Learning to Meditate

[mpetersen3]

I used to get green for calm and relaxation, but I can't deal with the fact that it lingers in my system and demotivates me. It's great when I have a week of vacation, but if I'm going full time it can't work. I want to get into meditation as a means of feeling peace and releasing endorphins. Does anyone know of any good guides online for this or have personal experiences/advice to share?

[BestLegsinHD]

well, i did Buddhist meditation at my college for a while. we would have a speaker come in a guide us through it. mostly it provided me with calming 'white noise.' i would say listen to something calming.
these two are my favs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oup-m...?v=5aZh261KZWI

sorry if this is pretty general...

[pier]

I have been into meditation for few years now, and tried many different things.

The thing is it only works after repetition. It's getting into a space, and your mind/brain/soul/whatever has to associate an action with getting into that space. So you need a routine.

Listening to relaxing music is ok, but IME is the least effective of all the techniques.

Yoga is great. It's very effective and also very healthy. It moves your whole body, blood, energy, etc. Doing it like 2, 3 times a week is enough for it to be effective.

If there are any Osho center near you try the dynamic mediation. It's crazy, and super effective as it's a cathartic meditation. Osho says that before being able to meditate you have to empty yourself from all the noise, and that is why he created the dynamic meditation.

To be honest buddhist/zen/hindu meditations are great, but where created centuries ago and modern man is very different from when those were created. It would be better to first try something related to body and emotions (yoga, dynamic, body therapy) before trying more subtle disciplines like zen, buddhism, vipassana, etc.

At least that has been my experience... any questions just ask

[wrong chris]

focus on breath. sit comfortably, don't slouch - but also don't strain yourself to keep your back straight if it doesn't feel natural. the trick is to get your vertebrae aligned and position yourself so that you aren't leaning in any one direction, find the balance in the middle. do the same thing with your neck and shoulders, keep everything balanced- like a teeter totter with two equal sized weights on each end. once you've postured yourself properly you can begin breathing.

what i do is close my eyes and begin matching simple imagery to my breaths to help clear my mind. when i inhale i only think of the colour blue, when i exhale i think of the colour yellow. or inhale by picturing a blue ocean, and exhale by picturing yellow sand beaches. take nice deep breaths using your diaphram. breathe with your stomach, not your chest.

by shifting all your concentration to your breathing and pleasant/simple imagery in syncopation the goal is to silence all the noise in your head. so when your meditating and thoughts about work or whatever stresses you out start trying to invade your headspace, really concentrate to ignore it and focus on your simple imagery or mantra and breath.

[mpetersen3]

thanks a lot you guys, I am definitely going to look into dynamic meditation, also when i just sit and listen to techno it definitely helps to quiet my internal chatter, but today I was listening to Burial (awesome beats), and was thinking of how calming it was. I definitely want to get it without music, I am going to start trying to do this soon (definitely the imagery also). Do you guys have any good books you would recommend? And also can you relate to what I've said about using this as a substitute for bud, if so let me know, I'm keen to be enriched through your experiences.

[bgardali]

I go to a Buddhist university and have been practicing meditation on and off for about five years. To me a benefit of a breath centered concentration/relaxation practice is you have it everywhere you go. You can always center on the breath in any situation. Music and guided material can be helpful to relax but like pot, it's an external crutch (although easier on the body) and it's not always convenient or possible to use it.

I'd recommend seeking out a book or two about meditation that calls to you. If you have any groups or teachers in your area that can be useful too.

A great thing about meditation is if practiced correctly and diligently you will learn how to relax as well as learn why you weren't relaxed already. This is the real benefit I believe.

Good luck!

[Stumpy]

I was taught the breathing relaxation the way duerr described. After a bit of practice it is easier to get into the state of relaxation too. I have the problem with music that I start getting thoughts like "I should cut this part to use in my set" or "This would go well with the song x"

There are some free relaxation/meditation audio exercises around in the internet. I haven't found one that was both good and didn't require purchasing the more advanced ones though...

[DvlsAdvct]

I read Creative Visualization when I was in high school and it changed the way I looked at meditation. It's an easy read for great techniques on how to focus your mind to help yourself create an inner sanctum.

But yeah, that's what I got.

[wrong chris]

yeah i have no idea about books on meditation, learned all i know about it from acting school and the odd website. i bet if you google "meditation technique" how-to's you'll be able to come up with some good stuff.

when i quit the green what helped the most was focusing on physical fitness and healthy diet. exercise everyday and cut out all the junk food, drink lots of waters and start taking vitamin supplements. the joneses start fading after a few weeks and after about 8 weeks you won't miss it at all as long as you have something to keep yourself busy.

[tekki]

This one's for all dutch speaking DJTT member:
http://www.abc-van-yoga.nl/meditatie/