Meditation tips for beginners

Meditation is harder than it seems well for me it is anyway hopefully there are some ATS members who have experience in this sort of field and i want to know if there are any tips for meditation.

what i want to know about how long you should be doing meditation when you are just starting out and what type of techniques there are for meditation.

im not very experienced in meditation and ive searched around the internet but id rather have the opinion of ATS i think that would be better and it would help me more than the internet.

also ive never meditated seriously before ive done if for about 10 minutes before and im gonna start doing it more reguarly.

thank you.


[edit on 4/20/2008 by billyjoinedat2k8]

I actually started meditating before I even knew what it was. It started when I was on long road trips, bored in the back seat. I have no idea how it started exactly, but I remember closing my eyes with my face to the sun, and I could "see through" my eyelids - in that even though my eyes were closed, I could see an orange-flesh color (from the light going through my eyelids).

Then, I blocked the sun out expecting to "see" black, but then realized I wasn't seeing black - I wasn't seeing anything at all; not black, just nothing.

I began to focus on the "nothing" and would completely lose track of all time and surroundings. I have come to understand that mental state as meditation, and have been using the same technique for over 15 years now.

I have to admit though, I've mentioned this lots of times, and I'm still under the impression it only works for me... but certainly worth a try for anyone that wants!

reply to post by scientist


if you dont mind me asking but how long does it take to reach your meditative state.

it depends on lots of factors, mostly external and internal distractions.

on a good day, if I am by myself with little to no ambient noise, I can be in a meditative state within 10 minutes. On other days when I have a lot on my mind, and there are kids running around screaming outside, I usually give up and try again some other time.

Typically, if I can't get into the right state within 15-20 mins, I just give up and try again later.

It's hard to do at first, because it's literally thinking of nothing. Or rather, NOT thinking of anything. Even when you are realllly close, sometimes you will say to yourself "hey, I'm not thinking about anything.... im there!" and just as quick as that thought comes up, you are no longer meditating... ha.

Lots of practice, and even more patience - but it's very possible, and very rewarding.

Another tip for getting started:
focus on breathing - inhale for 4 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds. Do that, but try not to focus on breathing so much that it consumes your thoughts, because again the ultimate goal is to abandon all thoughts.

[edit on 29-7-2008 by scientist]

i either a- inhale visualise from 1 to 3 in my head exhale....or b-(most the time) listen for that little ringing sound...focus on it and breath in a comfortable way for a while...it always good to get an *extra* helping hand in getting there though.....

reply to post by scientist


ye i find it extremely hard to think of nothing and once i was trying it and i was thinking to myself im thinking of nothing but then you realise thats thinking its tricky and im sure it is rewarding like you said but how is it rewarding ?? what happens to you to make it rewarding ??

[edit on 4/20/2008 by billyjoinedat2k8]

Hey...

I thought I would add some suggestions here for you to try...the trick is to try everything and see what you like and what suits you. There is no one correct answer.

And meditation is easy, it really is. Don't fret about doing it wrong...you can't. Do what works for you and it will be right, and be creative...do whatever you feel, and use whatever technique you dream up.

From experience, I will say that the "no mind" state is actually quite hard to achieve, and I know where you're coming from when you ask what it does....I still don't know, but then I use guided meditations...like intense daydreaming or storytelling or visualisation in mine..."no mind" just makes me itch! Lol...! But then, it suits some people.

Also regular practise make a huge difference, and start with 10 minutes twice a day and work up to whatever you need. Combine your meditations with exercise if you want or sit in the bath...it's up to you. Full lotus not mandatory! You will find that very quickly your meditations become much stonger and easier to get into.

Try the guided meditations on my signature if you like, and see how you get on...and keep asking questions.

Cait

Originally posted by billyjoinedat2k8
what happens to you to make it rewarding ??

yes, it's a pretty abstract concept that's not so easy at first, but much easier over time. As for the reward... I would equate it to a mini vacation. It lets you get rid of all the mental baggage you are carrying around.

I find that sometimes I have so much going on in my head, I can't focus on any one thing - no clarity at all. After meditating, and purging my head of random thoughts, I have clarity and focus. To put it into a more familiar context (to me), the Toltecs call these random thoughts "mitote," or "the fog."

The concept is that there are thousands (if not more) of voices/ideas going through your head at all times, and it takes clarity and focus to single out any one particular thought while ignoring the others. To me, that is the point of meditating, and the reward.

