bookends4u

Hey to all you meditation fan!

So I've been trying to meditate (Sober)
I'm using the Hunnnng, Souuuuuu method ( Inhale on Hung and Exhale on sou)

I still have a problem actually gooing somewhere... Cause after a few minutes I start to think that my back hurts and blah blah blah... And it ruins everything and I end up quitting before even 5 minutes...

Whenever I do it on Pot it's a different storie...

But do you guys have any tips for this starter???

Thanks!

SweetSativa

My personal opinion is that everyone has his own techniques that work well for him. And sometimes I do that too (my back hurts, my foot itches, what's that noise?)... it takes practice... don't worry... I think you're over focusing (but I'm no expert). There are a couple of things that have worked well for me. First, I do a full-body relaxation, working from the feet upward and spending as much time as necessary to rid stress from every area. My back gives me trouble too and I don't stay there because it builds stress by focusing on it. After I have done the relaxation, there are a couple of options... I do like 'ommmmm' just because it focuses my mind on SOMETHING and helps to block out other things... have also used "Huuuuuuu" ... uhg, ahead of myself. Prior to this, I let my mind think anything it wants and get it 'out of the way'.... until i decide it's 'done' and I can get on to thinking about nothing. Also, I sometimes envision an orange sun in the right, top 'scenery'... if something appears in my mind, I don't fight it but instead let it go on but I DO NOT focus on it but instead keep drawing my focus back to the orange sun. There are tons and tons of different types of meditations and none is right for everyone. I also sometimes do something where I 'sit in the back of my head' and watch myself fall to sleep... I've been somewhat successful with that for the purpose of lucid dreaming and obes.

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"Why is it that when people talk to God, we call it praying but when God talks to people, we call it crazy?"- Touched by an Angel
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SmokeSomeDoja

instead of "focusing" on something, like your back aching, or your foot itching, merely acknowledge it, but dont focus on it. see what im trying to get across?

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bookends4u

Well I'm gooing to have to practice this quite a lot...
+ I'll have to look for different techniques...

One more question... When do you know you've had a successfull session???
Thx!

sm0ke42o

You should also eat light meals such as rice and vegetables before meditating. Food that is "heavy" on your stomach can interfere with your concentration and the process of digestion itself can throw your body out of sync with your mind. It is really best to fast before meditating.

SweetSativa

Think of them all as successful. It depends what you want out of it.

Yeah, Doja, I agree.... one book that I read talked about practicing tuning things out so the more you practice stopping your mind, the better you get at it.... such as...

"My back hurts"
next time,
"My back..."
Next time,
"Back"
Next time you may acknowledge that it hurts but the words are not even formed in your mind... or you may hear the cat meowing in the room but you do not acknowledge... do not focus your attention there.

Bookends... you might also think about looking into some guided meditations... I LOVE those... especially those with nature sounds in the background.

__________________
"Why is it that when people talk to God, we call it praying but when God talks to people, we call it crazy?"- Touched by an Angel
http://www.youtube.com/user/immelody.../0/DDRj93dQ0O0

Waves

It depends on what you want to accomplish.

There are many different things you can do while in trance states. Most people just enter light trances, which are slightly altered perceptions of reality, basically. If you are looking for that clear-your-mind type meditation, do simply that. Focus on the the blackness in front of your eyelids and nothing else. Make sure the voice in your head(we all have one, hehe, its the same one thats reading you this sentance is quiet, and your focus of awareness will shift, slowly.

If you are looking for the obe meditation, envision yourself climbiing a rope higher and higher and visualize this. Then as soon as vibrations start, passively observe, and you will pop out

If you are looking for a phase-shift meditation, engage in a mental rundown in your head. Try to do something you enjoy, like riding a bike or playing guitar. Try not to make it the obvious one, sex, cuz you will either get a boner if your a guy or start to feel tingly down there if your a chick. Engage all your senses and if you can hold this rundown, sooner or later you will make the SHIFT from third person observer to first person. You will be in your imagination, literally. Have fun

If you are looking for an energy-working meditiation, follow the clear your mind instructions and when you enter a trance state, you can play around with your energy and chakras.

Maybe that will help you.

snapshot

If your back hurts, then make it not hurt. If you are sitting wrong, then you're back is telling you to sit up straight. You are not in a fight with your body, you are in full communication with it. Listen to your body.

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We are all atheists about most of the gods that society has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.
-Richard Dawkins

SweetSativa

I've also done one (you just reminded me) where you are going down a rope (such as in a bucket going into a well)... a little bit at a time... you feel yourself going lower and lower (I really like this one).

Anyone else ever get stuck in this thing where there is a loud humming (or buzzing) sound in your ears that wont stop? :/

__________________
"Why is it that when people talk to God, we call it praying but when God talks to people, we call it crazy?"- Touched by an Angel
http://www.youtube.com/user/immelody.../0/DDRj93dQ0O0

SweetSativa

I agree with that statement ("listen to your body") however I think that in some cases such as mine where there is chronic back pain, relief comes from moving your awareness from it... not overfocusing and 'fighting' it but simply focusing elsewhere. Good posture is important.

