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    1. #1
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      Two week meditation challenge!

      I've never meditated much, but I'm going to put an effort into it for two weeks to see what happens. I'll post my results every few days, and anyone who wants to join can chime in. Even if you have been meditating for a long time you can post a testimonial, or a critique, or tips/advice.

      good luck

    2. #2
      The Illuminated One iLight's Avatar
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      I am up for it, what sketch do you intend to follow during your meditation journey?

      Im using this video at the moment to put me into trance : http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...9694941061600#

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      I've been doing a short meditation in the mornings, but I usually finish in about 15 minutes. I'd like to start playing with something like the Maha Mantra in the mornings. It's a half hour active meditation.

      I'm also curious about what sorts of mediation routines people have, and what sorts of results you've noticed in your lives.

    4. #4
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      Quote Originally Posted by L View Post
      I am up for it, what sketch do you intend to follow during your meditation journey?

      Im using this video at the moment to put me into trance : http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...9694941061600#
      sketch? I just plan on sitting there and breathing

    5. #5
      ex-redhat ClouD's Avatar
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      I suggest that you go deeply into the boredom.

      Keep going until time disappears.
      You merely have to change your point of view slightly, and then that glass will sparkle when it reflects the light.

    6. #6
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      Nice...I have just yesterday decided to take up daily meditation myself. I searched ALL over the damn internet for information/instruction on Transcendental Meditation because I am very interested in it but think it is a complete scam to pay $2500 to learn to do it. I did find some decent information and have begun to teach myself and practice it...even though I have no idea whether I'm doing it right or not. But I assume I am, because I tried it with a mantra last night and ended up falling asleep within 5 minutes when it usually takes me about 30 minutes to an hour or more to get to sleep. I realize that you're not supposed to meditate before bed because you will...fall asleep...lol...but I had read so much about it that I was so tempted to try it out.

    7. #7
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      I'm glad people are intested. I'm not sure about the types of meditation, when or where you should do it, I'm just kind of doing the steryotypical meditation you'd see in a picture. Lotus posture hands over laping and breathing.

      Last night I used Tai chi to calm myself down. It's amazing for that, I went from shooting heads off in counterstrike to a very calm and relax state of mind in a matter of 20 minutes. Afterwards I sat down and began to meditate. I probably meditate for 3 minutes, it seems like a huge failure, but I when I opened my eyes for some reason I was just staring at my dresser with absolutely no thoughts. It was an intesting state of mind. The reason I stopped is becasuse I felt pressure in my head and in my ears, I think its because I just went from doing an excersize to sitting down so tonight I'll wait a few minutes before I start meditating.

    8. #8
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      Here are 2 powerful methods that I use for meditating.

      1. Watching your thoughts: Close your eyes. Direct your awareness to your thoughts. Watch them. Allow them to be. Don't interpret them, or judge them, or put a label on them ie. this is crazy! Don't resist them. By watching (being aware) of your thoughts, the watching consciousness comes to the fore, and the thoughts will subside into the background. There will be a break in the continuous stream of thinking. There is stillness, and it is only then that true peace can arise.

      2. Focussing your awareness on the breath: Close your eyes. Direct your awareness on your breath. Feel the breath entering your body through your nose, flowing through your throat, filling up your lungs and your diaphgram. Feel the breath leaving your body, your diaphgram and lungs contracting, flowing out through your throat and out your nose. You don't need to control the speed of your breathing. Just breathe normally. Soon all mental activies will cease, and all you will be aware of is your breath. There is stillness, and it is only then that true peace can arise.

      You don't need to take up any posture, like the lotus position. That's just structural carriage. You can do it lying down, or sitting in a chair.

      And you don't need to be chanting anything. External stillness and silence brings about internal stillness, a quietude of the mind. This is the essence of meditation.

      I like to meditate for 15-30 minutes in the evening.

