ClubMed (Meditators Club)

Hi everybody,

we were talking on our IRC today with hansielneff, GDreamer, nickseagull and justasimpleguy about our meditation. But it's not easy to relay lot's of info on the chat. So I thought maybe we can have a post, where those that are interested can post their meditation style, maybe explain a thing or too.

And we can post here to encourage each other to meditate daily for those that have a routine or want to start one. I wanted to do this for so long, and now we have a Meditation subforum, so yeeey, let's meditate!

So, post your meditation style, what you hope to acomplish, your experiences, and anything you care to share. I will post as soon as I gather my info.

:meditate:

Wow, Déjà vu! :D

Style - Mindfulness
Goal - Calm abiding, insight, more grounded in the here & now
Experience - Much quieter and focused mind. Much less bothered by stress and distractions.

Typical sitting:

+Light stick of vanilla incense
+Set timer on cell phone
+Get comfortable in chair
+Start timer and turn off light
+Take three slow and deep breaths, focusing on my solar plexus. I get a nice tingling sensation on both in and out breath that radiates out to my extremities
+Focus on my feet and take an in breath, feeling any tension. Take an out breath and release the tension.
+Repeat previous step for ankles, calves, knees, thighs, hips, waist, chest, shoulders, upper arms, elbows, lower arms, wrists, hands, neck, face, top and back of head.
+Same process as above, but focusing on entire body for three breaths, releasing any remaining tension on out breaths

+Mindfulness of breath, focusing on breath's bodily sensations wherever they arise, relaxing on every in and out breath
+When I'm sufficiently calm and relaxed and breath becomes so subtle it's barely noticeable, I shift attention to awareness itself.

I always find it difficult to put attending awareness into words. It's attending everything and nothing? The feeling is a kind of emptiness. Like my awareness is being pulled back into my head and sinking deep down. The body doesn't feel like it's there, except for a kind of numb and vibrating resonance. Very calm and relaxing.

Aside from the above, it's a typical mindfulness meditation. Attend an object, and when that object is no longer in evidence gently shift attention back to it without being critical or judgmental.

Well i never thought to systematically go through the enitre body in the way you do SimpleGuy, but i do a pretty basic version. Although considering that ive been doing it basic for a while now i might as well start adding more levels of awareness in my sessions.

Usually each time i start im lying down:
-I start with deep breaths in through nose, hold for few seconds, then release until i start feeling my limbs relaxing and getting heavier.
-then i go in and out through my nose And i go through my sneses ( which is where our methods are different SG) i go through smell, sound , sight (focusing on the dots and patterns behind eyelids) and touch... i can't necessarily do much with taste lol:cheeky:
- and i do this for a while and i end with some basic self-awareness thoughts. ex: what am i doing, how am i affecting people now and how are they affecting me, who am i in a sense etc..

And that pretty much ends the routine for me, an tips or comments would be helpful but i also wanted to ask you guys this question:
Do you think one can acheive lucidity through meditation? its facts that people have noticed correlations for a long time now but what do you think based on experiences and stuff?

My initial body scan is basically mindfulness of bodily sensations. I could do an entire sitting using that technique alone but I use it as a warm-up because I find it gets my body very relaxed right off the bat. My whole routine at it's core is a very basic no-frills mindfulness meditation.

As for attaining lucidity, mindfulness (and meditation in general) helps by raising awareness but it's probably not going to get me lucid on its own without tens of thousands of hours of practice, if even then. I doubt I have more than 500 hours under my belt, and it's not even contiguous. :wink: However it does lay a good foundation and complimenting it with other awareness and LD practices throughout the day is a good strategy.

There are other meditative practices more purposed towards lucid dreaming, but I'm not familiar with them. I think you might find some interesting stuff over in the DVA Dream Yoga sub-forum.

Long version: http://www.dreamviews.com/meditation...appy-free.html

Short version:

Sit down - Think about whatever and observe your mind slow down - Let GO of your sense of self completely through an anchor (breath, visualization, etc.)

Trust that your mind will slow down as long as you just sit with closed eyes. At some point you will feel calm and peaceful (just sit and trust this to eventually happen).

And when this happen focus on the breath and enjoy the moment. Experience the new state of mind that you are in.

Expectations? None, enjoy the moment. (You are basically sleeping consciously at this point) :meditate:

Hi (:
I have noticed that first is good to relax your body with some dynamic practice - it can be yoga/qigong/simple gymnastics.

So when body is calm - mind is more calm. And he less get distracted by unpleasant sensations that can emerge sometimes. And it’s easier to find more comfortable position.

Then i use several cycles.

1) Objectless meditation. I just observe all that distracts my mind, It can be some sensations, thoughts, sounds, noises or voices. Trying not to be involved.

2) Choose anchor like breath or stomach or сhest. And focus on it.

Then again start to repeat from point 1.

At some moment attention stopped to get distracted by thoughts and i stood still and just sit, enjoy and observe all that occur all around or shift attention to space where emerge thoughts.

Looks like this thread has died but here's my practice:

I don't hold to this schedule too rigid but a typical week for me would be:
Mon-Fri: 60mins sitting in the morning and then other 60mins sitting at lunch.
Sat-Sun: 30mins sitting then 30mins walking then 60mins sitting. I will do a couple more sessions if I have time.

Again, I don't follow this to the letter and I tend to just feel things out. But a typical sitting session for me would be:
I start with short slow body scan relaxing any tension (main areas to check: jaw, neck, shoulders, hips)
Then, if needed, I'll soften the mind with: goodwill, gratitude, virtue, generosity, triple gem, death, or another inspiring theme
Then, if needed, I'll spend some time working with the hindrances: wanting, not wanting, too much energy, too little energy and doubt
Then, I'll move on to my main theme 'mindfulness with breathing' or pick up a different theme that my mind gravitates toward

Through out the day, I try stay grounded in one of the foundations for mindfulness.

If anyone is having issues with meditation I would recommend taking a look at their virtues. You'd be surprised how easy it is to calm the mind when you're not causing problems for it.