Published on 12, July, 2020
I have only found two ways of giving my brain a rest: sitting in a very quiet spot and meditating. The former is becoming increasingly difficult to find with the ever-increasing noise from society.
I can meditate almost anywhere but my problem is that is am not very good at setting aside time to meditate. All to often there are numerous things pulling me away from meditating and making me too tired to meditate.
I do experience moments of mindfulness (for example when I write with one of my fountain pens and watch the ink glisten as it dries or listening to leaves fall to the ground). Whilst these moments are welcome they are not as good as meditating.
Does anyone have any tips on how I can ensure regular meditation, please? Thank you.
I hope I have something to offer on this subject.
Meditation is very good for us.
I did not use to do any meditation at all and then I saw an advert for a meditation group who meet on Tuesday and Wednesday Evenings.
I went along. The room is candle lit and all the electric lights go at the commencement of a meditation.
There is a low power Audio CD player that provides various background soothing noises. My favourites are seagull calling, the sound of waves, heavy rain fall and water movement, whale callings. There is a theme here, I discovered I am drawn to the sea and creatures that inhabit it.
The first week I went not very good. I was advised that I have a scientific mind and that my thinking is a bit Black and White and there was some discussion on thinking in various shades of grey [no not that book - it caused some laughter at the time though).
As the weeks went by I went deeper and deeper into the meditation and I sleep like a baby when I get home.
My tips...
Never fight it, nothing that appears in your mind can hurt you, it might surprise and amaze you but it cannot hurt you.
Do not try to divert any thoughts, go with them and see where they lead.
Enjoy the colours, especially Green and Purple they are the best
If images of people or animals appear then talk to them (not out loud, of course, people will think you are crazy). Ask them what it is they want and then listen, I have had some very interesting replies to this question.
Enjoy this inner little world of your own creation, you are safe, nothing bad will happen, go with the flow.
Don't try too hard - My brain is always fretting about money, the car not starting, other people opinions etc. get into a habit of saying to that inner voice "not interested now, come back later!'. George Harrison was a great believer in Meditation and his proud boast was that after many years of dedicated practice he could manage a whole 5 minutes without his brain screaming at him a subject to worry about. In fact he claimed that four 5 whole minutes he consciously thought of absolutely nothing at all.
Keep working on the calm [Karma] Guys
Take Care Buddies!
What a great post.
i undertook a meditation course a number of years ago as a uni student and indeed found it useful....and much healthier than the glass of wine that I meditate with nowadays.
very interested in what you said about encountering people and animals....are you familiar with the the idea of shamanism.... this brings to the fore the idea of spirit animals....that help to guide you.
sea sounds are good....for me it has always been the sound of the countryside and birdsong...."the lark ascending"
Sharing wine is a great thing, very good for soul & spirit. Drinking alone makes you feel more alone and I always avoid that if ever I can.
i am sorry I don't know anything about shamanism BUT I do believe that animals have spirits. I had a beautiful dog pass away about one year ago. She was very special to me. Black and White Welsh Springer. This breed do not bark much. If she got really really excited she would treat me to a very special single "woof!". Always just the one, never more. Sometimes in meditation I hear that one special "woof!". I don't think she is that far away.
i am very lucky next door to where I live is a 13th century church yard. There is an owl that lives there. He starts his calls at about nine to nine fifteen, I turn the TV down and listen to him, gosh its eerie but very special indeed. Who else is lucky enough to have a wise old owl in his next doors garden?
my favourite bird is the black bird. Rumour has it he never repeats the same song, true virtuosa, every song is quite unique alas they do not seem to like to live in churchyards. "The lark ascending" is that a poetry quote?
cheers Buddy!
Yesterday I came across Diamond Way Buddhism and they have a number of centres across the country and all the centres offer regular meditation sessions. No prior experience is required and there is no charge for attending the sessions:https://www.buddhism.org.uk/diamondway-buddhism/
There are plenty of books to help you learn meditation but I found the course I attended (a few years ago) to be of additional use.
The book I bought (Wildmind: A Step-by-Step Guide to Meditation) contained a section called 'The raisin experiment'. This involved taking a raisin (or something similar, the actual food item is unimportant providing it is something ordinary) and exploring it; the exploration involved sight, smell, touch, and taste.
After a minute or two exploring the sight, smell, and touch of the raisin, it is put into your mouth and explored by touch (using the tongue) and taste. The raisin is then bitten into and the exploration continues.
If your mind wanders during any part of the exploration then you have to let go of the entangled thoughts and bring your attention gently back to the experience of the raisin.
When you feel you have thoroughly explored the raisin, it can be swallowed, but you should continue to notice the lingering flavour.
Once the exploration is finished, notes are made about the experience and you are asked to describe the eating experience, what (if anything) you learned about raisins, how the experience differed from other times you have eaten a raisin, and what implications the experiment has for other aspects of your life.
I will only say about my raisin experiment except that I was very sceptical and yet the experience was something else.
I think I will look into this,thank you caretwo for raising the subject,although it is for you to gain help it has helped me understand what is possible for myself.I hope it has helped you too.
The closest I get to "switching off my brain" is after a really hard day at work I find a quite spot make a cuppa from my flask and just sit back and let the wave of sensation coarse through my body, as a youngster if I couldn't sleep at night I would get very uncomfortable? It would cause me pain and fatigue,but that released some kind of chemical? I would then lay down and the sensation or tingling would flow up through my body, a self made drug to relax.
Ooohhh! Going to check that out!
Lol! Sounds idealic to be honest with you! Maybe that's where I am going wrong
http://www.classicfm.com/composers/vaughan-williams/music/ralph-vaughan-williams-lark-ascending/
And you can apparently download your favourite version
I'm not very well read about classical music. I will try to find it on line somewhere.
i live in the history zone, cobbled streets, gas style street lamps, its really nice, I am very lucky!