__________________
"Why is it that when people talk to God, we call it praying but when God talks to people, we call it crazy?"- Touched by an Angel
http://www.youtube.com/user/immelody.../0/DDRj93dQ0O0

snapshot

Chronic back pain would suuuuuuuuuck. I'm sorry. I hate it when I just sit with bad posture and my back starts hurting and I wanna stretch it but there's just no feasable way to go about it. Feels like my muscles would rather rip than stretch.


Maybe try laying down?

__________________
We are all atheists about most of the gods that society has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.
-Richard Dawkins

Waves

Lol, yeah I dont really think it matters what direction you use. It just helps us objectify the notion of "going somewher" when we in reality, are withing our own mind the whole time

And yes, i get the humming sometimes, If you focus on it and concentrate to the point where it feels like your head is going to burst, you will be flung out of your body

Beyonder

OK, some yoga for you. My grandma tought it to me when I was young:
Lie down on your back and relax. Close your eyes. Picture yourself lying down while you breath slowly. Now do a sort of scan of your body, pictureing and focusing your atention to a specific part of your body. Once you've done that, move on to another part. Now for some zen meditation, wich my grandma didn't teach me: Focus on your breath (without a mantra), especially after you exhaled and before you inhale (the mind is clearer this way). Breathing IS enlightenment. If you insist on sitting in the lotus position, make sure your back is straight and you are slightly looking at the ground. The straight back is for a clearer mind, looking at the ground calms the mind (looking slightly up does the opposite, the mind becomes more creative that way). I would advise the lying down and relaxing position, since this is the easiest position with the least risks, especially for a beginner.
Like doja said, let your thoughts float freely, just observe them. Act through not acting (Tau) and don't respond to the thought, just place it besides you, so to speak. I have trouble clearing my mind (not thinking), so I repeat the Ohm Mani Padme Hom (or Ohm Mani Peme Hung) mantra with my internal monologue, ad infinitum after I exhaled and before I inhale.
The link shows the position,though some of the stuff mentioned above has been added by me since it works for me (I'm rather pragmatic when it comes to this stuff. I think it's because of my philosophical background, my initial disposition towards any kind of teaching is rather sceptic).
http://www.yogapoint.com/info/shavasana.htm

Oh, btw, I recently discovered Qigong wich is a sort of meditation through movement. It really calms me down whenever I do it. Doing Qigong before meditation creates a perfect balance, the Qigong charges up the Ki while the meditation puts it to use. Allso the change from movement to non-movement is like a perfect yin/yang balance, and balance is the name of the game.
If you want to know more about Qigong, you should talk to me on a messenger service, I can send you some files (I couldn't find a good text on the net though I admit that I haven't been looking that hard).

__________________
He who lets the world, or his own portion of it, choose his plan of life for him, has no need of any other faculty than the ape-like one of imitation. He who chooses his plan for himself, employs all his faculties.

-John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

I must create a system or be enslaved by another mans; I will not reason and compare: my business is to create.

-William Blake

Prospero

It's not about going somewhere. It's about here. This.

Read "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki.
Here, I've made it this easy.
It'll cost you $3.50 for a used copy, and it is an incredibly insightful book into the undeniable way of life.

But there is nothing you should be practicing to attain. Meditation is not about seeing things, etc.

This may help you with your focusing:

From the book, "When we practice zazen our mind always follows our breathing. When we inhale, the air comes into the inner world. When we exhale, the air goes out to the outer world. The inner world is limitless, and the outer world is also limitless. We say "inner world" or "outer world," but actually there is just one whole world. In this limitless world, our throat is like a swinging door. The air comes in and goes out like someone passing through a swinging door. If you think "I breathe," the "I" is extra. There is no you to say "I". What we call I is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale. It just moves; that is all. When your mind is pure and calm enough to follow this movement, there is nothing: no "I," no world, no mind nor body; just a swinging door."

__________________
"The poet judges not as a judge judges but as the sun falling around a helpless thing." -Walt Whitman

bookends4u

Thx for the replys ya'll really... I was trying to meditate with very little knowledge of what I was even trying to do... All this info is GREAT!

Thanks!

Bodhisattva

don't worry about it man everything you're experiencing is normal

the only thing you need to do is to keep sitting, just sit through the aches, and the distracting thoughts, that is important, you cant skip over them, they are just as much a part of meditation as all the deep states of calm and bliss later on

regardless of the type of meditation you practice, there is the one universal goal of ACTUALLY JUST DOING IT, no cop outs, that is really 1#, everything else is details

you know read and read some more, but it will never hurt to keep practicing inbetween, if in the beginning its done a bit different than the form you do later on, that's fine, dont stress over it, not a minute of effort could ever be wasted.

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Waves

I edited your post with a few words to show you how rediculous you sound.

Maybe Zen meditation, but in many religions, meditation is used for many different things. None "right or wrong" but different. What you are saying in your post sounds almost as naive as a fundemental christian, at least to me.

wanderlust

whats wrong with reading a book and liking it a lot? and then reccomending it to someone. especially when the book pertains to the thread topic.

Waves

Im not referring to the book, more to his attitude of seeming to know what meditation is and is not. Its simply rude to try to change other peoples views/beliefs without them asking you. All i did was use the sterotype of the christian fundamentalist to point this out. bookends wanted to know how to meditate better, not change his way of life.

K10

What about your attitude about seeming to know what meditation is and is not? He was simply reffering the poster to a book that he found helpful and that I would reccomend as well.

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