Ways of meditate and its benefits..

25 replies

_ARviN_

2011/05/05 09:45

With the hectic pace and demands of modern life, many people feel stressed and over- worked. It often feels like there is just not enough time in the day to get everything done. Our stress and tiredness make us unhappy, impatient and frustrated. It can even affect our health. We are often so busy we feel there is no time to stop and meditate! But meditation actually gives you more time by making your mind calmer and more focused. A simple ten or fifteen minute breathing meditation as explained below can help you to overcome your stress and find some inner peace and balance. Meditation can also help us to understand our own mind. We can learn how to transform our mind from negative to positive, from disturbed to peaceful, from unhappy to happy. Overcoming negative minds and cultivating constructive thoughts is the purpose of the transforming meditations found in the Buddhist tradition. This is a profound spiritual practice you can enjoy throughout the day, not just while seated in meditation.

_ARviN_

2011/05/05 09:46

Here are some ways to make meditation less of a chore and more like a fun, doable thing for you. 1. Try the 100 Breaths technique. This is a highly complex meditation technique! I take 100 breaths. I count them. I try not to think about anything else. Yup. Its revolutionary. And it also really works for me. It gives my brain something to do (wee! counting!) while the rest of me is just hanging out, inadvertently meditating. The lesson here is this: There are so many ways you can meditate. Explore them to find a way thats really easy for you, and just do that.

_ARviN_

2011/05/05 09:47

2. Take a Meditationap. Be careful. This one is complex. Oh yesits the love child of a meditation and a nap. Lie down on a bed, couch, or sun lounge, or pile your (empty) bath with pillows and blankets. Close your eyes and do nothing. Maybe youll fall asleep. Maybe youll have Zen inspiration. Maybe youll just happily float along. Either way, it will be sublime. My favorite meditationap consists of a sun lounge, a blanket, an afternoon, and my ipod filled with lovely music. If 10-day Zen master meditation retreats consisted of this kind of meditating, I could totally do them! The lessons here is: Meditation should be enjoyable. We only consistently do things we actually like doing!

_ARviN_

2011/05/05 09:48

3. Use the Alarm Clock Meditation. If 100 breaths isnt going to cut it for you, set a timer for 5 minutes. Then meditate until the timer goes off. This way, you dont have to wonder about how long its been, or how much longer you should meditate for. Its like meditation on cruise- drive. The lesson here is: Make your meditation as cruise-drivey as possible.

_ARviN_

2011/05/05 09:48

4. Get comfortable. I started looking at things that annoyed me about meditation the stuff that held me back from doing it. And one of the annoying things was this: I dont like being uncomfortable. I dont think anyone does. And sitting cross-legged in lotus with astraight back and poised mudra fingers doesnt spell comfortable to me. It spells pins and needles, sore butt, and achy back. Maybe when Im a woo-woo yoga guru master it wont, but for right now, Im not, and it does. So for me, its an exercise in getting comfy without falling asleep. What this looks like for me is sitting in a comfy armchair inside, lying on a sun lounge on the back deck, or leaning against a wall outside. What comfy looks like to you might be totally different. The lesson here is: Meditating isnt an exercise in feeling uncomfortable. Its a place of rest, stillness and comfort. So get comfy.

_ARviN_

2011/05/05 09:49

5. Fake it for 10 breaths. When I really, really need to meditate, and I dont feel like I have time, I make a little pact with myself. I say to myself: Okay, we so dont have to meditate for any pain-in-the-ass time at all. Lets just do ten breaths. And my logical brain says: Ten breaths? You think I have time for ten breaths of meditation? Are you kidding me! Ihave stuff to do lady! Were not on retreat you hippy! And I say: Oh. I know youre really busy. I really feel like I need this. You and me. Besides, its only for ten breaths. Logical brain: Fine. But only ten. And Im counting. And then we do our ten breaths and its nice. And we either stop there because we feel like weve refreshed just enough, or we keep going for another ten or twenty because it just feels so good. The lesson here is: Start small. Everyone has time for 10 breaths. See what happens. Its a little way of moving around resistances.

_ARviN_

2011/05/05 09:50

6. Make it a reward. Meditation should be fun and easy, and it should feel good for younot excruciatingly boring or painful. Work out the thing about meditation that makes it really, really useful for you. Not I should meditate because everyone says so. Not even an I should meditate. Find a way that makes you think I want to meditate. Heres the meditation pay-off for me: Whenever I take 100 breaths, its kind of boring for the first 59. But then I hit 60, and for the next ten seconds, it feels like nirvana. I dont know if its a rush of oxygen to the head, or just because I finally relax then, but whatever it is, 60 is good. And it makes those 59 seconds before it so very, very worth it. My little reward is the 60-second release. The lesson here is: Find your personal treat from meditating. And keep remembering it. Use it as a reward for getting yourself there.

_ARviN_

2011/05/05 09:51

7. Use help when you need it. When I need extra help in meditating, I use CDs. Theyre like my own little personal guides into sweet-calm-space. Try out different CDs, guides, and meditation techniques, and see what works for you. And what works for you, make that the golden wisdom in your life. The lesson here is: Dont think you have to go it alone. Everythings easier with a little support.

_ARviN_

2011/05/05 09:53

8. And most of all Remember that the reason you arent meditating right now is not because you are lazy. Its because you havent yet found a way to meditate for you that is fun, easy, and comfortable for you. Find the way that does, and then its much, much easier. Remove the annoying parts from meditating. Try out all the different ways you can to make it as lovely an experience as possible. And remember: you are the expert on you. Find the wonderful things that work for you, and ignore the rest.

Boet

2011/05/05 10:08

Ah, i find sitting in peakhour trafic, counting from 1 to 10 for every violation by impatient drivers, really is a unique way of meditation. Another effective one is to concentrate on not swearing when i hit my thumb with a hammer smiley

_Nimrose_

2011/05/05 10:13

N0t keep it up for c0py pasta topic smiley

GhAyAl

2011/05/05 11:14

Oh thnkx.

TheMouse

2011/05/05 11:26

_Nimrose_: N0t keep it up for c0py pasta topic smiley

What about Italian pasta topics?

TheMouse

2011/05/05 11:41

One good method of meditating is for me to feed my often shy little animals by hand, which involves heaping the food on my hand which then I have to keep perfectly still for up to half an hour, as well as the rest of my body. As the process of the shy little pets climbing around my arm and feeding while sitting on my hand is so calming and such a valuable experience to me every day, being physically still becomes a byproduct instead of a task, and my thoughts get so calm and meaningless that the 'race' in the mind also stops. - Another method for me is to use prayer beads while walking for a few hours in the country to recite mantras which will stop all the thoughts I would otherwise get lost in while walking. Well, I'm lucky that I don't find it so difficult, as the hectic rush of 'modern' life isn't part of my life anyway.