Saturday, January 29, 2011
!Meditation-8 minute wOnder!: Most enjoyable way to dramatically improve your li...
!Meditation-8 minute wOnder!: Most enjoyable way to dramatically improve your li...: "*MEDITATION refers to any of a family of practices in which the practitioner trains his or her mind or self-induces a mode of..."
!Meditation-8 minute wOnder!: An empty mind meditation
!Meditation-8 minute wOnder!: An empty mind meditation: "This really is the simplest form of meditation to describe, yet it’s one of the hardest to master. Here are the steps involved:1. Sit comfo..."
!Meditation-8 minute wOnder!: Walking meditatoin
!Meditation-8 minute wOnder!: Walking meditatoin: "Walking meditation is a form of meditation in action.In walking meditation we use the experience of walking as our focus. We become mindful..."
!Meditation-8 minute wOnder!: Mindfulness meditation
!Meditation-8 minute wOnder!: Mindfulness meditation: " Mindfulness meditation is a particular way of paying attention to the present moment. It is one of two major forms of meditation..."
!Meditation-8 minute wOnder!: Simple mantra meditation
!Meditation-8 minute wOnder!: Simple mantra meditation: "TECHNIQUE FOR MANTRA MEDITATION &nbs..."
!Meditation-8 minute wOnder!: Mindfulness meditation
!Meditation-8 minute wOnder!: Mindfulness meditation: " Mindfulness meditation is a particular way of paying attention to the present moment. It is one of two major forms of meditation..."
Friday, January 28, 2011
Simple mantra meditation
TECHNIQUE FOR MANTRA MEDITATION
Location - As with all meditations, find a place where you will not be disturbed. As you get more practiced, you will find you can meditate anywhere, any time, but at first it's important that you be able to devote a good ten to twenty minutes of time without distractions or disturbances. If you have a quiet, peaceful living situation, you can choose a quiet peaceful place easily. If you are a harried mom who is sought out everywhere she goes, you may find the bathroom with a lock on the door to be the only haven. Use what works.
Position - Sit comfortably. Many people will tell you the positions to use. I won't. I suggest sitting so you don't fall asleep. I suggest being comfortable because you don't want your body to distract you with complaints about discomfort. Relax.
Close your eyes for this meditation. You can meditate with your eyes open and it can be very powerful, but for this meditation, close your eyes.
Breathe normally. Don't worry about how you're breathing - as long as oxygen is going in and out of your lungs, you're good to go. Don't hold your breath while meditating.
AM - You will use the mantra to help you clear your thoughts by focusing only on this one word: AM. Here is why I have chosen this word: AM is similar to OM but it has a meaning we understand. Am is the same as "I am" because the "I" is implied - no other pronoun takes the 'am' form of the verb 'to be.'
Think the word AM to the exclusion of all other thoughts. If other words or thoughts come, just let them go as you focus on AM. Don't think about AM, but actually think AM. Notice how AM makes you feel. AM makes you present to yourself. AM helps you find your identity in the present. Feel AM filling you.
Practice feeling and being AM for as long as you can. It may take days of daily practice before you are ready for the next step, but you can try it any time, just don't be disappointed if it doesn't work.
Think the word AM to the exclusion of all other thoughts. If other words or thoughts come, just let them go as you focus on AM. Don't think about AM, but actually think AM. Notice how AM makes you feel. AM makes you present to yourself. AM helps you find your identity in the present. Feel AM filling you.
Practice feeling and being AM for as long as you can. It may take days of daily practice before you are ready for the next step, but you can try it any time, just don't be disappointed if it doesn't work.
While completely filled with the feeling of AM, of being perfectly present and alive, stop thinking the word. Let go of the word itself while continuing to feel the feeling. Be it without thinking it. This is the Truth of who You Are. BE this, experience this, as long as you can.
When you return to thinking, take a deep cleansing breath and open your eyes.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Mindfulness meditation
Techniques of Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness is sometimes referred to as insight meditation, or vipassana. Sitting comfortably, spine should be upright, supported and the head should balanced naturally, looking forward with gently closing the eyes and the breath be natural and gentle. This meditation is begun by focusing attention on one sound or observing the breath. Breathing should be through the nose, letting the belly rise as you inhale and fall as you exhale. The body must become still. The second part of the process involves allowing the mind to observe any thoughts or feelings that arise and maintaining a nonjudgmental attitude toward whatever occurs, moment by moment. Attempt should not be made to control your thoughts. The more you try to control thoughts, the stronger they become. This process allows the meditator to learn about the workings of his or her mind at the present moment and to gain insight into the spending of time and energy. Equal acceptance of the good and bad, pleasant and unpleasant is the goal. The quality of awareness, not the content of the thoughts and feelings, is what is valued. This technique can be practiced in a sitting position or while eating, walking, or doing yoga postures.
