Meditation

[Switch]

Hey everyone,

Lately I've been meditating, before bed and when I wake up..the results are astounding. I feel so much more centered and in line with everything. It's really hard to do at first but after a while it becomes something that makes you feel like your healing. It's like this feeling of comfort..anyone else have any experiences like this?

 

[Badjedidude]

I don't actually "meditate"...but I do run in the mornings. I find that when I'm running, it gives me a chance to forget my immediate problems/concerns and focus on...well, nothing in particular, I guess. It's nice to get some time every day to just exist and let my mind wander of its own accord. It's definitely an opportunity to let the mind reset and cleanse itself of worries.

So I totally understand what you're saying.

----Steve

 

[kelbo]

I find it so hard to do this...I simply can't meditate. One of my friends was telling me about a guy she is dating...apparently he went on a 10 day meditation retreat were for 10 days he didn't speak to anyone and all he did was meditate. What the hell?! I think I'd have a nervous breakdown, not speaking to anyone for 10 days? And just alone in your own thoughts? Sounds the most awfullest thing anybody could do to be honest.

I've tried getting into meditation for years now. I used to do yoga quite a lot and everyone used to say "surely if you can clear your mind and do yoga then you can clear your mind for meditation" but the thing is I don't ever clear my mind...I can't. I think far too much and even when I'm trying to not think of anything, I am still having to think "don't think of anything, don't think of anything" and it doesn't even work. Even when I relax - thoughts still come, about every single tiny thing.

So I think you are lucky that you can do it and reap the benefits

 

[Badjedidude]

*bows, hands clasped together as if in prayer...speaking in rasping (yet firm) voice, softly and mysteriously*

Young daughter...you have much to learn. The mind, it is like busy hive. Bees always buzzing, always moving, always serving the interests of the Queen, which is self. Self is all to the bees, but is self all to you? Are you Queen or are you bees?

The bees must buzz, they must grow and live, as their time permits. Yet all things end, even service to the Queen which is self. Give it time, young daughter...remain in silence until the time of the bees has passed, and only then will you find...

...Self.

----Steve

P.S. (****, that was more poetic than I'd thought it would be)

 

[randall]

I agree to it meditation is one of the best ways to know more about ourselves. It helps us relax our minds from the hectic stressful schedule. I meditate in early the morning, it is the first thing that I do in the morning. I suggest meditation to everybody to relieve off the stress.

 

[Ridin Solo]

I've done meditation here and there and have gotten pretty good at it... it helps me remember dreams better and has even allowed me to have out of body experiences which are always fun.

 

[Silvernight]

I tried to get into meditation before, and it had no effect on me at all, good or bad. Do I feel calmer? Nope. Do I feel more content and happier? Nope. Did the stress disappear? Nope. Guess I was doing something wrong. I have some objective problems with it. Mainly, almost all meditation techniques require you to imagine something, all the while, of course, you have to relax: for me, imagining things on demand and attempting to keep the image in my mind is in direct contradiction with relaxation. I also never feel any tingling, warmth or whatever other sensations I am supposed to feel at particular points during a specific meditation. Eventually my utter ineptitude at this endeavour seriously pisses me off and I just drop it... till the other time I decide to try it again.

 

[CAS]

I went through a phase of meditating during my school years. (I had hippie tendancies as a teenager). I found it to be a great help in those days, but I'm not sure that I could do it now. Too many thoughts rushing around my head all the time.

 

[Badjedidude]

The point is to let the thoughts burn themselves out. Yeah, you may start out thinking about things and mind racing along, but eventually your mind quiets...it just takes time. That's why meditation takes hours and hours when you first start. You just have to have the patience to sit and relax for hours until your mind shuts up.

Eventually, just like practicing a skill, you get better at it...and become able to get to that "thoughtless" phase a lot quicker and easier.

----Steve

 

[Switch]

Great posts everyone..its interesting to hear what other people think/feel about meditation. I know for me it has been easier to do because my father always told me about it and what it can do for you.. Meditation isn't about visualization or thinking about anything, it's about feeling your very presence and being in the moment. It may be hard to do because we've learned to live and control everything and make sure this is done and that is, but meditation is about unwinding and bringing you to level. It's basically a little piece of heaven! I want to recommend the book " The Way is Within" by Ron Rathbun because it really gives insights to people who are interested in anything spiritual like meditation. It's also good for people who don't enjoy reading (like myself) as it contains one page lessons that make you think about yourself and your life. Could probably find it in any used bookstore, but its a real gem that's made me see a little light in my darker times.

 

[CAS]

That's the difficult part though. Completely ridding your head of any thoughts is tricky when you're such a deep thinker as I am.

 

[Lonesome Crow]

There's not a right way or a wrong way to meditate. I guess as anything in life the question is what is your motive to do something.
The reason why I meditate is to have peace of mind. I have a vary degree of OCPD.

I had to start somewhere. Keep an open mind. Try new concepts.

