Meditation

MEDITATION

is an age-old tool that wise people created to study their mind
and thus develope self understanding.
Everyone can use it;one dosnt need to be religious,or non-religious
or be of any sect or worship the Sun or the Moon,
Its free for all to use.

I have put this piece of writing here after many years of practicing and working with various different schools of thought; I (ego) think this method
is the most simple as well as
the most fruitful.

Take it or leave it;its OK by me.

Beguin the practice when you're 'feeling fresh and alive',
not tired or sleepy.

Find a quiet place,somewhere where there are no drafts,
where you feel safe and comfortable,
OR create such a place in the corner of your Living Room
that has good air circulation.

Make this a place specifically for the purpose for your meditations,
and do no other activity in the Zone you allot for this One purpose.
This is important as the energy you build-up
will be indusive to quickening meditations on that spot,
Your Spot!

Main thing to consider FIRST is the posture,
as 'the posture you settle into' will be with you for sometime,
and if you are stiff with it(un-relaxed about it)
you certainly will introduce pains
in your body and mind,
further along the track.

You can use a Chair or sit on a Cushion.
(dont use the back of the chair for support)

Firstly,sit up
back straight,
head directly above the Spine,
tilted so that your gaze is about 45 degrees down in front of you,
and look softly through half-closed eyelids.
Crossed legs is good (as in Yoga) so long as it dosnt create stress....
Its better to use a Kneeling-Stool if crossing your legs is painful when sitting upright.
That way,
the hips are tilted backwards and spine slightly arched
at your lower back, making for a comfortable relaxed posture.

When you feel that you have set the posture ok,
you can mindfully-check your posture for verticalness,
by gently rocking an inch or so,
to an fro,
and then to the left and rt,
to regain or settle into the vertical position,incase you have wavered,wobbled or flopped.lol
(Do this checking,its important.)

The next thing to turn your mind towards is,

CATCHING THE BREATH:

1. To slip into the state of meditation (bliss) focus your attention on your Bodymind,
noticing first how your 'natural breathing' is functioning
and make a mental note of the things you see inwardly occuring,
such as fast or slow breath,intermittant breathing,stopping and starting etc,
and watch for any large-gaps in your breathing cycle,raceyness or the fear to breathe at all.

Most ppl only breathe enough to stay alive.

2. Apply a count to the length of your natural EXHALATIONS,to gauge their length.
ie,as you exhale,
say in your mind OR in a soft voice,
1 2 3 ........however long the length of your exhale is taking you.

An exhale may last 'two-three seconds',and the 'seconds can be gauged in length' by saying them as 'Thousands'.
ie, Onethousand,twothousand,threethousand,fourthous....etc
(this is your built-in timing device)

3. When you are certain of the length of your natural exhales,
make that your NUMBER!
Remember it,write it on the wall beside you
or on a piece of paper and place it where you can see it if you forget.
Dont push it beyond what is comfortable.
This is not a competition.
Note that One dosnt need to inhale,your natural breathing does this for you.

4. When you have your count of exhalations happening comfortably,
turn your focus to the INHALATIONS.....

Our INHALATIONS should be approached in a similar manner.

5. Apply a count to the length of your INHALATIONS,
to gauge the average length.
ie,as you inhale,say in your mind or in your soft voice,
1 2 ........however long the length of your inhale is takes you.

6. When you have 'settled on the length' of your average inhalation, make that Your NUMBER!
Remember it,write it on the wall beside where you meditate
or on a piece of paper and place it where you can see it if you forget.

Sometimes you may find it difficult to do this simple breath counting exercise
and you notice struggle is in the way.
Stop, dont get involved in struggle;take a slightly-bigger breath and make a long drawn-out a Sigh
with your exhale whilst focussing on following the air out untill you reach total emptyness,
and then start the count again on your next inhale.

7. Now that you have a Number for your Inhale and a Number for your Exhale,
you should beguin applying full concentration to breath-watching,observing the inbreath as well as the outbreath as well as the small gaps between both inhale and exhale where one beguins to develope awareness. Awareness simply is feeling-attention and by giving your attention to feelings you will notice one of the first things that arises within your-body is peacefullness.

