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Meditation
Stupid Mr Whoopsie Name
Registered User, ClubPA regular
Registered User, ClubPA regular
Formally, I don't know much about meditation. I know some rather off the cuff techniques that I've been practicing, and while I feel that they certainly do help, I would also like to expand on what I'm doing.
I was curious if anyone else on the boards practiced meditation and if they had any advice or pointers for a beginner. This is more of an anecdotal request than fact finding. I want to know what works for *you*, and what you find helpful.
Thanks.
I was curious if anyone else on the boards practiced meditation and if they had any advice or pointers for a beginner. This is more of an anecdotal request than fact finding. I want to know what works for *you*, and what you find helpful.
Thanks.
Stupid Mr Whoopsie Name on
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Anyway, the first thing to do is make sure your comfortable but not so much so that you want to sleep. Throw something on the floor, maybe a duvet (there are special mats, but I assume you don't want to be investing in something like that), and then place a few cushions onto that mat. You want to be kneeling down on the duvet, with the cushions supporting your bottom so that you aren't resting back on your feet. You can find the correct posture online, but basically you want to be making a triangle with your legs, and have your back naturally straight (no slouching, but don't sit as far upright as you can).
I would also suggest lighting some incence, as that can keep you focused, but that is up to you. Once you're in the position, just take some time to sit like that, make yourself as comfortable as possible, as you may be in that position a while and you don't want to cramp up. When you feel that you're ready, close your eyes, and thats when actual meditation begins.
The first part of the meditation technique that I have learned is to listen to your breaths, and count them. You want to be focusing on your breath as it comes in, and goes out, and count each full breath (that being once in and once out counting as one). Count up to 10, and then start again (in your head of course). Basically, you want to be focusing all your attention on this. You may lose focus, start thinking of other things, or count well past 10 by accident. If you do lose count, just start back from 1 again. Continue this stage until you feel comfortable to move on.
The next stage is basically the same again, but instead of counting the breath in and then the breath out, you do it backwards. Breath out then breath in, count one. Again, do this until you feel comfortable enough to move on.
The final stage that I have learned is just to feel your breath. Take the time to notice how the air feels as it comes in and out of your body. No counting, just be aware of the fact that you are breathing, and the sensations it causes. Again, do this until you feel you want to stop. At this point just sit for a while, and open your eyes and start moving around when you're ready to. Don't rush it.
You may find all this difficult to start with, especially trying to remain focused. Don't get angry if you find you keep being taken away from the counting, and don't feel you need to go through all of the stages right off the bat. Just take your time, and stop if you want to. Just try again next time, continue from the start until you feel you can move on, and eventually you will get used to it and just let everything else fade away. A good meditation session can last anywhere from 5 minutes to half an hour, depending how much you get into it. From what I have experience, it is a very rewarding experience, and can help you to let go of a lot of stress and anxiety that you're holding on to.
Anyway, thats how I do it, and how I've been taught to do it by the Buddhist Centres I have visited. You may feel you want to do it differently, or find different techniques, so don't be afraid to try different things! Let me know how it goes.
*Thanks Thanatos!
If you don't mind my asking, what is the ultimate goal to this? To continue to focus on nothing but your breathing or to allow your thoughts to wander freely once you've become entranced, in a sense? This is something I have often considered doing to help with my anxiety, but I'm not sure how to go about it or what I'm looking for exactly.
The point, I believe, is to push all other thoughts out of your mind, to be at peace with yourself. Since breathing is an essential need for us, concentrating on it is basically concentrating on yourself, and it also provides a good way to help clear your mind without having to rely on outside influence. In my own experience, meditation has allowed me to push thoughts out of my head for a while and simply relax and be at peace, if only for a short time. However, the effects of this last well after you have meditated, and I've found that things that worried me at the time didn't seem so horrible. I felt more at ease with my situation, not angry or anxious or stressed. I could logically work out what the problem was and know that I could do something about it.
It is definatley something you should at least try if you have anxieties... if it isn't for you, no harm done. However, a lot of people do find it helpful, and after a little time getting used to it, it can potentially help you cope with things better.
Also, I would love to try Yoga, but I never have the time/money to go to a Yoga class! if my living room was bigger, I'd try and teach myself, but thats probably not a great idea either, hehe.
*Thanks Thanatos!
i got taught the same breathing exercise a while ago, but it was a bit different. i got taught to breath through my nose, and for the first 10 breaths, breath in through your left nostril alone (which isn't possible, you need to imagine and focus on the left nostril and that half of the breathing) then to switch and have the next 10 to be through the 'right' nostril. i guess it's just a way to focus on your breath.
Thanks mate, this is exactly the kind of thing I was hopeful for. I generally have a set of "purity" or "clarity" phrases I concentrate on while breathing, but I like the idea of what you suggested as far as counting and focusing on breaths goes (then saving the phrases for last).
Also, I usually sit in the lotus position when I meditate, but what you describe sounds different (if I'm reading it correctly). Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are describing an almost "Praying" position, with your knees on the floor in front of you, and your feet essentially under your arse, or a pillow as you suggest?
I am eager to try this, and what Seldom suggested, for better focus on my breathing.
