Do You Find Meditation Difficult? Tell Me Why?!

Hey ATS,

I am in the process of developing a mediation outreach program and I have come up with a general survey for people who meditate regularly but also for people who have tried and found it quite difficult. If you have a few moments to help me out, it would be much appreciated. Thanks so much!

1. What is the number one question you have about meditation?

2. What was your expectation of starting a meditation practice? What did you think it would do for you?

3. Did you have some instruction before starting? If yes, what kind?

4. Why did you want to try meditation?

5a What is/was your biggest “problem” with your meditation practice?

5b Why do you think __________ caused that problem with your practice?

6. What are some of the common difficulties you have had in your practice? (ie painful legs, too noisy, etc)

7. How long into your practice did you stop if indeed you did?

8. What was your main reason for not continuing on with meditation on a regular basis?

9. How long would you normally sit for?

10. When in the day/night would you normally sit?

11. What posture did you most commonly use and was it comfortable for you?

12. What amount of time could you realistically set aside each day for meditation?

13. What could a meditation teacher do to help you?

Thanks again, much peace...

reply to post by wrdwzrd


This doesn't answer most of your questions, but my main problem with meditation is that I have a hard time focusing and or relaxing.

Originally posted by Saya13
reply to post by wrdwzrd

 

This doesn't answer most of your questions, but my main problem with meditation is that I have a hard time focusing and or relaxing.

Same here, and when I did relax... I fell asleep. EVERY time! Been trying off and on for 10 years, just can't seem to get it

Originally posted by wrdwzrd
Hey ATS,

I am in the process of developing a mediation outreach program and I have come up with a general survey for people who meditate regularly but also for people who have tried and found it quite difficult. If you have a few moments to help me out, it would be much appreciated. Thanks so much!

1. What is the number one question you have about meditation?
What exactly is meditation?

2. What was your expectation of starting a meditation practice? What did you think it would do for you?
I wanted to improve myself mentally

3. Did you have some instruction before starting? If yes, what kind?
Just stuff from google + youtube

4. Why did you want to try meditation?
Because I am a spiritual person. Also I wanted to reap the supposed benefits

5a What is/was your biggest “problem” with your meditation practice?
Getting distracted to easily

5b Why do you think __________ caused that problem with your practice?
My mind wanders off and I kind of "forget" to focus back on meditation

6. What are some of the common difficulties you have had in your practice? (ie painful legs, too noisy, etc)
Sometimes my arms jolt and I snap out of it

7. How long into your practice did you stop if indeed you did?
I stopped after 2 months, but I'm back at it now

8. What was your main reason for not continuing on with meditation on a regular basis?
No reason, I just stopped doing it

9. How long would you normally sit for?
10-20 min

10. When in the day/night would you normally sit?
First thing in the morning and before bed

11. What posture did you most commonly use and was it comfortable for you?
I like laying down on my bed

12. What amount of time could you realistically set aside each day for meditation?
1 hour

13. What could a meditation teacher do to help you?
Teach me specific techniques

Thanks again, much peace...

Let me know when you are releasing your program, I'm quite interested!

reply to post by wrdwzrd


After practicing yoga for five years, I decided to try meditation. I was unsure if a control freak such as myself could "let go" and relax enought to simply observe my thoughts without judgement. I was in for quite a shock. After a 90-minute practice, I settled myself in a comfortable lotus and began some deep breathing. My first surprise was watching the corner of my oriental carpet begin lifting off of the floor, creating a wave that moved toward my spot on the same carpet. I then heard that distinct loud crack I hear when returning from an OOBE. I immediately rose from the floor and decided my first foray into meditation was also my last. Apparently, despite my controlling tendencies, I slip into some kind of state with minimal provocation. It was very stressful and I'm completely uninterested in experiencing that again. It was the opposite of relaxing. Which stunk because I think I could have really benefitted from integrating a meditation practice into my routine.

Given you're assembling some informational materials on this topic, I would greatly appreciate any feedback you might have on this experience, or if you'd be able to point me in a direction that could help in understanding what the heck happened.

For one to be able to meditate one must first undo himself of the dirt of the world.

reply to post by wrdwzrd


Best wishes for your outreach program wrdwzrd.

I practice meditation, firstly, to experience the present moment with clear awareness and observation. This is the meditation of life, of being keenly aware of the inner world and the outer world. Secondly, I practice meditation of alternate states of consciousness. I do not practice any traditional meditation schools of thought, I just do what works for me and I draw supplemental inspiration from Buddha, Tai Chi, Chi Gong, and Chakra training.