Walking meditatoin
Walking meditation is a form of meditation in action.
In walking meditation we use the experience of walking as our focus. We become mindful of our experience while walking, and try to keep our awareness involved with the experience of walking. Actually, there are several different kinds of walking meditation. We’ll just be looking at one of them in detail, although we’ll touch on the others. Once you’ve mastered one form, you’ll easily be able to pick up the others.
Obviously, there are some differences between walking meditation and sitting meditation. For one thing we keep our eyes open during walking meditation! That difference implies other changes in the way we do the practice. We are not withdrawing our attention from the outside world to the same extent that we do when we are doing the mind fullness(development of lovingkindness) practices. We have to be aware of things outside of ourselves (objects we might trip over, other people that we might walk into) and there are many other things outside of ourselves that we will be more aware of than when we are doing sitting – especially if we sit inside. These include the wind, the sun, and the rain; and the sounds of nature and of humans and machines.
An empty mind meditation
This really is the simplest form of meditation to describe, yet it’s one of the hardest to master. Here are the steps involved:
1. Sit comfortably. Pain of any kind is distracting.
2. Think of nothing.
2. Think of nothing.
That’s it. Clear your mind. When your mind wanders, don’t chastise yourself of complain about it, just quickly switch back to thinking of nothing. If it helps, visualize blank paper, white void, total darkness, whatever works for you. Just don’t consciously think to yourself
The goal is absence of thought entirely. It’s incredibly difficult, because our minds tend to wander or go off about all sorts of odd things. This is where the term ‚Äúmonkey mind‚Äù applies. While your body is just sitting there with your eyes closed, your mind wants to climb trees and shout at the top of it’s lungs.
This form of meditation, above all others, really is done best in a very quiet environment; it’s just so easy to become distracted that anything you can do to remove distractions is a good thing. Once you find that you can easily ‚Äútune out‚Äù everything in the outside world, you are on a good start down the path of meditation. If you find yourself losing track of time doing this, you are doing well; sometimes you can sit for what seems like hours and later find that only a minute or two has passed, and sometimes it works just the opposite. Being able to quiet your mind is essential to meditation and many of the more spiritual aspects of meditation.
Try sitting in silence, not thinking at all for just five minutes. It’s far harder than it sounds.
Meditation-breath watching
One of the best ways to relax the body is to tense it first. Then, with relaxation, you will find tensions being released that you didn't even know existed. Begin your meditation experience by practicing the following two relaxation techniques. The first exercise relaxes your body, and the second calms your mind.
- Inhale, tense the whole body, then throw the breath out and relax. Do this exercise three times to help rid your body of unconscious tensions.The breath reflects one's mental state. As the breath becomes calmer, so does the mind, and vice versa. Relax your mind before meditation, by doing this simple breathing exercise:
- Inhale slowly counting one to eight, hold your breath for the same number of counts, then exhale for the same count. This is one round of "even count breathing."You may either lengthen or shorten the number of counts according to what is comfortable, but keep the inhalation, retention, and exhalation equal. Practice "even count breathing" six times
Most enjoyable way to dramatically improve your life... forever"
*MEDITATION refers to any of a family of practices in which the practitioner trains his or her mind or self-induces a mode of consciousness in order to realize some benefit.Meditation is generally an internal, personal practice and done without any external involvement, except perhaps prayers beads to count prayers. Meditation often involves invoking or cultivating a feeling or internal state, such as compassion, or attending to a specific focal point. The term can refer to the state itself, as well as to practices or techniques employed to cultivate the state.There are dozens or more specific styles of meditation practice. People may mean different things when they use the word, 'meditation'.
*Six Types Of Meditation
Sometimes you have to try different types of meditation to find the one that's right for you.There are so many different types of meditation. How many? Who knows, but enough so that you can find the one that's right for you. To get your search started, here are six types of meditation you can try.
1. Breath watching. Can meditating be as simple as paying attention to your breath for a few minutes? You bet. Relax in whatever position works best for you, close your eyes and start to pay attention to your breathing. Breathing through your nose gets your diaphragm involved and gets oxygen all the way to the bottom of your lungs. As your mind wanders, just re-focus your attention on the air going in and out of your nose. Just do this for several minutes, or longer as you get used to it.
