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Author Topic: Meditation  (Read 1136 times)

n3rdy_g1rl12

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Meditation
« on: May 21, 2012, 09:48:18 pm »
Hi, I know this may be a pretty dumb question, but it's a serious question. How do you meditate?

Emma Eldritch

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Re: Meditation
« Reply #1 on: May 21, 2012, 10:31:55 pm »
Quote from: n3rdy_g1rl12;55842
Hi, I know this may be a pretty dumb question, but it's a serious question. How do you meditate?

 
You sit there and don't move. (Horrible, I know.)

Probably the best guide I've ever found to meditation was here on Rune Soup. Because he's absolutely right.

HeartShadow

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Re: Meditation
« Reply #2 on: May 22, 2012, 07:26:47 am »
Quote from: n3rdy_g1rl12;55842
Hi, I know this may be a pretty dumb question, but it's a serious question. How do you meditate?

 
Meditation is about getting your thinking brain out of the way.  For some people that involves sitting still and concentrating on one thing, like their breath.  For other people it involves movement, or dance - personally, I knit.  If I try to sit still I'm not meditating, I'm about to freak out!

It's all about what works for you to get your brain distracted so you can get past the whole "what am I making for dinner oh no there's a stain on the wallpaper we'll never sell the house wait I don't want to sell the house aaaaah!" commentary.

veggiewolf

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Re: Meditation
« Reply #3 on: May 22, 2012, 08:01:29 am »
Quote from: n3rdy_g1rl12;55842
Hi, I know this may be a pretty dumb question, but it's a serious question. How do you meditate?

It's not a dumb question!  Everyone who meditates has asked the same at one point or another...and how would we learn if not by asking?

Methods of meditation vary from individual to individual.  I was never very good at sitting still and quieting my "monkey mind", so I took up walking meditation instead.  I usually go to the township park and use a trail there but occasionally I've been lucky enough to happen upon a labyrinth to use instead.

There's a great resource for walking (and other types of meditation) here.
« Last Edit: May 22, 2012, 08:01:55 am by veggiewolf »
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Elani Temperance

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Re: Meditation
« Reply #4 on: May 22, 2012, 08:05:47 am »
Quote from: n3rdy_g1rl12;55842
Hi, I know this may be a pretty dumb question, but it's a serious question. How do you meditate?

 
As for some practical 'how to get in the mindset' tips:
- Meditate when you have the time. It doesn't work if you know you have to catch a bus in half an hour.
- Start small, perhaps five minutes, and build from there.
- Make sure you are comfortable, have visited the bathroom previously and the space around you is (relatively) quiet.
- Try to do your meditations in a seated position. Especially when you are first starting out, it's easy to fall asleep while meditating if you lie down.
- If your mind refuses to clear, try going with one thought and then concioulsy letting go before taking up another one and conciously lettig that one go and so on. For example; 'I should make a grocery list... but not now. I should start making dinner... but not now. there are a lot of things I still need to do today... but not now.'
- If clearing your mind completely is not something that works for you, try to play through a story in your mind. Think of what you would like to accomplish and focus on that. For example; say you want to meditate on the element Earth. Sit calmly and relax your body, from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Then envision yourself at the mouth of a cave. Try to visualize what you are wearing, what the cave smells like, how the walls and floor feel. What do you hear? When you have this clear in your mind, envision yourself walking down and down and down, deeper into the earth, looking for the core of the element. Should you feel calm and centered enough to let go of the story and just be then feel free, if not just see where the story takes you. If you're having trouble makign up a story and sticking to it, you can always ask a friend to read you a meditation which you can then follow in your mind. There are a good few on the internet or in pagan books that work for general purpose meditations and if you can't find any, you can always try faerytales or poetry. The purpose of this exercise (for now) is to simply 'be in your mind' as opposed to 'being in your body'. That is not to say that this technique hasn't got a lot of merit on its own.  
- If at first you don't succeed, try and try again.

Good luck!
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fjfritz

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Re: Meditation
« Reply #5 on: May 22, 2012, 02:01:05 pm »
Quote from: LittleWitchMagazine;55909
As for some practical 'how to get in the mindset' tips:

 
Agree with all of these. Very well put! I would also add that if you have a very chatty mind (like I do) I have found that everything distracts me. So what I've learned to do is to focus on just one thing that is distracting, like an itch on a shoulder, and put all of my attention on that itch. I don't scratch it, I just sit with it.

Before I know it, I find myself in a sort of meditative trance.

I tried sitting for twenty minutes at first and thought it was a waste of time for the first few tries. Then I noticed how my mind raced all the time and started focusing it on just one thing. I now find that twenty minutes is perfect because it still takes me almost ten minutes to get comfortable and internally quiet enough to meditate. Yet it isn't so long that I get uncomfortable.

I also don't sit on my butt but rather on my knees. This keeps me from dozing. ;)

Agonistes

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Re: Meditation
« Reply #6 on: May 22, 2012, 09:18:47 pm »
Quote from: n3rdy_g1rl12;55842
Hi, I know this may be a pretty dumb question, but it's a serious question. How do you meditate?

 
I do a form of circle meditation, which I believe I read in a witchcraft book somewhere. You sit on the ground, I prefer legs crossed, palms up on the knees with your hands relaxed. Straighten up your back, but not the point your uncomfortable, just enough to where you're not slouched over.

Now, once you get comfortable, envision in your minds eyes and glowing circle around you. You can envision anything you like really, I usually do a ring of fire that flares up to a point, a cone. I just meditation like this until I feel safe, sometimes I call in my familiar that I envision being a generic lizard, looking very similar to a black skink with bright purple eyes.

After this, I either repeat a phrase, or repeat a name, say a prayer, or just completely "black out" of sorts. Not the bad "black out" in-fact I would say it's more of a pure white feeling, I don't really know how to describe the feeling, it's at the point of meditation were you're completely relaxed and your mind is at ease.

I know this technique doesn't work for everyone, but envisioning the circle in my minds eye really puts my body in a meditation mood.

fallenangel

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Re: Meditation
« Reply #7 on: May 23, 2012, 09:24:47 am »
Quote from: n3rdy_g1rl12;55842
Hi, I know this may be a pretty dumb question, but it's a serious question. How do you meditate?

 
Not dumb at all...

For me, achieving a meditative state is a lot of work these days. My mind is on a hundred things and instead of trying to quiet everything, I concentrate on one thing. I take a non-trad approach, meaning I don't sit in the lotus position with palms up, usually I'm in the backyard swing at dusk (nothing special about that time of day, it's when the field behind my house is most active with the various wildlife that I like to watch) and I find myself concentrating on the flame of one of the candles (again, nothing special...my backyard is technically classified as a marsh and the citronella helps keep the bugs away) and pretty soon I am able to relax enough to try and meditate. Assuming that I am left alone long enough (I have two kids) I can usually enter meditation after a few minutes. For me, the...symbols come first and that's when I know that I am halfway there. Followed by the...images, and that's usually when I ask the question that I am confused on. Sometimes it comes in another...image, sometimes it is a feeling, other times it is...a sensation and very rarely I will "hear" the answer.

There is a lot of great advice, and really there is no one way or no wrong way....you just have to find what works for you. Good luck

*I can't meditate lying down....I will fall asleep, but I know others have had success at it.*

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