[edit on 29-7-2008 by scientist]

reply to post by caitlinfae


hi thanks for the post and those podcasts on the link in your signature look great and ill probably try them lol good post btw

If I get time before a meditation to do it,I like to let my thoughts run rampant,as a sort of premeditation meditation. Focus on the mind,and all the thoughts running through it,and let them come. Don't hold them back,cos then they're still there. Let them all run free around your head. They'll chill out after a while. And I'm a newb to meditation aswell. This is something I've kind of peiced together from other meditation tips. Like caitlinfae said,try everything,and just go with what you like.

and good luck,try to have fun with it,don;t make it a chore.

Meditation is wonderful. It's all about just being there. Being alive in the moment. Enjoying this moment right now and not worrying about the past and the future.

Clearing your mind can be hard work but the important thing is to not give up at it. And don't consider anything you do wrong. There is no right and wrong way to meditate, regardless of what others may tell you. It is simply whatever works for you to clear your own mind of all thought. You can do it sitting up, lying down, standing up...you can do it in your house, you can do it with a mouse. Whatever works for you.

A great way to clear your mind is to become a silent observer of your thoughts. Just let them pass by and do not concentrate on any one of them. Eventually, like a child, if you ignore them they will magically go away. I would concentrate on clearing thought before proceeding further into techniques though. Best to take these type of things one step at a time. However, you should do as much as you are comfortable with. No more, no less. Should be clear as a giant bucket of mud for you now.

Originally posted by scientist
but I remember closing my eyes with my face to the sun, and I could "see through" my eyelids - in that even though my eyes were closed, I could see an orange-flesh color (from the light going through my eyelids).

Then, I blocked the sun out expecting to "see" black, but then realized I wasn't seeing black - I wasn't seeing anything at all; not black, just nothing.

I tried meditation seriously last night for the firsat time and i know what you mean when you say you could see dasrkness with your eyes closed because i think i done it aswell because im sure my eyes were open because they were flickering open and closed because i could feel them do it but it was pitch black.

but i actually really enjoyed doing meditation for the first time but it was really hard because it was really hard to think of nothing it took me a while to do it but i got hee a couple of times because i messed but it were still good.

ya, I should have also mentioned the physical preparation for meditation, to avoid fidgeting or as you described your eyelids "flickering open."

Basically, get into a comfortable position and close your eyes, as if you were about to start, but then you just focus your attention on the top of your head - visualize it in your mind, and also become very conscious of how it feels (temperature, weight of hair pulling on it, breeze, etc.). Then just imagine the top of your head being completely relaxed, just see it sort of melting in your head. Then move slowly down to the muscles in your face, just imagining your forehead melt, eyelids, cheeks, etc. Your muscles will all feel very heavy as you do this, and it's important not to fall asleep.. ha. That was my biggest problem for a while.

You basically do this all the way down to your toes if necessary. Basically until you feel completely relaxed, and perhaps a feeling detached from your body (not in a freaky way, sort of like when you just wake up in the morning covered by a blanket - you don't really feel your body there until you get up and move around a little).

At that point, eyelids flickering should no longer be an issue. Like I said, my issue was that I would start to relax myself, and then wake up an hour later wondering what happened. Just to set things straight, sleeping is not meditating.

reply to post by scientist


I probably should've done some preparation but i didnt think about that to be honest i just did it.

Hi billyjoinedat2k8,

starting with meditation is alot about Patience & Practice ... especially practice, practice, practice

I started about 5 years ago when it was mentioned in the books of Deepak Chopra I love(d) to read. Already reading his books was calming and relaxing my mind and I started to trust my intution again and let guide me by this subtle feelings. He was writing something about 10 minutes daily and then to slowly increase.
It was also mentioned in one of the books, that when you start meditations your mind will be very busy, and it might even be that the meditation is making it busier then you expected it ...
Just google abit ...
/ just found this site: daily-meditations.com... or this one: www.how-to-meditate.org...
The first one gives really a nice overview.

I personally started back then with buying a CD with a guided meditation. I put it on my MP3 player, consulted my couch and relaxed. I had amazing visions and was guided to beautiful placed and got the answers I was looking for .. at this time.
After some months I felt like in a stagnation and decided to take a 2 day course from a friend who's regularly traveling to india and learn some of the meditations systems from there ...