2. An empty mind meditation. Meditating can create a kind of "awareness without object," an emptying of all thoughts from your mind. The techniques for doing this involve sitting still, often in a "full lotus" or cross-legged position, and letting the mind go silent on its own. It can be difficult, particularly since any effort seems to just cause more business in the mind.
3. Walking meditations. This one gets the body involved. It can be outside or simply as a back and forth pacing in a room. Pay attention to the movement of your legs and breathing and body as you walk, and to the feeling of your feet contacting the ground. When your mind wanders, just keep bringing it back to the process of walking and breathing. Meditating outside in this way can be difficult because of the distractions. If you do it outside, find a quiet place with level ground.
4. Mindfulness meditation. A practice Buddhists call vipassana or insight meditation, mindfulness is the art of becoming deeply aware of what is here right now. You focus on what's happening in and around you at this very moment, and become aware of all the thoughts and feelings that are taking your energy from moment to moment. You can start by watching your breath, and then move your attention to the thoughts going through your mind, the feelings in your body, and even the sounds and sights around you. The key is to watch without judging or analyzing.
5. Simple mantra meditation. Many people find it easier to keep their mind from wandering if they concentrate on something specific. A mantra can help. This is a word or phrase you repeat as you sit in meditation, and is chosen for you by an experienced master in some traditions. If you are working on this alone, you can use any word or phrase that works for you, and can choose to either repeat it aloud or in your head as you meditate.
6. Meditating on a concept. Some meditative practices involve contemplation of an idea or scenario. An example is the "meditation on impermanence," in which you focus on the impermanent nature of all things, starting with your thoughts and feelings as they come and go. In the Buddhist "meditation on the corpse," you think about a body in the ground, as it slowly rots away and is fed on by worms. The technique is used to guide you to an understanding that your rationalizing mind might not bring you to.
*There are many other meditations you can try, such as the "meditation on loving-kindness" or "object" meditation, and even meditating using brain wave entrainment products. Each type has its own advantages and effects. For this reason, you may find that at different times and for different purposes you want to use several different types of meditation.
1. Breath watching. Can meditating be as simple as paying attention to your breath for a few minutes? You bet. Relax in whatever position works best for you, close your eyes and start to pay attention to your breathing. Breathing through your nose gets your diaphragm involved and gets oxygen all the way to the bottom of your lungs. As your mind wanders, just re-focus your attention on the air going in and out of your nose. Just do this for several minutes, or longer as you get used to it.
2. An empty mind meditation. Meditating can create a kind of "awareness without object," an emptying of all thoughts from your mind. The techniques for doing this involve sitting still, often in a "full lotus" or cross-legged position, and letting the mind go silent on its own. It can be difficult, particularly since any effort seems to just cause more business in the mind.
3. Walking meditations. This one gets the body involved. It can be outside or simply as a back and forth pacing in a room. Pay attention to the movement of your legs and breathing and body as you walk, and to the feeling of your feet contacting the ground. When your mind wanders, just keep bringing it back to the process of walking and breathing. Meditating outside in this way can be difficult because of the distractions. If you do it outside, find a quiet place with level ground.
4. Mindfulness meditation. A practice Buddhists call vipassana or insight meditation, mindfulness is the art of becoming deeply aware of what is here right now. You focus on what's happening in and around you at this very moment, and become aware of all the thoughts and feelings that are taking your energy from moment to moment. You can start by watching your breath, and then move your attention to the thoughts going through your mind, the feelings in your body, and even the sounds and sights around you. The key is to watch without judging or analyzing.
5. Simple mantra meditation. Many people find it easier to keep their mind from wandering if they concentrate on something specific. A mantra can help. This is a word or phrase you repeat as you sit in meditation, and is chosen for you by an experienced master in some traditions. If you are working on this alone, you can use any word or phrase that works for you, and can choose to either repeat it aloud or in your head as you meditate.
6. Meditating on a concept. Some meditative practices involve contemplation of an idea or scenario. An example is the "meditation on impermanence," in which you focus on the impermanent nature of all things, starting with your thoughts and feelings as they come and go. In the Buddhist "meditation on the corpse," you think about a body in the ground, as it slowly rots away and is fed on by worms. The technique is used to guide you to an understanding that your rationalizing mind might not bring you to.
*There are many other meditations you can try, such as the "meditation on loving-kindness" or "object" meditation, and even meditating using brain wave entrainment products. Each type has its own advantages and effects. For this reason, you may find that at different times and for different purposes you want to use several different types of meditation.
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