    9. #9
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      I haven't had a regular practice in years--perhaps I'll join you. When beginning a practice, it's a good idea to start small and meditate for five minutes per day for a day or two, then ten, then fifteen or twenty and so on. It might be a good idea to set a timer (preferably a gentle sound like a single bell) to avoid the temptation to watch a clock. You don't have to stick it out to the bell or stop when the bell rings; it just lets you set aside concerns over the duration of your practice.

      Jack Kornfield likens meditation practice to training a puppy. When the puppy wanders off sniffing in odd corners, just bring it gently back and start fresh. The great thing about the breath as a focus of meditation is there's always another one.
      If you have a sense of caring for others, you will manifest a kind of inner strength in spite of your own difficulties and problems. With this strength, your own problems will seem less significant and bothersome to you. By going beyond your own problems and taking care of others, you gain inner strength, self-confidence, courage, and a greater sense of calm.Dalai Lama



    10. #10
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      I'll join you in this challenge!

    11. #11
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      sweet. Thanks for the info guys. I haven't been doing this the last two nights because I got drunk and then I was too lazy. Anyway, going to try again tonight lol.

    12. #12
      Your scary uncle Flashdance's Avatar
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      If you find meditating in the evening makes you sleepy or drowsy, stop. This is not meditating, this is napping.

      Then try it in the morning(but not immediately after waking up, because your mind is too active), or during the day, when your mind(but not your body ie. after exercise) is alert. Or you can even try it in the early evening, a few hours before bedtime, when you're not yet sleepy.

      Have fun with it.

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      Quote Originally Posted by Aquanina View Post
      Nice...I have just yesterday decided to take up daily meditation myself. I searched ALL over the damn internet for information/instruction on Transcendental Meditation because I am very interested in it but think it is a complete scam to pay $2500 to learn to do it. I did find some decent information and have begun to teach myself and practice it...even though I have no idea whether I'm doing it right or not. But I assume I am, because I tried it with a mantra last night and ended up falling asleep within 5 minutes when it usually takes me about 30 minutes to an hour or more to get to sleep. I realize that you're not supposed to meditate before bed because you will...fall asleep...lol...but I had read so much about it that I was so tempted to try it out.
      I don't know if this is quite what you're looking for, Aqua, but is it a start?

      http://www.how-to-meditate.org/how-to-meditate.htm/

      I like letting my thoughts roll over me when I meditate. I think this is the same as watching them. I completely lose myself in them, watching them, not judging, not directing them.

    14. #14
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      Let's turn this around a little: What are your goals/results? How do you want/expect life to be better with a solid meditation practice? I'm curious, cause I have some very specific goals, and meditation is just one way to better point in the right direction.

    15. #15
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      My goal is to see what benefits if any can be derived from the practice of meditation.

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      I would join but i can't ignore the itching. It drives me crazy itching when i am not active. I know i could ignore this when i could get good at it, but i'm too impatient for this. If i itch, i WILL scratch and lose focus (no i don't got bugs crawling all over me). I meditated for 3 days in a row years ago and near the end of the sessions i felt like i was about to explode, but i felt like it was going to be a weightless explosion. My whole body felt like it was ready to leave and i was close to being weightless. No idea what that was about. I was probably slipping into a dream or something. If i did this, i would want my goals to be alot more energy. I lack energy alot and it leaves me tired and slow. When i have energy i am fast.

    17. #17
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      My goal is to alleviate some stress. I'm easily agitated by most things, at the moment.

    18. #18
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      When ever I meditate I can feel my pulse pounding. It's like the pressure keeps building up in my head. Perhaps I should try meditating laying down...

    19. #19
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      Quote Originally Posted by grasshoppa View Post
      My goal is to see what benefits if any can be derived from the practice of meditation.
      What kind of benefits are you expecting?
      "Its just a ride ..."

    20. #20
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      How is everyone progressing?

      When I started out, 10-minutes made me anxious, especially because I am attempting to run a clear mind/focusing on breathing type meditation. I'm not forcing away my thoughts, but I'm re-focusing on breathing again when they are done.

