what are the best ways to meditate?
any personal techiniques would be great. i would like to learn how to meditate to help me focus of dreaming and lucid dreaming. also to relieve stress
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what are the best ways to meditate?
any personal techiniques would be great. i would like to learn how to meditate to help me focus of dreaming and lucid dreaming. also to relieve stress
I took a yoga class for one full semester this yr. in highschool, we had 2 meditate every day!
1st off, meditating is not dreaming or sleeping...keep that in mind.
The easiest way 2 do it is 2 get in a comfortable position; however, make sure it is a position that u will be able 2 stay awake in. The next step if thinking of something u want 2 focus on, it can be anything: a word, a picture, symbol, anything that will help strengthen u. Focus on that for about 25 minutes. Try as hard as u can not 2 break concentration, but remember 2 keep ur breathing slow & deep. U can also do weird finger positions 2 help increase a life value...i can't remember the positions though ):
I just get in some real comfortable clothes, lay down and get under my blankets. Make sure you are in a quiet place with no distractions and not much bright light. Start to breathe at a slow and regular pace. Stay concentrated and repeat that with each breath, you are feeling more relaxed. The important thing is to think about what you are saying; not just the words, but what they mean. If you are just starting out, you might want to envision that you are walking down stairs or along a path, and that each step and each breath take you closer to a deep relaxation. Count from 1 to 10 and breathe with each number, and continue repeating that you are becoming more relaxed. After you do it a lot, you won't need to imagine numbers or stairs or anything, it's like your mind knows where to go to be relaxed. Remember the most important things are to breathe very slow and regularly, remain concentrated, and most important of all--don't try to force the relaxation. If you think about it, forcing yourself to relax doesn't make sense. Imagine that your body and mind want to relax and you will just let them do it. Every time you meditate, try to think about how every time you meditate after that, it will be easier to reach the deep relaxation. Then later, just get comfortable, control your breathing and concentrate on your relaxed state, and you will just be whisked straight into a deep relaxation.
Personally I use the Jose Silva Mind Control Method. You stare about a 45 degree angle downward and count from 100. Then focus on one thing that you want to meditate on. The floor is the best place to do it sitting cross-legged because chairs can become distracting.
It's important that you dim the lights in the room first. If you fall into sleep or maybe a trance like condition when meditationg, it may be smart to put some music on to remain conscious.
Meditation music (nature sounds) or chants works best for me.
You know you're entering the first stage of meditation when you start feeling dizzy, keep going it's not dangerous. After awhile you can see your thoughts, not as clear as in a dream but still clear. After you have reached this stage it's you that decide what to do next. You can fall to sleep, open your eyes and feel totally relaxed, regain energy.... the list is long. If you fall to sleep you will be totally conscious and have full control of your dreams, however you will not dream as deeply as you normally would. I dont know why, but if I fall to sleep after a meditation I am easily woken up again. So maybe it's not sleep, just deep trance meditation...but it's very similar to a dream and the surroundings are as real as in a normal dream.
I wouold reccomend you read the Tibetan book of Living or Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche. In the first section of his book, he teaches a variety of meditation techniques. The book is also useful because it explains how one should USE the meditation. It also has some very interesting and insightful comments on the differences between the state of sleep and the state of meditation. There are even some indirect comments about lucid dreaming, in reference to the yogic masters who spend their entire lives learning to be full conscious of every moment of their existance, night and day. That means being aware when one is falling asleep, when one is in deep sleep, and being lucid during REM sleep.
Hope that's helpful.
~*Aethereal_Pellucidity*~
yues, that is helpful...i must try that sometime soon, i need to relieve some stress.
Now, do i have to count out loud? I think that would mess with my concentration. A good way that i find to relax enough to fall asleep is to simply listen to my own breathing, in and out.
No you don't. I infact reccommend counting in your head for the best results.Quote:
Originally posted by irishcream
yues, that is helpful...i must try that sometime soon, i need to relieve some stress.
Now, do i have to count out loud? *I think that would mess with my concentration. *A good way that i find to relax enough to fall asleep is to simply listen to my own breathing, in and out.
I just sit or lay down somewhere and focus on my breathing.
If your not to used to meditation i would guess that its a big chance your thoughts will drift away, but its just to keep trying.
I've been PM'ing a Member or two concerning Kundalini Meditation... and here are a few very general tips that I can share:
A long time ago I became an initiate of Kundalini Yoga, so I can give you a few tips on opening up your Agna (third eye) Chakra.
