Question About Meditation

The topic of meditation came up in today's chat, so I thought I'd follow up on it.

I have been doing a nightly 15-minute meditation for the past week or so. I use Jon Kabat-Zinn's method of focusing on the breath, and "noting" any thoughts that come into my head. Sometimes I get really involved in a thought and it's hard for me to pull away from it, though.

Do any of you have any tips or suggestions regarding meditation? Do you focus on the breath, use a mantra, practice visualization? Any ideas welcome.

Gail

 

I think deep breathing and focusing on it is essential in meditation, and I use the old mantra
"Every day in every way I'm getting better and better."
After a dozen or so repeats I start to yawn and, if in bed, fall asleep.
I also imagine myself on a sunny beach near water.
Good luck, Gail.

 

Hi Gail.. there are many types of meditation and Jon KZ mindfulness techniques are rooted in Buddhist meditation.. and the focus is very much on the present moment and gently
acknowledging any thoughts that come up but letting them move past . Thoughts and sensations that pop up are there for a reason and can be due to what my meditation teacher says is a state of not being fully integrated and something in you doesn't want you to be meditating.. some avoidance.. I will not attempt to go on re this as will tie myself up in knots that I do not yet understand properly.
Also meditation is a state of being very awake / open which is why lying down and getting sleepy/ using visualisation to relax is more a relaxation technique type meditation..
Meditations that use specific visualisation can have a different focus and technique I think..

I am absolutely no expert and having tried to meditate myself over the years with not alot of continuity or what I have seen as 'success' I have just started a class at my local Buddhist centre.
My teacher says lots of people want to meditate, think about meditating, read about meditation but that is very different to DOING meditation.. it requires consistent and long term practice of actually doing it
without expecting specific outcomes within particular timescales .. everybody is different in what they experience in meditation practice and their mediation journey..
The first class I went answered a couple of issues re meditating practice that I have wondered about in the past which was already really helpful so I would really recommend a class or group practice drop in if you can find one..

Hope this makes some sense

 

I have been meditating every day for a year and a half and am SO proud to be able to say that.
I dabbled over the years, but never made the commitment until then. I started practicing yoga at the same time and my yoga instructor was also a meditation teacher. To keep it simple, she had me start with 5 minutes every morning. I set the timer, picked a mantra, then repeated the mantra on both the in-breath and the out-breath until the timer went off (deep, full belly breaths...the kind where your abdomen expands and contracts). After a month or so, I increased to 10 minutes until I am now at 30 minutes. The mind will wander because that is what the mind does. Every time it does, though, I simply very gently bring myself back to my breath. One of the most helpful things she told me when I would tell her I couldn't stay focused, was "Just keep showing up".
It really does get easier.

Sorry I missed the chat yesterday, but I was at a yoga retreat. It was awesome! The mantra we used was "I am here in this." The whole point is to learn to stay in the present moment. If you are repeating a mantra and/or focusing on your breath, it kind of forces you to do that.

 

Thanks. Great post. I'll add it to my mornings with Sarno, Brady, God.

 

Walt, I forgot to mention that 9 weeks ago I added in Brady's program immediately after I do my meditation...5 minutes of affirming that what I have is TMS, not some physical or structural problem, with a visualization of going into the "basement of my unconscious mind", 5 minutes of self-talk to my unconscious mind telling it I am in charge and taking control now, demanding it to stop the pain and symptoms and visualizing winning, and then the minimum 20 minutes of journaling. It helps me to set timers for all of these things. In 9 weeks time, I have already used up the ink in one brand new pen (about to run out in a second) and ALL of the pages of two journals.

 

I think journaling has helped me a lot. Discovered, uncovered events and people I had repressed for years.
Sometimes I remember this in dreams. Keep the ink flowing.