By surrendering into peacefullness, your breath will guide you into 'deepening the states of relaxation' that you feel whilst you keep your mind focussed by returning to the breath count,
whenever thoughts carry-you away off centre.

well that were hard-work
putting words to what comes easy.

Hope you can use it
and benefit as i have.

Open to qestions,NOW!

i'll give it a go this weekend and let you know how i get on

peace

umm haven't had time yet..but will try

remember
start small,
5 minutes at first.

start small for a small person?? hmmm

ok

you have no-control over your life
when you cant change direction.

To learning something new
one has first to have an interest in that thing!

Its better to pass things aside if they're of no-interest to you,
if they dont GRAB-YOU.
leave it for others
to make use of.

ok i'll take your word on that,

DRUG CORPORATIONS are about Money;Humans are about LOVE.

an herein lies the reason that i don't want to see my doc,

i think i am working my way through this slowly,

mylife wrote:DRUG CORPORATIONS are about Money;Humans are about LOVE.

an herein lies the reason that i don't want to see my doc,

i think i am working my way through this slowly,

Changing a Dr for a Male or a Female Dr,
sometimes does the trick.
Never disclose anything to a person,Dr or NOT
you are uncomfortable with.

Speaking to your Closest friends about the vareity of Drs about,
certainly relieves anxiety.
Shop about!

Thanks GM,

Hey like the new piccie, we once had a seagull take a fish we had caught, while we were reeling it in..

and although that is a hawke or eagle, it did remind me of it.,

well I have given a few tries now of a few minutes each...none of which worked out very well at all...as soon as I get the even breathing...as in my natural flow...happening...my brain starts to play tricks...sneaking in other snippets of thoughts...stopping the movement of air...although once it sent me off to sleep...woke up when my head bopped the wall of the corner I was sitting in...I shall be trying again as I do honestly feel that meditation will help with my anxiety levels.

I shouldn't giggle but sorry britelite you made me!!

The learning to ride a bike quickly flashes before my eyes!!!!!

I too shall uptake this adventure, one i used to do many moons ago when i was ALTERNATIVE! A vegetarian etc...

seriously i will try GM

Sorry still got the giggles Oh sweet Molly it's okay no need to bark, was just me.....

britelite wrote:well I have given a few tries now of a few minutes each...none of which worked out very well at all...as soon as I get the even breathing...as in my natural flow...happening...my brain starts to play tricks...sneaking in other snippets of thoughts...stopping the movement of air...although once it sent me off to sleep...woke up when my head bopped the wall of the corner I was sitting in...I shall be trying again as I do honestly feel that meditation will help with my anxiety levels.

Great Britelite,
all that you say indicates that you are on the right track.
It is exactly that way when we give our mind something deadly simple to do.

This awareness you have is your GIFT!
Being aware as you are of things that are going on in your mind helps to remind you to come back to the exercise.One does the simple and the mind gradually follows suit.
Look to these diversions as your que to beguin again;by checking your posture you give the mind something to DO,and again you beguin to notice the Breathing which your Body is doing naturally for you.Again you apply your counting to the breath,and again things become quieter and again you find peace is there also.

Just as a dripping tap can become your timing device for the Breath,
mental-distractions can be seen to be (here) there to remind us to start-again our practice,
right from the beguining.

Dont push-it and upset the mind,your Mind,
as if you do you will become locked in battle,
you will loose peace entirely.

Most people are locked in battle with their minds,and cannot step free generally.
They have become CAUGHT!
Awareness is the Way and you have this awareness already working for you,
so its just a matter of perserverance
and the awareness developes strength.

Gradually these small snippets of peacfulness become extended,3 minutes becomes 5, and then it extends itself to 7 minutes.

One suggestion~

If you were to halve your practice time,
and do half in the morning and half in the evening,
you would find the whole process quickens.