Once I read in a dusty old Treatise translated from the original Sanskrit that "in the presence of a God or Saint, the Third Eye will open". I remember it because it has proven true again and again and again. The trick, though, it to understand as to what it is referring. The reason I remember so well was that the evening after I read that passage I met this itinerant Guru and felt a pressure sensation in my forehead. That was all it was -- a Pressure Sensation. No Lights. No overwhelming Bliss or Ananda. Just a feeling of pressure. Later on when I received the official Initiation, the pressure was not significantly different. And then the Practice of the Yoga was to simply concentrate or meditate on that Pressure Sensation so that it would be fixed and permanent, in the sense that it could always be summoned there at will.
Do you need to find an Official Guru. It certainly could not hurt, and could probably help. but my feeling is that there are a lot more "God and Saints" than anybody suspects. There are people walking around with very Open Chakras who are radiating Spiritual Energy, and if you are open, when you are in their presence, your Third Eye will open up by itself. YOU WILL FEEL A PRESSURE SENSATION IN YOUR FOREHEAD. And if you are not paying attention for it, then you are likely to disregard or perhaps not even notice it, as though it were the mildest of headaches.
Sometimes even reading a particularly cogent passage from a Spiritual Book, or in thinking of especially powerful Saints or Gurus from the past, the third eye will open, that is, there will be that feeling of Pressure.
So, simply go about your ordinary business, but remind yourself several times daily to keep some attention on what goes on in your forehead -- up slightly between the brows. And if you ever feel a slight pressure sensation, then lock onto it immediately -- rub your finger into it; make a buzzy noise with your mouth and modulate its tone until it resonates into that Sensation Point. For the first day, try not to let it totally go away -- remind yourself to keep the sensation open. Rub it with your finger and use that buzz tone to vibrate it. If you can keep it there for just a solid day, and bring it back after a good nights sleep, then you got it. Then, meditate on it for about 10 or 15 minutes morning and night. After about a week you may begin to feel some heaviness in your head, or even a headache. Great! Now you will want to bring it down. Get a nice glass of cold water and drink it, and feel that the Sensation is attached to in and that it drops down, all the way to your lowest vertebrae -- your little triangular tailbone. Reach back there and rub that little tail bone and feel the Sensation there. And keep it there for a couple of weeks. Learn to keep the energy down. That is your Safety Practice. Before the Energy gets to strong to handle you must learn to be able to pull it down at will. So don't keep the Energy up because you think you might be missing something. You have your entire life to raise up the Energy. For a couple of weeks you need to work on the certainty of being able to lower the Energy.
... and here is a quick meditation... count to 24, slowly, starting with your tail bone and going up one increment for every bone in your spine until you get to the swivel point in your skull. Do that a few times and you might be conscious of the shakti rising up with the count. Don't worry if you think you lose count on a couple of the vertebra -- it is not important except that you start with 1 on your tailbone and end with 24 at the swivel point in your skull. If you develop a headache, then simply reverse it, and start at 1 on your swivel point and go down to 24 on your tailbone.
Leo that was a good read ey!
from the second main paragraph and onwards i got that feeling, dont know if it weas placebo but it was there.....
the thing about meditating is to not try to hard, its the same as anything give it a few days to tune yourself
when you try to hard you expect too much and therefore stress out and oppose your positive direction towards meditating
relax and enjoy
Placebo effect stays strong for 72 hours and then poops out... but for 72 hours the Placebo Effect IS AS GOOD AS real!Quote:
Originally posted by Xisdence
Leo that was a good read ey!
from the second main paragraph and onwards i got that feeling, dont know if it weas placebo but it was there.....
the thing about meditating is to not try to hard, its the same as anything give it a few days to tune yourself
when you try to hard you expect too much and therefore stress out and oppose your positive direction towards meditating
relax and enjoy
Anyway, on the off chance that it is a valid Kundalini Sensation, simply bring your attention back to it for a few seconds every couple of hours and see what develops.
Damn, i felt that tooQuote:
Originally posted by Xisdence
from the second main paragraph and onwards i got that feeling, dont know if it weas placebo but it was there.....
that thing in my forehead...i've been known to get that sometimes...and usually i put my hand to my head, and i think...'something is going to happen' and usually it does!
but i think if i went around buzzing and rubbing my head, i'm going to get some funny looks...
Breath is one of my favorite focuses for meditation, mainly cuz it's so organic and delicious, keeps my attention calm.
I like to imagine energy (chi) moving along my body parts, kind of like LaBerge's 61 point technique.
Getting physically oriented and grounded will stable the mind sufficiently.
What happens?Quote:
Originally posted by irishcream
that thing in my forehead...i've been known to get that sometimes...and usually i put my hand to my head, and i think...'something is going to happen' and usually it does!
i can't really describe it...it's like a prickly feeling. I've always just called it my intuition, and the times i don't listen to it, are the times when something goes wrong!