The Meditation Thread

Hello Mr Rager,
I think I'm on my 4th or 5th day with the meditation app and I'm loving it. It's so nice to have so many options, the timer is great or listening to the guided meditations. I can see how this will help with no PMO, but more importantly I can see how meditating can be life changing.
Take care and thanks for starting this post.

 

I've been meditating for a few days now. My focus if awful though! Any tips on how to stay focused on breathing because I think about other stuff without knowing it if you know what I mean. Like I'm not aware that a thought has come into my mind even though I'm thinking about it. Hard to explain.

 

I'll check him out, cheers!

 

I'm on my 2nd day of the "20/20 Meditate for Peace" program found in the Insight Timer app.
I don't think I'll be doing this program for 20-consecutive days since I'm traveling for the holidays and I will have a hectic schedule, but I will try to find at least 5-minutes/day to meditate. My feeling is that as many consecutive days of mediating that I can do, it will be the most beneficial for my well-being.

 

Hello All, I'm new here but not new to meditation. When I was consistently meditating a few years back I was the happiest and most balanced I've ever been. Why I stopped (I just started again) is a topic for another post.

...but I would like to add my two cents of I might. Meditation is consistently bringing yourself back to your breath or point of concentration. You're not failing at meditation if your mind wanders. That's what minds do. The process of noticing that you've wandered and gently refocusing is meditation.

 

I started today morning and feel great!

 

I've done on and off mindfulness meditation for the past year or so. When I did it regularly it created somewhat of the opposite of pmo. You know that cloudy, disoriented you get after pmo? Its the complete opposite with mindfulness. I always felt present, clear, and engaged in life in a way that I really hadn't in a long time.
The app, "headspace," is what I've used on and off and I really like it. Its built around guided meditation in mindfulness practice and it helps you learn the basics before tackling harder concepts. It is kind of expensive though, it costs 15 a month I think. It was a great way to start though!

 

Just got done doing about 5-7 minutes of meditation. I think I only went that long because my mind wandered half the time. Any tips for breathing work and presentness?

 

Mind sharing a few links?

 

The best advice I've ever heard for staying present is to not fight it.
There was a story about a young man who wanted to learn to meditate like his master. He asked the master, "how can I meditate like you and clear my mind?"
The master answered, "go onto the hill and sit. Go, sit, and do not think of anything all day. Then come back to me."
The pupil went to the hill and sat under the sun with birds flying around the grassy spot. He sat, and sat, but as hard as he tried he couldn't stop thinking. He kept fighting and said, "I must stop thinking, my master told me not to think."
Finally, it was dusk and he had failed his task. He came back home and said, "Master, I have failed. I couldn't stop thinking all day."
The master chuckled and handed his pupil a cup of the tea he had been making and said, "Good. Now tomorrow, go to that hill and think thoughts all day. Never let your mind stop thinking."
The pupil was perplexed but followed through with his master's orders. The man got to the hill and was able to think as many thoughts as he could. Around 15 minutes in, he started losing topics to think about. He tried thinking big, grand thoughts about the universe, life, and his mother, but soon these ideas ran dry and he ended up without anything to think.
Again, the pupil came home dejected that he had failed his task. Once more, he was handed a cup of tea, but the message from his master was different this time.
"Congratulations, you have learned how to meditate. You have learned that to control, you must let go. As much as you tried, you could not do it. But now you know how to let go."

TL;DR, stop forcing yourself to "not think thoughts" and let the moment happen

 

