and as you exhale, the mantra Hum. 
OR one may chose any mantra from your religion like, Amen, Amin or Buddhist mantras.

These are all simple meditation techniques for which not much preparation or slots of free time is needed. In the daily rush of your work-a-day life you can practice these when commuting, taking short break in work, etc.