________________________________



1. What is the number one question you have about meditation?

- None at this moment.


2. What was your expectation of starting a meditation practice? What did you think it would do for you?

- I did not know what to expect.


3. Did you have some instruction before starting? If yes, what kind?

- Only minor instruction; "Get comfortable and relax your mind."


4. Why did you want to try meditation?

- I was engaged in various religious/spiritual studies.


5a What is/was your biggest “problem” with your meditation practice?

- Quieting the mind.


5b Why do you think __________ caused that problem with your practice?

- An unquiet mind distracts the consciousness of the the truth of what "IS" and the present moment.


6. What are some of the common difficulties you have had in your practice? (ie painful legs, too noisy, etc)

- Quieting the mind of thoughts.


7. How long into your practice did you stop if indeed you did?

- I did not stop


8. What was your main reason for not continuing on with meditation on a regular basis?

- I meditate on a regular basis


9. How long would you normally sit for?

- Between 10 minutes and 8 hours.


10. When in the day/night would you normally sit?

- All times of the day


11. What posture did you most commonly use and was it comfortable for you?

- I meditate in many postures, most commonly; Laying down, or sitting crossed legs, or sitting half Lotus, or full Lotus. All are comfortable, but the Lotus took many moons to blossom


12. What amount of time could you realistically set aside each day for meditation?

- 1 to 3 Hours


13. What could a meditation teacher do to help you?

- No help, but would enjoy them sharing their relative-subjective experiences.

thanks everyone who commented so far! keep'em coming!

Originally posted by wrdwzrd
thanks everyone who commented so far! keep'em coming!

Okay, and this is an honest statement - not trolling. Why would I waste valuable time trying NOT to think when I could learn something new in the time it takes to meditate?

Originally posted by wrdwzrd
thanks everyone who commented so far! keep'em coming!

I think it is one of the things one is drawn to in life. To meditation, leading life leads to meditation, all the play, all the work one does, all the caring, it brings one closer to life, closer to meditation.

One could say the purpose of life is reaching meditation. Where did I read the following in the bible: "To learn continiously'.

reply to post by wrdwzrd


I can't seem to stop getting scared. I've gotten to the point where all I see is white and my eyes are twitching a whole lot. I associated the eyes on comparing how dogs bodies and eyes twitch when they're relaxed or dreaming. But I always seem to scare myself I've gotten to that point many times and I can't seem to break it I guess I'm scared about other spirits or I don't even know lol please help

reply to post by chasingbrahman


wow, very interesting! i have never heard of that before so unfortunately i cant really comment on your experience but maybe just try something more simple for relaxation, a quiet 10mins where you just focus on deep breathing. a good technique from Thich Nhat Han is to focus on the breath, "i am breathing in, i am breathing out". try that for 5 or 10 and see how it goes. good luck!

reply to post by unknown51


there is definitely no reason to be scared but I realize we all have our own fears that we are dealing with. the mind loves to create distractions for us, with some people its the non-stop thoughts, most of the time negative, for others, it might be pain in different areas of the body, all little things to keep us from being focused. with you, your mind has created this fear. the good news is that because your mind created it, you can uncreate it!

if it helps maybe try keeping your eyes slightly open until you become more used to the process. a simple technique i mentioned in my other reply is to just focus on the breath - "i am breathing out, i am breathing in". start small, 5 or 10 minutes. when your mind wanders, which it will, or creates a distraction like seeing white, just focus back on the breath, keep doing it over and over again. try that and see how it goes! fill me in on the progress, id love to know....

much peace!

There are times when other activies work to unglue you, even for those who have a hard time focusing, or being still, like my slightly hyperactive son. Then tai chi, energy healing can be very affective and placing your fingers near your ears and your thumbs between your eye brows and rubbing, for we have natural healing abilities too. My son can see red spots in auras where there is pain, and he was surprised he didn't just have to touch, when a friend spoke on skype, he just put his hands over the area. He was able to transfer the energy, as well. Though rarely takes the time to try this, for it takes standing still for a moment.

But doing dishes, a big pile connected to water, can really open the third eye for one who is searching within for answers, and reporting for duty, asking to let go of all programming to help others. And also, its a good time to envision change, positive yearnings for a good world, vividly picturing, like the flow, things working out, positive activities, turning around negative thoughts to postive, and if its a habit, then seeking to learn what needs healing within us and if it has a pattern through our lives.