Hi, I would say that not forcing this 'brain halt' is the ultimate goal, as you cannot tell your mind not to do something and expect it to follow. The mind is a brilliant mechanism just like your body, and if you wish to stop it that would mean that physical death would have to occur first (I wish you a long joyful life). When meditating you do not stop your mind. Instead you create a space between yourself and your mind. Referring to sadhguru, when you are stuck in a traffic jam, it feels terrible and you become irritable, but if you are observing this traffic from a high up cliff or a hot air balloon, it looks like a peaceful view and you feel quite calm as you are not caught up in all the ruckus. The same concept applies to your mind, once you stop identifying yourself with your mind and with your body, you stop being trapped inside your head and in the very basic physical existence and transcend to the life that you are. You realize that your mind and your body are tools that are here to help you survive in this world. But you are not those tools. You are the one driving, consciously and calmly using them at command instead of having your tools be in control of you. Wouldn't that be a sad limited life if you are controlled by this tool which is called the mind? People take this intelligence and five senses as being ultimate, that logic is the highest state of being. Some fail to realize that logic is but a necessary tool for survival. There is a natural intelligence that throbs within the non-physical fibre of your being. That lack of disease does not mean well being. Bliss is a state of being, it is our nature, not something we seek and so you should know that all you need is where you are right now. Comfort is up to you, joy is up to you, where your mind strays is up to you. If you develop an acute consciousness, the mind will become like the hand, it will be still and calm always, until you need it to fulfill a task. So should you have the ease and effortless control over your mind, to have it calm and still at all times, not a thought or emotion to disturb the bliss and use it for practical applications or any necessary task in this physical world that requires logic. You are at nature, much higher than logic, you are a life that is connected to all life in creation, but simply fail to realize that your mind is not the ceiling, it is only the tool. So if you are meditating, I would recommend you simply focus on your breath, sit in any posture you like (cross-legged is recommended with palms facing upwards, resting on the thighs) and simply watch, calmly as you inhale .... and exhale. With most people, the mind will stray and a thought will come up or mental images or memories or emotions (which are also thoughts). If you follow these memories or thoughts you stray away from the present. But, do not fret when this happens or frustratingly force yourself back to your breath as that will only disrupt your stability, simply realize that you have strayed away, and gently bring yourself back to your anchor (breath). Everytime you realize this, you become a bit more stable and you train this mind of yours like training a muscle to grow stronger. So instead of momentary anger or depression or discouragement when you realize you are distracted, take joy and feel at peace, as you train your mind with every one of these realizations, and simply return to where you are. The duration of each meditation is entirely up to you, but I would recommend you start off with 10 minutes, and see if you can stretch it ever so slightly each time. If you ignore the voice that says "Oh I think I've meditated enough now, i should probably get up", in ignoring that thought, you will see beautiful results. Another advice would be to not think of future arrangements or what you plan to do after you get up while meditating as that will only keep you watching 'time' go by and you will be stuck in your head once again. If you are following guided meditation, I would simply caution you to be aware of what you follow as there are many new age philosophies about chakras and the like that have deviated quite immensely from the proper understandings of what chakras and energy are. The true, old knowledge of such things will not be found in new-age books or from almost none of the new age teachers of yoga or meditation, nor on youtube. I recommend that you simply sit and breathe, to begin this journey inwards. Last of all, if you wish to listen to some words of wisdom and insight in your free time, I would recommend Sadhguru, a self-realized yogi, who expains alot but without any attachments to culture or religion. There are videos of his speeches on youtube and he gives several helpful meditative techniques. Alan Watts is also a rather insightful spiritual teacher and shares some mind twisting ideas. A book I greatly recommend as a beginning on your inner journey is " Inner Engineering " by Sadhguru.
I hope this helps, I welcome any feedback and wish you a blissful and full-fledged life

 

I'm using the Insight Timer app to follow the "Abundance through Gratitude" meditation - 10 day program. I'm on day 6 and it's pretty good, gratitude is always something to be mindful of. There are lot's of guided meditations in this app. I'm thinking I will find more and continue to start every morning off with a 5-10 minute guided meditation. I've been immediately following the guided meditation with 5 minutes of timed meditation.
This is all good, but I don't know if I can commit to approximately 15-20 minutes each morning. I may save the 5-minute timed meditation for a break during the day.
Peace

 

Yeah, I thoroughly enjoy meditating. Unfortunately, My PMO streaks are pretty poor- 5- 6 days max, but I'm glad to say that I've meditated 15 minutes every morning for the last 168 days and counting. I've just recently added 15 minutes more meditation to the end of my day as well just to try and reinforce the benefits it brings.

I use the Calm App, that usually have a daily meditation based on some concept of life etc (in fact today's one was addiction!). about 8 minutes of the daily meditation are the same i.e reminding to come back to the present, focusing on the breath etc, and then the final 2 minutes are usually some thoughts on a concept such as addiction, gratitude, loving kindness etc. I find it refreshing everyday to have a slightly different slant on what you're trying to do everyday. 'Adding Novelty' to a meditation might help the reward process to keep you going. If the search for novelty makes porn so addictive, maybe there's some wisdom in adding novelty to your meditations with what you're focusing on- or trying to connect too in yourself. (analogy isn't perfect, but you get my drift!)