Ikkalebob's Meditation Workbook

Hi, I'm not exactly sure how these lessons work, so if I've posted this too late then I apologise. But anyway, here is my workbook.

What Meditation Means to Me
To me, meditation is about relaxation and clearing your mind, a way to escape from the catastrophic mass of thoughts that seem to swarm in my head. Apart from emptying my mind of thoughts, I also see it as a way of getting to a place where I can think clearly without distractions if I need to.

What I Hope to Achieve
By the end of this course I want to be able to reach a point where I can focus on one thing (or nothing) for a long period of time. I also want to use it to boost my number of lucid dreams.

Void Meditation Day One
I sat in the lotus because it's supposed to be better for your breathing, and then went on to clear my head. My mind was quite restless on this first attempt, it leaped at any chance to distract me. For instance, I started thinking about a crocodile for no apparent reason, that led on to a plane somehow, and soon I was completely absorbed in thinking about planes. I managed to shake myself out of these but it was difficult to focus on nothing at all. That said, there did seem to be alot less thoughts than normal. I didn't think I was doing too well until I opened my eyes. I realised then that I had done alot better than I thought, because my body felt immensely heavy and it took me a few minutes to bring myself to move. It felt awesome.

The part I have trouble with is clearing my head, the breathing and relaxation I can do. Any tips?

I find that when starting a void meditation session, you should lead with focal meditation. The reason you start with this is that it really calms your mind first (stops your restlessness). After about 2+ minutes that you've decided you've really calmed down, let your focus drift into 'nothing'. I know it sounds like bullshit, but that's really what you do. Just don't focus on anything. If a thought slips into your mind and you take notice, just don't think any further about it. Take a deep breath and let yourself relax mentally and physically again.
Hope this helped~
EDIT: Void meditation takes a bit more practice than focal to get good at, so don't stress out over it. Short sessions of meditation still help if you don't feel like meditating for long.

That is what I have been doing as well, force. It does indeed work very well. And does not sound like bs

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Originally Posted by Doob

That is what I have been doing as well, force. It does indeed work very well. And does not sound like bs

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What I mean is, sometimes when you say 'focus on nothing,' people think 'what? How do I do that?'

Thanks for the advice, I think after you've done lucid dreaming nothing sounds like BS anymore :D. I tried using what you said last night:

Void Meditation Day Two
I had been feeling a bit ill that day, so I didn't have very high hopes for the meditation. Instead of sitting in the lotus I sat on my knees, which was actually alot more comfortable, I will be using it in future. I started by focusing on my breathing like fOrceez suggested. I kept going until I could reach a certain number of breaths without any interruptions, then I took focus away from breathing and onto nothing (without trying to focus on nothing :eek: ). It worked alot better than it has done in the past, and I can firmly say that fOrceez's method was a success. If I had been feeling better this would have been a brilliant meditation, but it was still better than any I have had before.
When I opened my eyes I felt strange, my mind was clearer than I had felt before, and the rest of my body, though it felt like it weighed a ton, felt very fresh. My mind felt very fluid.

Thanks for your advice fOrceez and Doob.

I know exactly what you mean :D After 2+ minutes of meditation, i always need to reality check after. xD
Keep it up!

Void Meditation Day Three
This time I decided to sit cross-legged. That was my third posture test and probably the worst, it actually made my back ache. So I went on to concentrate on my breathing, this time I tried to slow them down, ten breaths lasting about 2 mins. Then I slowly let go of my breathing to allow it to happen itself. This time my head was probably the clearest it has been, my concentration (or lack of it) had increased. I kept this going for a couple of minutes but unfortunately I was quite uncomfortable and I didn't want to try and move myself mid-meditation. This was very good but not quite as good as last night, I think my priority now is to find a way of sitting on my knees without my feet going num.

Oops, I was supposed to start focal meditation last night but I forgot! Oh well, void went very well:

Void Meditation Day Four
This time I got everything right. I sat on my knees but made sure my feet wouldn't go num, I started with breathing, and I wasn't ill! As a result, this was the best one so far. Once I had got onto the void part, there were very few thoughts. I could feel them in my mind but it was as if they were trying to catch my attention from far in the distance. When they got closer I was astonished to find that I was subconciously dismissing them (unconciously being concious of my own unconciousness? Oh noes.) and I reached a point of almost definate mental clarity. I had been meditating for thirty minutes, the longest so far.
I have also been making a point of injecting an autosuggestion just before I come out of meditation. I wasn't sure this would work, but I made myself believe it would. I was originally having the odd one or two lucid a month. I had three this week. Result.
Thank you so much! Focal meditation begins tommorow.

Due to unforseen circumstances, I couldn't meditate the night before last, but last night was cool.

Focal Meditation Day One
I thought of something simple to begin with, in this case the first thing that came into my mind was an apple. I just held the image in my mind for as long as I could. One thing I was confised about was where exactly to put the image. I could put it in my mind's eye (no idea where that is really) behind my eyelids or try to put it inside myself (Stephen LaBerge metions that in his book somewhere). It went pretty well, but about 15 minutes in, just as I was getting into it, my neighbors started to make loud noise. It didn't last long but it ruined the meditation.

So my one question would be where abouts do I put the image, and also what would be a good image to use?

Nice dude, sounds like you've found your pattern. As for your most recent post, I found imagining a candle with a lit flame to be easily imaginable. You can't go wrong with fire! :p But the apple is also pretty simple, too. On another note regarding the bit about posture, I am still trying to find a good position to sit in as well. I've been sitting crosslegged and like you said, my feet go numb as well. Perhaps I will try sitting on my knees. Generally I sit against my bed with a pillow to my back, but I really need to kick the crutch and sit up straight on my own. Interesting read however. Keep it up!