I got clean and sober at a very young age of 22. I hit a major bottom. I lost everything I had that was important to me.
I lost my wife, child, career, hopes , dreams. Most of all I lost myself. I didn't give a honeysuckle anymore nor cared if i lived or die.
I was hospitalized for over a month for a suicide attempt. I'm not sure if i actaully saw god when I died.
I hated the doctors and nurses for bring me back to life. I hated everyone. I hated god. Most of all I hated myself.
Living and breathing was like knives cutting me. I lived the next 2 years of my life in a state of ultimate blizzt. I checked the fresia out.
Bascailly another way of trying to kill myself...the slow way. Drugs/alcohol abuse and the insane life style I was living was just that. I putted myself in harms way on purpose.

Some poeple would say god was looking out for me or I was under grace.
Perhaps it is also grace that's holding me up today....IDK

I started attending AA/NA. I needed help. Of cours i didn't want to stop drinking, using.
Ya gatta be out of your fucken mind..if you thought I just woke up oneday and said...woohoo I ma
stop getting messed up today.

What would motivate me or lure me into the rooms of recovery???.... Pussy of course. God knew me better than me

Anyhow...the last fucken thing i wanted to hear was about GOD, Higher power, Spirituality, praying and meditating..
What kept me going back to those meetings ????....Pussy of course.lmao

Seriousely...all of that kind of messed me up in a different way. At that piont in time of my life.
I didn't really gave a honeysuckle to being with...

I started spending a lot of time in nature. I found a lot of peace
That when I kind of grasp...being in the moment, letting go, being ok in my own skin. JUST BE

I can do living and walking meditations today...It's a skill I've develope over the years..
mmmm...no, I can't rid of all the thoughts in mind...I don't belive I'm suppose to.
God gave me a brain to think and use...OK, I use my mind and brain..not the other way around.
I'm the master of my thoughts, mind

I simply let go or don't hang on to my thoughts. Don't figure it out. Being transparent. Just like an observe
watching a parade of endless thoughts...Eventually my mind will come to a rest. Then I'm in a state of peace.
What I resist, persist...

I have to keep it simple today...becuae i ma a SmaRtAss

Jenni told me that i didn't have to earn her love for reasons....
It's also becuase I nevered had to earn god'd love either.
Acceptence.....accepting life on life's terms can be a son of a ***** sometimes....
On the flip side....accepting god's love (gift). I'm derseving of god's love. I'm more than good enough. It's my herriatage and right.
The same prinicple applies to a person...I deserve her love. I'm more that good enough.
The same principle aslo applies to my life...I'm more than good enough. I deserve to be happy. To live a happy prosper life. It's my herritate.
The question is...Am I willing to accept this simple truth??? Or am i go to think about it and come up with millions of reasons why i don't deserve it.

 

[Aedammair]

I've been trying to meditate and stuff like that. I am doing it to try and improve my focus and as a stress reliever

I just sit somewhere and close my eyes and let my mind wander until it kinda stops. I try a little too hard to not think so I am trying to learn as much as I can. It felt great once I'd done it so I would suggest giving it a shot.

How do you guys do it? I would really like to get some new ideas.

I'm gonna have to toy with this a little more before I will really be sure I'm doing it right. I would like to get to the point of Lonesomecrow to where I can meditate while still performing in life.

Aedammair

 

[Switch]

Yes it is hard, but think of it this way...research shows that when you meditate your brain is actually more active compared to when you are thinking! I saw this on a documentary called "This Emotional Life." It just shows that when you learn to detach yourself from thoughts you are actually doing more good for yourself. Just keep practicing! It will pay off.

 

[Badjedidude]

Like I said before, meditation doesn't mean sitting with legs crossed, humming quietly while holding out one's hands like a Buhddist (sp?) monk. You can do it sitting in a chair, on the lawn outside, or laying in bed...all sorts of ways. For me, it's when I'm running. My body is working but it gives my mind an opportunity to relax, which is the important thing.

----Steve

 

[Lonesome Crow]

Playing my guitar is like a sort of meditation. I improvise when I play sometimes.
It's like being in the moment going with the flow. Not thinking so much what I'm going to play or if
I'm doing it right or wrong. Just being presence in the moment in a state of grace.
I'f i think...I'll miss a beat. Thinking takes time....The souls is always faster then the mind...I guess.

what also helped me to focus over the years was R/C aircraft aerobatics.
I had to keep my site and focus on my model especsially during evasive manuvers.
A model can have top speed of 150mph. When I first started everything was way...way too fast for me.
As I get better everything go too slow for me...or the model seems like it slowed way down.
Everyonce in a while I'll be doing evasive manuver than I'll get a thought running through my mind of what the fresia I had for breakfest last week.
Bascailly my mind drifted and wasn't presence in the moment.

The same would also happen to me while I'm playing my music...I catch myself faster and faster. I simply let go of my thoughts then I'm back in the
moment again.

The same happens when I'm thinking of problems, issues, confilcts..bascailly pain. Suffering is reliving the same pain over and over again in my head.
That's why meditation helps or is healing for me.