(no subject)

[mstakenidentity]

I want to learn to meditate properly. Does anyone know how I go about learning? Are there and books or cds you'd recommend? Are there any places or courses or teachers you would recommend? Anything I should avoid like the plague?

Comments

[insomnius.livejournal.com]

I have quite a lot of thoughts about this, and I will write an email to you about it tomorrow when I have access to more of my brain.

[vox-diabolica.livejournal.com]

Learn tai chi. Mind is an extension of the body, so if you can't control your body, you can't control your mind.

Or yoga.

There are some good visualisation meditations out there, but it's a matter of finding something that makes you feel comfortable.

Avoid anybody who says 'Osho'.

There's a Catholic tradition of meditation as well, if you're interested.

[melbournian.livejournal.com]

I recommend any buddhist meditation or any yoga. Unfortunately I don't know of any specific beginner courses being run at the moment for just meditation, though I can recommend yoga at Crossways at 6pm on Mondays and Thursdays.

[vass]

There's a brochure here.

What it basically says, though, is to sit cross-legged and breathe normally and count your breaths (from one to ten, then start again, or start again if you lose count.) They don't recommend lying down because you might fall asleep - the idea is to be comfortable but not too comfortable.

Good luck!

[mc-shamo.livejournal.com]

Check local learning centres/neighbourhood houses. I know the kensington one down the road has meditation. And (if it's still going) there's a bhuddist group at the Docklands Hub every Wednesday that's quite good I think.....

You'll find something quite easily.

Just checked the docklands one it's Wednesday 6:30pm - gold coin donation to participate with a Bhuddist nun who's a very likeable person.

[sols-light.livejournal.com]

Oddly, I learned how to meditate when I was 10 at a buddhist ashram and don't always forget how.

The way I learned was to follow roughly what other people have said here to let your body relax, then not to try and blank out everything as some people will tell you to do, but to craft a scene in a landscape you can control in your own mind. This is a great deal more relaxing and takes far less effort. The natural world in a place you feel at peace is a good start and for me, it's usually sitting on a clifftop overlooking the beach, on a warm summer's day with a light wind stirring the grass around me.

Other techniques I have heard, depending on how you think are to try and think of blackness and block out everything, but I find this a hindrance. hesepa has said she finds success with trying to think of everything at once and waiting for the state when your mind is overloaded and forces itself to relax, it comes much quicker than you think.

What "lj user="asmodel"> has said about breating is important, so much so I can't believe I haven't mentioned it, breathing gives you a constant rhythm to focus on and you need that to be able to wash everything else out of your conscious mind.

There are various types of meditations to relax you physically and mentally, depending on what you need. I've gone through the mental ones a bit and they work well before bed if you need to sleep. If I concentrate on my breathing, it never takes me more than about 5 minutes to fall asleep and I usually rest deeper.

Another thing you can do to relax muscle tension is to lie down and clench every muscle you can in your body, then slowly relax them section by section in increments as small as you can manage. Try to relax only one thing every cycle of breaths, say once every ten breaths. Make those breaths as deep and as long as you can too, so you can feel the tension draining out of you with every exhalation.

Meditation for me is about regaining the full control of my body and making it feel like home again instead of something I have to fight with to achieve what I want. There isn't a one way that will definitively work for you, but some combination of some of what I and others have said should make a big difference and help you find your own way of getting some peace back.