      Yesterday, I craved the silence and 10 minutes just flew right by. I was so relaxed and dumping my thoughts is getting a bit easier! Feeling a lot less stress

    21. #21
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      Quote Originally Posted by manbearpig View Post
      What kind of benefits are you expecting?
      i duno, anything lol

    22. #22
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      That's excellent, eternalstar01.

      Sounds like you are making progress, and reaping the benefits of meditation.

    23. #23
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      I guess I asked first, so I might as well chime in on my own goals.

      My ultimate goal is to have full, and finer, control over my brain/thought processes. I don't just mean being relaxed all the time and stuff. I mean I should be able to feel any way I want to feel at any time. Some random practical applications:

      1) Motivation. We make all these goals/resolutions, but never really own up to them, and usually give up quickly, because as much as we want to, for example, be thin, it's really hard to get up and exercise and keep up a healthy diet. Most people give advice like "you just gotta have will power and force yourself to do it" but when you think about it, they've just defined "Will power" as "forcing yourself to do things against your will" which to me, sounds like unnecessary friction. I'd rather just adjust my will. When it's time to exercise, I want to be able to feel like there is NOTHING I'd rather do than to exercise... not even sit there, browsing youtube, and procrastinating!

      2) Powerful emotions. Let's say you see a girl at the bus stop, and she really catches your eye. You wish you could go talk to her, but oooh, you have this annoying voice in the back of your mind saying stupid things like, "she's probably got a boyfriend" "you'd be bothering her" "you're out of her... leaaaague"...... If you could create a powerful desire for going over there, meeting her, and finding out what she's like, it would totally drown out any such bs hesitation.

      3) Vivid visualization. This is less about feelings, and more about developing my ability to visualize (and hallucinate, cause it involves all senses). With a more vivid imagination/ability to hallucinate things for yourself, you can solve problems more efficiently. More detail means you can see a more accurate picture in your mind's eye, etc.

      And much, much more. I want to sloooowwww dowwwwwn and just put myself to sleep immediately at night when I want to. Then, I want to wake up and feel friggin great - for no reason at all!

      I could go on forever, but you get the picture.

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      I want to feel the feelings I have. experience every one of them without putting them away. I want to be more aware of my feelings and thoughts. And maybe even be more aware about why I feel these feelings. And respect my feelings, not be ignoring them.

      I feel very good now that I meditate. I feel like a puzzle that's being solved a piece at the time. It's a big puzzle and there's a lot of pieces but with every piece I'm getting closer. I feel refreshed after meditating and energized.

      I started meditating 5 minutes a day. But that didn't work for me. Time flies when meditating. So now I'm doing/trying at least 15 minutes a day. I prefer a quite place to meditate, but I don't live alone so sometimes it hard to find the silence. I've discovered showering can be like meditating too Listening to the water and feeling it. Being all alone there en just be. It's nice.

      So I'll keep on meditating, and try to figure out when is the best moment to do it. And keep looking at the results.

      Also, this month I have started with my 'new life'. I wasn't happy about how I lived. So I decided in October that in December I would start a completely new life; eating better, sleeping better, no drugs, no everlasting rushing and doing everything at the last second, exercising and all that kind of stuff. I must say that meditating helps me keep me focused on my goal. So that was an unexpected benefit.

    25. #25
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      I have some technical questions about posture.

      1) A lot of people can easily sit cross-legged on the floor, while keeping their back straight. Me, I can't seem to do that. Either I slouch, or I've got my back straight, but I'm engaging my leg muscles to keep it up. So like, it's not a "relaxed" position for me, presumably because my knees are above my hips. I have to use a large Zafu to keep my knees below my hips, so that I can have a straight back/neck, while remaining relaxed. Is this normal? Should I just force the floor position until I build up those muscles? I'd like to sit like the lady in ninja's avatar, while remaining relaxed.

      2) After about 25 minutes, one of my legs falls asleep. This is really distracting, as I get a little paranoid about causing permanent damage... plus it's uncomfortable. Any tips on how to get around that?

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