Since more then 3 years I meditate daily, at least 30 minutes ... depends what I am on about ... good is some kind of charging in the morning and decharging in the evening. (For me it's easy now, as I know what suits me and I've found a great teacher who know's exactly what my soul needs, a kind of a soulmate and I was guided to this person via the visions I had before, when I started to look for answers inside and not out there)

Generally I could advise you out of my experience:
There are several good methods ... breathing, looking at an natural object, concentrating on a single sound/word/bija, reciting a mantra, doing also physical exercises like in certain yoga disciplines ...

Just Follow Your Heart!

And Always put an intention before meditation.
(for example I want to relax, calm and clear my mind, I what to decharge the all negativity/stress I've experienced today, I want to connect to my higher self, I want to balance ..., I want to purify my energy body, I want to access the messages of my heart and soul, I want to charge/purify a certain element, ask for success and protection for the upcoming day/night, etc. etc. ...)

Do it daily/nightly!
Discipline is one of the major keys!
You will experience wonderful things and there will also be days it seems impossible to meditate.
Do it anyway and be kind and patient with yourself.
Look for a teacher if you feel you want to improve and being accompanied.

It helped me to stopp smoking, overcome fears, activated my self-healing abilities and healing others if they ask for it, brings up psychic abilities more and more, connects me to higher energy channels, washes out old karma, revealed informations about past lifes, openend doors to informatian and experiences I never thought about some years ago ... beyond time and space and normal human imagination ;-)

So if you find something you really like and/or your heart guided you to ... stay with it and don't give up if the road get's bumpy. That's normal if you start and get more successfull with your practices. And it's a good sign that some kind of purification is still running ...

And last but not least ... if you wanna stay with it seriously you could create a sacred place/room and should not combine it with any kind of drugs, inmoral behaviour and being vegetarian is also very helpful.

Simply bc whenever you create a high amount of positive energy through such an process - the same amount of negative energy will come with it - be aware of that and learn n' practice how to handle and deflect that negativity.

Love & Truth

guard

PPS: I came around this video long ago and can truely agree: www.youtube.com...

reply to post by guard


Thank you so much thats one of the best replies to a thread i ever got no disrespect to everyone else.

Oh, concerning: 'trying to think about nothing'

There's a trick I once read ... Close your eyes and just imagine you are a cat observing a moushole.
Just keep you Inner Eye on this one point and let everything what comes to your mind 'come and go' without putting any energy on interpretation and so on ... the imagination of the 'cat - mousehole situation' helps to keep the mind focused, concentrated and silent

reply to post by guard



Excellent post Guard! Thank you for sharing. A star for you!.

I will also add that I think a vegetarian lifestyle is important for spiritual growth, and will even go as far as to say vegan is better. Dairy products clog all our systems up, physical and etheric, and abstaining from them, even for short periods, gives remarkable clarity....take it easy though, and don't change your whole diet at once. Try dropping meat a bit first and see how you get on. I don't usually mention it to people starting out as it tends to make them think that there is to much to do to get it right, but it is important. Drink and drugs also, and never mind people who try to convince you it's cool to mix spirit with spirit...it's just not.

Cait

Originally posted by caitlinfae
reply to post by guard

 

Excellent post Guard! Thank you for sharing. A star for you!.

I will also add that I think a vegetarian lifestyle is important for spiritual growth, and will even go as far as to say vegan is better. Dairy products clog all our systems up, physical and etheric, and abstaining from them, even for short periods, gives remarkable clarity....take it easy though, and don't change your whole diet at once. Try dropping meat a bit first and see how you get on. I don't usually mention it to people starting out as it tends to make them think that there is to much to do to get it right, but it is important. Drink and drugs also, and never mind people who try to convince you it's cool to mix spirit with spirit...it's just not.

Cait

oh oh! didnt we debate this already vegetarians are unhealthy! no vitamins apart from fortified things....meat that is quality reared and not cheap...mcdonalds...£1.99 Asda smart price etc...no! goof organic free range and corn fed. Thnakyou

I'm soooooo not getting into that discussion with you here, or anywhere for that matter...I was talking about vegetarianism with regard to spiritual practise, not nutrition, although I believe it's not a problem nutritionally either. Spiritually, it's vital to me...discussion closed and back to the thread.

Cait