Freestyle Meditation

reply to post by Ian McLean


I like that a lot. The entire universe contained in a flower.

One of my favourite meditations is indeed to merge with other lifeforms, to become them, feel and see the world as them. This is standard wizard practice and should be learned in school.

Also, your idea of just observing without categorizing everything is good practice in my opinion.

Originally posted by applebiter
I don't know about specific techniques, but I do have a sort of rhythm that is more or less the same, regardless of which exercise I am attempting.

For me, there is usually an intense period of meditation of fantasy - pushing against the walls of known consciousness. This is followed by a very mundane and grounded experience of life; a sort of spiritual exhaustion. Then there is a third period of mindfulness wherein new perspectives seem to emerge from the depths. After these new perspectives sink in, my energy and urge to push usually returns, and the cycle continues in a widening spiral.

Very profound. Thanks for sharing your stuff and making this thread a valuable resource.

Lazy Mans Meditation

For people who just dont have the energy or awareness to practice meditation:

1. Take a cup of coffee
2. Take some chocolate
3. Take a cigarette

With all three, go surf the Internet.

10-Breathe-Meditation

Result: Energizing, Refreshing.

1. Breathe in on a count to 10
2. Hold Breathe on a count to 10
3. Breathe out gently on a count to 10
4. Pause breathe on a count to 10

Repeat this cycle of four 10 times.

Originally posted by Skyfloating
10-Breathe-Meditation

Result: Energizing, Refreshing.

1. Breathe in on a count to 10
2. Hold Breathe on a count to 10
3. Breathe out gently on a count to 10
4. Pause breathe on a count to 10

Repeat this cycle of four 10 times.

Glad you posted that -- breathwork (pranyana) can seem intimidating or complex, but it really doesn't have to be. Freestyle, baby! I use a similarly simple technique myself. It works especially well in combination with stretching, as a sort of pre-meditation 'rebalancing'.

1. Breath in through the nose, not slowly, but not nose-whistlingly fast. Counting not necessary. Breath first into the abdomen, smoothly transitioning to fill the mid and upper lungs.
2. Pause, when lungs are full, and hold, not sharply or forced, but rather just long enough to allow a feeling of stillness to begin ('cresting the wave').
3. Breath out, slowly, through the mouth, about twice as slowly as breathing in. Instead of forcing the last of the breath out and holding, transition smoothly back to 1 and repeat without pause.

Results: 1 is energizing, 2 is balancing, and 3 is cleansing.

reply to post by Skyfloating


thanks -

I think it's Zen that confuses me

it's like the Meditation Olympics - all training, only training - all the time

discipline, discipline, discipline...

but unfocused thinking - that I can do :-)

my personal favorite - sitting outside late at night just after most everyone else has gone to bed

just listening to sounds, smelling the smells - looking at the stars (all 15 of them - serious light pollution here)

and realizing I've been sitting there for hours - and haven't actually thought about anything - just being there

my sleep is always better after - and my next day too

reply to post by Skyfloating


and about this - I agree

what exactly is it that's going on in there anyway?

I've always said - being on the internet is practically like astral projection

and sometimes I don't want to come back

reply to post by Ian McLean


Thanks for adding a pranayama fellow freestyler. "I share mine if you share yours" is the spirit of this thread.

reply to post by Spiramirabilis


Stargazing....a classical freestyle meditation

Zen can, in small doses, be very powerful. But always? No thanks. It becomes boring and tedious to give up all desire and judgement (read: creativity).

Here were things I did but I never thought they were meditation until I read this thread.

-Going to San Francisco and just enjoy walking among the crowd. Everything feels so lively and I feel some sense of connection to all these people.

-I would also go to the pier and look down at the ocean. Seeing all the movement of the water, the glare from the sun, looking at the sky, enjoying the scenery. It's amazing to see how majestic everything is.

-Sometimes at night, I would go stand outside and just look at the stars. Everything is so big and mysterious out there. I wish I can just fly out into space and see everything in the universe.

These are times when I can feel that there is some kind of purpose to our existence in the universe. It's a great feeling to see that we are part of something much much bigger than ourselves.

reply to post by Truth07


City-walking is majestic. I came up with a lot of my meditations because my former profession required me to travel from city to city and stay in various Hotels. I would discover these cities not by car or subway but on foot.

Discovering them on foot one can feel the personality of a particular city, merge with the cities feel-os-phere. Special buildings. Lakes. Parks. Streets. Even mundane or rundown areas can be interesting in a meditative sense.

