Meditation Techniques?

[RichardMooner]

Hola mis amigos! I was wondering if any of you would be willing to offer some words of advice on meditation techniques? I'm new to the world of meditation, and I'm not quite sure where to start. I understand that there is no set way, but I figure that maybe a couple of you would be willing to shoot me some pointers based on personal experience. Whether it be foods, drinks, etc... that are consumed before mediating, positions which one uses during meditation, sounds, breathing techniques, materials used during meditation, combinations of all of these things, whatever it be, I would love to here about it! Thanks to all!

 

[phactor]

I have ADD (not hyperactive, extremely difficult to focus and concentrate though) and find binaural beats really really help. Check out some stuff by The Monroe Institute

 

[RichardMooner]

I also have ADD (Although my Doctor says that ADHD and ADD are labeled as ADHD regardless of Hyperactivity), and take Adderall for it. If you use medications for ADD, do you find that they interfere with meditation?

 

[brownbradley39]

When your eyes are closed breath deeply and slowly for a good while and it'll greatly help you concentrate and get into a deeper state, like any skill it takes practice and patience to get better!

 

[-=SS=-]

Entirely depends on what kind of meditation you want to do.

Do you want to feel relaxed and relieve tension? Find a comfortable posture, breathe deeply and slowly, and just watch what ever passes through your mind. Or resonate a sound like Ohm etc. Soon you'll feel very relaxed.

Do you want to know yourself? Then you should be analyzing your thoughts, thinking patterns, traumatic memories, being introspective. This can be done in many different ways.

Do you want visionary experiences? From what I've read and experienced, laying down on your back works.. let the body fall asleep but keep yourself effortlessly focused.


Best not to eat a large meal before meditation as digestion takes a huge chunk of your overall energy. Make sure you're sleeping right so you have the vitality needed for meditation. Just listen to your body and pay attention to your mind.. you'll figure out what works just by engaging the process. Just like riding a bicycle. Practice.

Consistency is your friend. Like anything worth doing you need to apply consistent energy to the task. One month of 1-2 hours a day laying down resulted in an incredibly profound experience for me.. the last time I did serious meditation. It shocked me and I realized I needed to clear myself up before doing it again.. was smoking a lot of cannabis at that point.

 

[Foreigner]

My understanding of meditation has recently changed. Most people put aside time for meditation, where they consciously try to put effort into making it happen. It occurs to me now that we are always meditating, 24/7. When most people wake up in the morning, they immediately revert to the meditation of "me", and start their day. Maybe their meditation is work, or worrying about something, or playing the stock market. Anything you do is a meditation.

Meditation is merely where you are directing your consciousness with intention. If you decide to make your meditation body building and looking like hot shit, then that's where your consciousness will abide. The bliss of what people traditionally call meditation is just another bardo, or transitory illusory state. People who meditate are not necessarily getting more clarity on the nature of reality, though the kind of meditation where you're trying to do that is probably better than any number of other meditations you do throughout the day.

I really can't do the sitting cross legged meditation thing anymore. It looks too much like trying. It's better to just ask yourself throughout the day, "Has stillness ever left me?" and right away you will be drawn back into present consciousness. But maybe you need 'meditation' first to realize what that looks like before you can default to it elsewhere.

 

[Mysterie]

for me, i am most comfortable with vipassana (has some similarities with theravada/zen i think), but its rooted in buddha's teaching of meditation

best idea is to sit (with a solidish cushion under ur posterior for support) for 10 minutes every day (morning or night)

close your eyes, release tension in your body (facial muscles tend to be culprits for me) and focus all your attention on the tip of your nose and feel your breath entering and leaving your nostrils, experience the texture/speed/temperature etc. try to remain still and not make any unconscious movements, a good analogy for what this does is [water and dirt which have been mixed together, the water is cloudy, but if it is left in stillness, the water will seperate from the sediment and be clear], so the longer you are still, the more calm and less jumpy/anxious the mind becomes. thoughts will come and go, and if you find yourself thinking about what you will have for dinner, or some conversation you had the day prior, just notice that, and come back to the breath.

try to make this a part of your daily life, so you know its important to you.

read Mindfulness in Plain English by Ven. Henepola Gunaratana

i think its easier to contact stillness through silent seated meditation, and then that can help to permeate your other daily activities

 

[rickolasnice]

I either make meaningless noises (imagined) over thought's to stop them or I dart my eyes (under my eye-lids) in random directions.. This helps loads..

(There are three threads about almost the same thing that can be merged.. this one, my "Quick question about Meditation" one and.. umm.. The other one :/ )

 

[psood0nym]

There seems to be some interesting and measurable physiological responses to "coherent breathing" during meditation. The physiological state breathing this way results in is reportedly the norm for meditators with years of experience.

Coherent Breathing is a breathing method that is claimed to facilitate circulation and autonomic nervous system balance. It involves breathing at the nominal rate of 6 breaths per minute with equal inhalation and exhalation. It is claimed that 'Coherent Breathing' creates a wave in the circulatory system, the 'Valsalva Wave', which rises in the 'arterial tree' during exhalation and rises in the 'venous tree' during inhalation.

The practice of Coherent Breathing is facilitated by simple audible and visual pacing devices as well as with heart rate variability (HRV) and Valsalva Wave biofeedback instruments wherein the breather learns to monitor their heart rate variability cycle, exhaling at peaks and inhaling at valleys.

You can download breath pacing software to help you online for free in numerous places. Here's an independently organized TED Talk related to it (the demonstration with the biofeedback machine is in part 2 I think).

 

[rickolasnice]

Oh yeah and concentrating on things you feel without thinking about them.. just feel them.

The air rushing past your nostrils when you breathe is a good one.

 

[neversickanymore]

Post Your Best Mindfulness Resources and Experiences

Here is a great thread that you may find some information and resources in