Choose a peaceful environment. Meditation should be practiced somewhere calming and peaceful. This will enable you to focus exclusively on the task at hand and avoid bombarding your mind with outside stimuli. Try to find a place where you will not be interrupted for the duration of your meditation - whether it lasts five minutes or half an hour. The space does not need to be very large - a walk-in closet or even your office can be used for meditation, as long as it's somewhere private.
For those new to meditation, it's especially important to avoid any external distractions. Turn off TV sets, the phone or other noisy appliances. If you play music, choose calm, repetitive and gentle tunes, so as not to break your concentration. Another option is to turn on a small water fountain - the sound of running water can be extremely calming.
Understand that the meditation space does not need to be completely silent, so there should be no need to reach for the earplugs. The sound of a lawnmower running or the dog barking next door shouldn't prevent effective meditation. In fact, being aware of these noises but not letting them dominate your thoughts is an important component of successful meditation.
Meditating outside works for many meditators. As long as you don't sit near a busy roadway or another source of loud noise, you can find peace under a tree or sitting upon some lush grass in a favorite corner of the garden.