I agree wholeheartedly with what you wrote.

reply to post by Skyfloating


well - it seems the least middle way of the middle ways

I'll just stick with stars, train stations, and general milling about

Originally posted by Spiramirabilis

well - it seems the least middle way of the middle ways

I'll just stick with stars, train stations, and general milling about

on one side of the spectrum you have too much laziness/free-flow/surrender and on the other side too much control. Lets put Laziness/free-flow at 1 and Control/Discipline at 10. Ideal practice would be 4-6.

Judging from your posts, which emphasize not liking discipline I would guess you practice at around 3-4.

(Only my guess/analogy)





[edit on 25-7-2008 by Skyfloating]

reply to post by Skyfloating


it's OK - you can say it - I'm probably just barely hovering above a 1

:-)

but I was reading thru all the posts in this thread and the one thing I can see is - not so much about discipline as commitment

making the time - which I actually have been trying to do

it's funny - but I see it as an attempt to get back to a state of mind that came to me naturally when I was a kid

once I left the garden, everything happened so fast...

Originally posted by Spiramirabilis
reply to post by Skyfloating

 

but I was reading thru all the posts in this thread and the one thing I can see is - not so much about discipline as commitment

Thats right. If you have to "overcome yourself" and "rev up discipline" then its

a) either not the right type of meditation for you or
b) You havent decided that its a fun and normal part of your life with fantastic benefits.

it's funny - but I see it as an attempt to get back to a state of mind that came to me naturally when I was a kid

once I left the garden, everything happened so fast...

Well...its a nice state, but I would still say that kids are around 1-2, with their entire being steered not by their own will but by the will of "the universe".
As we grow up we get to know our personal will. Some exaggerate this to a 10 and become all serious and strict about it.

You´ll find your "thats just the right amount and timing" thing.

Even doing anything on purpose for 15 minutes a day can make a difference.

I am interested in meditation but I am unsure how to start. I think I would greatly benefit from it considering I am very high strung and am easily stressed. I am starting my first year as a teacher and my first semester of grad school. If anyone could give me a startoff point because I really do believe meditation would help.

Originally posted by lilsugag99
I am interested in meditation but I am unsure how to start. I think I would greatly benefit from it considering I am very high strung and am easily stressed. I am starting my first year as a teacher and my first semester of grad school. If anyone could give me a startoff point because I really do believe meditation would help.

As a start-off point, see if you can look at one single thing (an object out there or something in your mind) for 3 minutes.

Once you have no issue whatsoever doing that, return to this thread

reply to post by Skyfloating

Oh you trickster you... a starting-off point, eh? Heh, once you 'have no issue whatsoever' doing that, you very like won't need to return to this thread...

I myself am still working on not being distracted by bright shiny objects, or thoughts.

REM Phosphenes

A phosphene is a fancy name for the bright flashes of light and color you see when rubbing your eyes.

This technique requires that you first enter into a full-body relaxed meditation state. I do it laying on my back. Keep you eyes closed thoughout this technique. Actually, if it works right, you'll occasionally briefly open your eyelids but your eyes won't be focusing on the external world.

The trick, to start, is to roll your eyes back. Actually, when you eyes are closed and relaxed, your eyeballs are pointed kinda up, rolled back in the head.

Become aware of that, and focus on the small movements your eyes make when you pay attention to them. That's natural -- those are called 'saccades'. Your eyelids and muscles sorta twitch when you do that with your eyes closed.

Don't fight them, or try and focus your vision in particular. You'll find, eventually, that the twitches increase in speed. Relax, and allow it to happen without tiring your eye muscles.

You can start to enter a state of rapid-eye-movement (REM) while awake. Accompanying this, you'll notice fields of color and flashes of light.

Stop seeing those as close-up, or flat phenomena. Allow them to have depth, and motion, themselves, separate from the blinking and twitching of your eyes. Paint an abstract, moving, landscape with your imagination, and enter into it.

Results: I've found this is very useful, when doing total-body relaxation, to make the 'separation' between a numbed-body state and an out-of-body, into the mental world state. Your mileage may vary -- let me know if this works for you, or if I just have weird eyes.

"Zen can, in small doses, be very powerful. But always? No thanks. It becomes boring and tedious to give up all desire and judgement (read: creativity)."

I disagree with that statement on many many levels. I hate to quote wikipedia but

"Zen emphasizes dharma practice and experiential wisdom—particularly as realized in the form of meditation known as zazen—in the attainment of awakening. As such, it putatively de-emphasizes both theoretical knowledge and the study of religious texts in favor of direct, experiential realization."

Almost every "freestyle" method mentioned here is a form of "zen" or "chan" meditation. I belive you have been miss-informed what zen/chan really is. It is the MOST creative form of meditation there is. Almost all artists experience zen/chan meditaition while doing thier form of art, be it illustration,painting,dance,music,ect. It is about the information that cannot be ascribed to words and only felt by those doing, or watching the artist perform.