Seldom, where did you learn that technique? It sounds interesting to say the least. I wouldn't have thought something like that would work, because its very difficult to do! Hehe.
*Thanks Thanatos!
What I've found to be most personally beneficial over time is what I guess I'd label awareness meditation. Rather than attempt to control or push aside your thoughts, the idea is to let them run and observe them until you "detach" from them. Over months, you gradually develop/expose a center of awareness from which you can consistently observe your thought patterns, gradually eroding their dominance (not sure of the right word here) without pushing them aside as in concentration meditation approaches. One can then turn this approach to the emotional content/patterning undergirding the personality structure (again, don't think there's an good word for it in English), which in my observation drives thought to a much greater degree than I would have previously allowed. The ultimate goal of this meditation is to bring unconscious emotional patterns to the surface, gradually dissolving them over a period of several years. Many of the self/other/infinite paradoxes that Buddhist writings address apparently reflect subtle, internally held boundaries that can be dissolved via this practice (not that I am at that point yet.) I should also note that this process is often quite painful and difficult, because if it were easy to face these constrictions you wouldn't have them in the first place. In America, there is a lot of interaction between the Zen schools that practice this sort of meditation and psychotherapy; indeed, I would say a majority of the teachers are psychotherapists of one sort or another.
As far as practicing tips, pick a comfortable position. Some of the positions described above may be beneficial, but you can also practice sitting in a chair or lying down. You should be largely disregarding visual input; you may need to close your eyes for a while to get to that point. Some of the basic breath-counting meditations may be a good way to start if you're having trouble calming down your thoughts. Also, you might check out the two books written by Charlotte Joko Beck, who teaches (taught?) at the San Diego Zen Center.
You're not pushing thoughts out of your mind; that's unhealthy, and ultimately the thoughts will find their way back in and lead to frustration in the practice.
Let the thoughts come while you concentrate on breathing, examine them and let them go. The idea is to let the mind settle so that there are as few thoughts as possible. As you examine your thoughts and let them go they will often slow down, and soon your mind will be tranquil enough to focus solely on the breathing.
In Buddhism, the next step, is to focus on nothing at all, but, in practice, get down to the breath.
It's like thoughts are rocks thrown into a pond. You have to let the ripples settle, but, in order to do that, you have to run out of rocks.
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My own starting position was a simple legs crossed, hands resting on legs, with a thin cushion under my butt for comfort (at the time, I had enough problems staying still that long without discomfort making it more difficult.). I went up to a modified zazen shortly after, that is hands posed, fingers touching.
From there I went to a lie-down, facing up position, as part of a full body relaxation technique, where one concentrates on relaxing and 'sinking' each body part in pairs (feet, ankles, claves, thighs, etc) down into the floor, until the whole body is covered, and then maintaining this for the duration of the meditation (5-20mins). Empty mind technique suited me for a while, and then I went more into thoughtful meditation, wherein one picks a topic and follows it through its branches, staying on track within a certain theme.
This lead into walking meditation, wherin breathing and motion follows the same rythm, and can be empty minded or guided, depending on need. Meanwhile, I became involved in throwing marksmanship and sword and sheath technique, and developed a system of movement for stretching, awareness and motion that covered all muscles, movements and ranges of motion for my body. A secondary style of fighting, double daggered short forms, built on this system to include pass points (wherin if you were holding a sword, one would slice off their opposing arm, but not with a shortened blade), and the forms were extended once again to work in specific motion ranges with detailed body positioning to allow for more weight and force to be applied within certain ranges.
I later condensed these forms into a series of flowing movements, where one form shifts into the other, etc, running through all forms, with the end of the series leading back to the beginning again. The entire set, condensed to 108 distinct patterns, could be done in just a couple minutes. I take my sweet time about it, and run through about four sets a session. After the first year, I stopped having to think about progression, and after the second I was able to freestyle nearly everything, during the third, my body became so accustomed to these session styles that my mind became completely free and clear of any thinking at all, and so I returned from the more guided style into the empty-thought technique.
It took along time to aquire this advanced technique, but I found that as I progressed, I still kept the ability to perform the more basic meditations at the drop of a hat, any time, any where. Its only ever helped me to be calmer, more patient and more understanding, which I desperately needed at the time.
Yeah, I agree with you here, I used the wrong phrase really. You're not pushing thoughts out, you're just learning to let them go. It's been a while since I last attended the Buddhist centre, or even meditated myself, so you'll have to forgive me.
And as Sarcastro says, what I learnt is the probably a good way to begin with meditation, and other things can come as you feel more and more comfortable with the basics. And as I said, don't force anything, just take it at your own pace and things will start to fit into place, and your experience will get better and more fulfillng.
I remember the first time I ever meditated, I was going through a difficult time in my life and travelled an hour away by train to the nearest Buddhist Centre to study a bit of meditation along with some basic Buddhist principles. In that room with many other people and a teacher, I felt so at ease, and I really didn't want to stop meditating, it felt so relaxing. I was at peace with myself for so long after, and each time I went back, I appreciated everything more and more. The whole thing is fascinating, I find, and so beneficial. I really need to get back into it again.
*Thanks Thanatos!