help with meditation

[john-d]

Ive been trying to meditate for about a year now (off and on ) and really struggle with it . Ive tried all sorts of technics like mantra's , focusing on an object and concentrating on breathing . The best results i get are sitting on the floor with 4 quarts points facing me and one in my hand with an orgonite pyramid just in front of me with the breathing technique listening to reiki gold . I still find it hard to quiet my mind though . A friend told me its like trying to sleep , the harder you try , the harder it is ....
Anyone got any tips ?

Cheers
John

[Ammit]

I use to have this problem, what I did was just relax and imagine a song in my head, one I knew almost word for word. Played or heard it in my head, focusing on it to hear all the instruments as you would a cd on a music system.

When all relaxed slowly reduce the volume of the song until its gone, if anything should just *POP* in your mind, simply drift it away.

[Derek]

What helps me is to just take a step back and listen to your thoughts (dont try to stop them "what you resist persists") eventually they fade away.

[mudra]

All sorts of phenomena may happen during meditation.
Just stay the observer of this in that quiet space within .
Don't try to stop it ..Just let it be .. remain centered .. breathe gently
What is important is your awareness .. you are the observer ..
There is nothing to do really ..it's rather a process of letting go.
You are the witness of those ripples in the mind and you let them drift away.

You may like to go over the meditation videos I posted on nexus on this link .
They are very simple .

http://www.projectavalon.net/forum/s...postcount=3055

Love Always
mudra

[Stardustaquarion]

Originally Posted by john-d

Ive been trying to meditate for about a year now (off and on ) and really struggle with it . Ive tried all sorts of technics like mantra's , focusing on an object and concentrating on breathing . The best results i get are sitting on the floor with 4 quarts points facing me and one in my hand with an orgonite pyramid just in front of me with the breathing technique listening to reiki gold . I still find it hard to quiet my mind though . A friend told me its like trying to sleep , the harder you try , the harder it is ....
Anyone got any tips ?

Cheers
John

Maybe this will help, sit on a chair in a comfortable possition that supports the body before you start meditating try relaxing the body from the feet to the head, one part at the time. You can command your body saying i.e. feet relax, etc. The more detail on this body scan the more you will relax. Start relaxing your breathing too, ideally once you get to the top of the head you may have slowed your breath to half speed

After that don't try to stop your thoughts, just watch them and conscioussly try to let them go. You can say "I'll deal with you later"

The purpose of meditation is to conect with the still voice within but also to get to know yourself and become mindfull so you can direct what you want to think rather than thoughts overwhelming you

Be patient and be persistent. Even if at the begining you only can be mindful for few seconds, practice makes perfect

I have taught meditation for many years and this method worked with most of my western clients. The key is little and often rather than trying to do it all at once

If at first you fall to sleep that is ok too, we just have to be patient with ourselves for a while and persist

Love

[Harper]

Dear John,

Its sounds like you have a lot of props going on, if you can't let go of the thoughts, I think you should let go of all the physical things you have around you. I think they might all be distracting, so start at the beginning again, just you are your breath. Then as you get better you will realise that none of these things was necessary in the first place. Simplify ....

Try one of these OSHO meditations for busy people, as shaved down versions can often be the most helpful.

http://www.osho.com/Main.cfm?Area=Ma...nguage=English

There was an excellent one which helped me no end -- I am on very unsturdy ground with this practice so I can relate. Apparently when we have thoughts we move our tongue as if we are saying our thoughts, just little vibrations but to stop the more persistants thoughts at the begining like 'I'm meditating' for example they used a technique which i loved.

Do what you would normally do (sit comfortably and take a few deep breaths) then if you can imagine your mind is a bubble in between your tongue and the roof of you mouth and just hold it there. Its really works if you are visual I think.

Anyway worth a try it allows you to quiet your mind enough to get started without the noise of 'stop thinking' going through your head.

Good luck

g

[futureyes]

hi john-d ...

it seems you have been trying very hard to accomplish meditation ...
locating your place of stillness ... your place of being ... isn't so much about trying ... rather it is more about allowing ...
the focus not so much about making it happen ... but letting it do so ...

when first sitting down to meditate ... think of it more as an adventure coming to you rather than yourself having to make something happen ... let go of the focus of it being an accomplishment ... and just letting it be ... whatever it wants to be ... letting go of even a smidget of your control wanting it to be what YOU want it to be ...
let it be what IT wants it to be ... as mudra wrote ... simply be the observer ...

as for dealing with chatter that won't go away ... fighting it will be an endless task ... rather ... allow short times for wandering thoughts ... calm them and let them go ...

my reiki teacher long ago ... had a great idea of how to deal with chatter ...
when a thought arrives and feels like it wants to hang around ... then simply ask yourself ... 'hmm ... i wonder what my next thought will be' ...
amazingly that particular thought loosens and you will experience some still moments before another attempts its arrival ... and then again ... 'i wonder what my next thought will be' ...
eventually ... the still moments between increase ... soon enough chatter begins to take a back seat of just being ...

namaste ...

[john-d]

Thank you for the reply's , much appreciated . I shall keep on it and try these techniques and hopefully not get engaged in these pesky random thoughts

John

[sjkted]

Originally Posted by john-d

Ive been trying to meditate for about a year now (off and on ) and really struggle with it . Ive tried all sorts of technics like mantra's , focusing on an object and concentrating on breathing . The best results i get are sitting on the floor with 4 quarts points facing me and one in my hand with an orgonite pyramid just in front of me with the breathing technique listening to reiki gold . I still find it hard to quiet my mind though . A friend told me its like trying to sleep , the harder you try , the harder it is ....
Anyone got any tips ?

Cheers
John

Hi John,

I remember going through this in the beginning. Your mind fights you on it. I recommend starting out with very small steps such as a 5-minute meditation for a few weeks then increasing to 7-minutes and then 10-minutes, etc. until you get to where you want to be.

I can also tell you from experience the reason it is probably difficult is that you are resisting your thoughts and trying to focus. Instead of trying to control the situation, just allow any thoughts and memories to come into your mind. When they do, accept them for what they are. Don't try to come up to any judgments. When you realize you are thinking about something else, just bring yourself back to your primary focus such as your mantra or yantra.

That said, if you have trouble focusing on a mantra you may want to switch over to a yantra so your mind doesn't get wrapped up in other things.

Another idea is to make sure you get rid of any potential interruptions. Lock your door, turn off the cell phone and home phone. Ask your family not to enter your space for the next -- minutes. Doing this will close your mind to the potential of these disturbances.

--sjkted

[Jonathon]

Hi John-D,

I had a similar problem early on - it was as if the thought was like a wave dragging me into it and pulling me away. What works for me usually is a singular focus - for me that is intense focus on breath sounds. When that isn't working I add a focus - some sound, sensation (for example I may change my posture such that I am stretching a particular muscle group - hamstring usually). I have found that my mind is unable to add/attend to a third focus, therefore the breath sounds (1) and feedback/sensation from the stretch (2) keep my mind very still until I reach a point of pure calm and stillness. Once I get to a certain level in a particular session, focus is no longer required - I'm simply "there".