Meditating And Your Focus
There is one more piece of the puzzle when you enter into a meditating practice. You need to have a meditation focus, to help direct your attention upon.
One object that you can use is called a mantra, which is actually a specific word, or even a syllable.
Sometimes, like in Buddhism meditation, you’ll focus on your breathing movements as your focus for meditation. If you do decide to use breathing as your method for entering into meditation, learn to do so correctly. You will to focus on the rise and fall of your abdomen, rather than the just the regular process of inhaling air.
Make sure to use a breathing technique that comes you’re your diaphragm rather than from your lungs or stomach. Getting into the proper posture will help. Once you get into a meditation state, you’ll find that the rhythm of your breathing in the movement of your body will help to promote a deeper concentration and relaxation.
Quietly, or mentally reciting a mantra, or breathing techniques can be used as your meditating focus, with the intention to help you mind and body become more relaxed.
You can also use various other elements in the room you are in. If you choose to do this, make sure that the element you select is something that provides for relaxation. Some individuals like to close their eyes in order to relax and then to induce meditation. This is up to you and your preferences for meditation.
Should you go with a mantra for your method of inducing meditation, do so with careful thought. Although some meditation therapists will tell you that a specific selection of sounds should be used for your mantra as determined by your nervous system, there isn’t a lot of noticeable benefit from this. You can use any word that is neutral and that allows you to stay focused. It should not be something that easily brings another thought to your mind.
It doesn’t have to be a word either. It can be a nonsensical sound or a grouping of sounds.
Remember that your mind needs to enter into a phase in which no thoughts or very few thoughts and no thoughts of meaning are passing through it. When this happens, the deepest level of thought and consciousness are found and only then can it happen.
Meditating – Putting It All Together
Once you have learned each of these four very important elements to the meditating process, you can begin to develop a pattern for yourself.
Most of the time, it does take some practice and just trying out different methods to actually find the process that works the best for you. The goal is to remember what you are after. You want a state of mind that is clear from other thoughts and you want to put yourself both your mind and your body in a relaxed state.
For you, this may be different from what it is for others that meditate. We recommend starting with those methods described here and practicing with them until you have achieved them. Later, if you find that something works better for you, such as with your posture or your meditating focus, you can then change it to match the benefits that you’ve found.
Most commonly, though, meditating involves a trial and error. Don’t assume that just one try of a mantra will work. If you don’t fully learn how to do something, this too can lead to the wrong experience. For example, if you don’t breathe correctly, you can’t know that breathing doesn’t work for you. Next, we’ll try to meditate.
Meditating With Alan Watts Video
Basic Styles Of Meditating
Meditating is an art form, we’ve told you that. Now, to get you started, you must first learn about the various strokes you can make in your art so that the end result is what you can appreciate.
With meditation, everything is built from the simplest of methods up to more complex types. To enter into enlightenment, then, you need to first take baby steps. Our first meditation is one that’s simple, straightforward and honesty is something you can master in a few tries at it, if you do it correctly.
Let’s go through the process now. In this meditation, our goal is to introduce you with the relaxation response. This is a great type of meditation to do daily, even when you are busy.
To get started, put aside time to do some meditating daily. You need to try and do this daily to fully learn through practice how to accomplish it as well as to benefit from all that meditation can offer to you.
Simple Ways of Meditating
A Simple mediation can start like this.
1. Find a location that’s quiet and where you know you won’t be bothered. You are looking for ten to twenty minutes of undisturbed meditation here. Turn off all telephones and anything else that could become a distraction.
2. Now, sit comfortably and quietly. Keep your back in position with your spine vertically aligned. Remember that posture is something that you need to make happen.
3. Commit to what you are doing right now. That means not allowing distraction to play a role now. Commit to not being interrupted by anything happening in the world around you. Most importantly, remove anything from the room or from your line of view that could be a potential distraction. Commit to performing meditation.
4. Select a word that fits into your natural belief system. For example, use “love” “peace” or others. If you are religious, select a work of a short phrase that signifies what you believe. “Hallelujah” or “Om” make good choices. Close your eyes once you’ve selected the right word. Closing your eyes helps you to enter into relaxation.
5. Now, we’ll go through the body and relax each of the muscles in it. Start with your toes. Consciously think to yourself that your toes should relax and feel them relax. Next, move to your feet, your legs and so on. You want to allow each of your muscles to relax. Make sure to include your neck, your jaw, your pelvis, back, your arms, fingers and hands, and shoulders. As this happens, feel the tension leave your body.
6. Continue to breathe through the process in deep, long breathes and repeat your mediation word over and over again. Breathe in, say your word, breathe out, and repeat. You don’t need to say the word out loud, but rather mentally pronounce it.
7. Use the passive attitude that we’ve talked about. If any thoughts come into your mind while you are sitting, relaxing, let them go out simply by telling yourself “oh well.” Most people will have trouble with this at first, so don’t worry about how well you are doing. Just let go of those words the best that you can. Keep repeating your meditation word, too.
8. Keep this going for ten minutes at least and strive for twenty. Don’t use any alarm to warn you, just open your eyes for a moment to check.
9. Sit and relax for several minutes once you’ve come out of your meditation. Keep your eyes closed for a couple of minutes before opening them. Don’t stand up just yet. Allow yourself time to come back into reality before doing so.
You should try to do this simple meditation at least once a day, but two or more times per day really can have a positive effect on your daily stresses. Many people find that this simple meditation works well before they get their day started, when they are fully rested and before they have eaten breakfast.
When you have practiced this type of mediation for several days or even longer, you should learn the benefits of meditation and what it can offer. If you don’t feel any different, you may not be following each step appropriately. You need to focus on relaxation not on whether or not meditation is going to heal all of you.
When you do accomplish this form of meditating, try out some of the others.