For some calming routines may help them meditate for longer, and perhaps tea. For me, I have to lie down, and fall alseep often so coffee before hand is most useful, and I mean that.

reply to post by jiggerj


thanks for your question, its a good one! its a common misinterpretation that meditation is for not thinking. trying to reach this goal is frustrating and ultimately pointless because no one can ever stop thinking. what meditation can teach us is how to watch our thoughts. this practice can be extremely beneficial! when we take a quiet moment and watch as an observer, rather than as a participant, how the mind creates thoughts, most of the time negative, we can learn how to stop that pattern.

when i learned that the mind creates thoughts, stories, etc all day long about who I am and what kind of world I live in and separated myself as the thinker of those thoughts and thus not reacting to them, i was able to have more balance and equanimity (great word, look it up!) in my life.

it may sound strange but we are not our thoughts. for example, if something makes us angry, we usually react with anger quite quickly. instead we can see the anger as an emotion created by the mind, its not a bad or good thing, it just is, but we choose if we react on that anger or not. we can fly off the handle and say or do hurtful things or we can recognize the anger, see it, look at what inspired it and then just let it go. this is very empowering!

we carry so much baggage around all day, learning to not pick up anymore is very liberating. i love learning new things as well so if you are interested i'd say start reading some books on meditation, mindfulness and some basic buddhist teachings, there's so much to learn!

thanks for your question, much peace...

reply to post by Unity_99


awesome, thanks for your comment! yes we all have healing energy, learning to cultivate that is a great practice as well. mindful living is the key for me, whether meditating or not, to always be focused and in the present moment, especially when doing a big pile of dishes!

much peace

reply to post by wrdwzrd


Hey ATS,



1. What is the number one question you have about meditation? Is it better with music or without?

2. What was your expectation of starting a meditation practice? What did you think it would do for you? Peace of mind, clarity of purpose and understanding of God.

3. Did you have some instruction before starting? If yes, what kind? No..I used to have a guided meditation cassette tape years ago.

4. Why did you want to try meditation? Too much indecision, chaos and restlessness with life.

5a What is/was your biggest “problem” with your meditation practice? Distraction. Full house..kids, dogs and whinny cats.

5b Why do you think __________ caused that problem with your practice? Bad timing

6. What are some of the common difficulties you have had in your practice? (ie painful legs, too noisy, etc) too noisy...disturbances.

7. How long into your practice did you stop if indeed you did? A few weeks

8. What was your main reason for not continuing on with meditation on a regular basis? I wasn't seeing a benefit

9. How long would you normally sit for? 15 to 30 minutes

10. When in the day/night would you normally sit? Night 9 ish

11. What posture did you most commonly use and was it comfortable for you? Sitting on floor cross legged

12. What amount of time could you realistically set aside each day for meditation? 15-45 minutes...more probably.

13. What could a meditation teacher do to help you? Better techniques?

Thanks again, much peace...

Same as some previous people said, really hard for me to concentrate at all, can't properly relax. My mind just seems to be busy all the time.

I've tried the erm brainwaves stuff you can put on and listen to relax, but like others i will just fall asleep or give up in the end as it's not working.
Also tried focusing on breathing and nothing else, relaxing each part of my body in turn from feet up.
Tried to just relax and listen to my tinnitus even :p

A lot of things i'm interested in say that meditation helps and of course i easily stress out so something like meditation i think would be a great help, if i could do it

reply to post by wrdwzrd


Okay so this time was very different. BTW thank you VERY much for that perception of creating and uncreating fear that helps more than you know.

Okay, after about 45 minutes of meditation I found myself looking at what seemed to me were little stars floating all over the room almost like tiny atoms bouncing and attracting and I could see all of these very clearly, but when I focused on an individual "star" or tiny atom It seemed to keep disappearing and reappearing it was difficult to follow them. But these are sometimes different colors like blue and red but mostly white.
Shud I just continue to breathe and try to go deeper? Or is this the basis of what one achieves a good meditative state? Am I supposed to start lucid dreaming I'm not sure I understand what exactly I'm supposed to see. Or feel and I do feel a lot and see a lot lol hence why I get scared.

reply to post by wrdwzrd


so meditation is in fact the method to stop being impulsive.