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Seeking Meditation Help
    #14253602 -

First off, I want to apologize in advance for this post. I hate to make yet another thread asking for help with meditation, but I've done so much research and am still having problems.

For the last month, I've been (attempting) meditating for about 20 minutes almost every day. I have not made any bit of progress since then. I know that you're not supposed to focus on the progress, but every time is literally just me sitting there, focusing on my breathing for a bit, and then my mind wandering off. I've tried accepting the thoughts and passing them on, observing the thoughts as if I was watching them go by, and using interval bells to get my mind back on track! I just have trouble with the breathing and concentrating. Also, my foot always falls asleep about 15 minutes after doing half-lotus, and I'm still incapable of switching positions to half-lotus with the other foot on top.

As for breathing, I definitely don't have a good breathing routine. I usually breathe through my mouth, because I live in Houston and for some reason I always feel congested here. During meditation, I get myself to breathe through my nose, but it can be difficult...so difficult that I find myself focusing on controlling my breath; which I know I'm not supposed to do.

My main drives of getting into meditation is for a number of reasons...depression, social anxiety, inability to read/concentrate (I literally can't read from textbooks, even after taking notes, I feel that I have absorbed nothing. This is even when I find the subject interesting.), and memory problems.

Basically, what I'm asking is, are there any good methods that I can use to improve my meditating? I have tried vipassana, zazen, and mindfulness. I find that doing meditation with my eyes open is usually more difficult because my eyes begin to burn easily, probably because of allergies.

Again, any tips are greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

:grin:

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Re: Seeking Meditation Help [Re: huliganjetta]
    #14253708 -

Quote:
I know that you're not supposed to focus on the progress, but every time is literally just me sitting there, focusing on my breathing for a bit, and then my mind wandering off.


that's completely normal to happen quite often, especially for beginners. whenever your mind wanders off and you notice it has, just focus back on the breath and continue on. reacting to your thoughts about getting lost in your thoughts just takes your focus from the breathe(or whatever your meditating on) even longer. 

Quote:
I just have trouble with the breathing and concentrating


with the breathing i don't see why you can't breathe your mouth then though your lips would probably get dry. as for the concentrating, again, that's normal and will get better over time.

Quote:
Also, my foot always falls asleep about 15 minutes after doing half-lotus, and I'm still incapable of switching positions to half-lotus with the other foot on top


i sit in on the edge of a chair while meditating, i find it's a lot more comfortable and maybe it would be for you. point is for meditation the position your in doesn't matter, the practice is what does.

Quote:
inability to read/concentrate (I literally can't read from textbooks, even after taking notes, I feel that I have absorbed nothing.


maybe it's your anxiety that's keeping you from reading well and it's not that you can't absorb anything but because you expect to. i have had minor problems with it and find it's just anxiety and trying to hard. when you read try to take a meditation aspect to it by focusing on your reading and let any judgmental thoughts or worries go by.

also when your anxious it helps to use the feeling of anxiety as a focus point(where you feel it) to meditate on and helps you look at it from an objective view which is hard in the midst of the discomfort.

keep up with the meditating though and you'll see results, just give it some time. :peace:


--------------------
Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind
Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must
Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines

Edited by bigmike7104 (04/07/11 05:21 PM)

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Re: Seeking Meditation Help [Re: bigmike7104]
    #14253813 -

I'll be trying that out, thanks!

Another question..should I be breathing long, slow, and softly, or sort of quickly? I just can't seem to find a relaxing breathing technique that I can stick to!

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Re: Seeking Meditation Help [Re: huliganjetta]
    #14253894 -

definitely not quickly. you breathe fast when in a state of anxiety and long and slow when in a relaxed state which is why they say to take deep breathes to calm yourself. usually you don't try to control the breathe, but if your going to breathe slow and inhale and exhale as long as you can.

also i forgot to mention an easier way to stay keep your mind from wandering is to count after each inhale and exhale. so like inhale 1,exhale 2,inhale 3, all the way to 10 then start over.

or you could count while during the breathing. so as your inhaling count to 5, stop, then exhale count to 5, repeat

then once you find it easier to concentrate with the counting you can focus on the breathe alone. just a suggestion though.

also in the spirituality forum there's a lot more advanced meditators there than me that could probably give better advice if you need more help.


--------------------
Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind
Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must
Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines

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Re: Seeking Meditation Help [Re: bigmike7104]
    #14254313 -

also, try syncing your breathing with your pulse. inhale for 4 beats, exhale for 4 beats, repeat.

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Re: Seeking Meditation Help [Re: huliganjetta]
    #14256512 -

huliganjetta said:
First off, I want to apologize in advance for this post. I hate to make yet another thread asking for help with meditation, but I've done so much research and am still having problems.

For the last month, I've been (attempting) meditating for about 20 minutes almost every day. I have not made any bit of progress since then. I know that you're not supposed to focus on the progress, but every time is literally just me sitting there, focusing on my breathing for a bit, and then my mind wandering off. I've tried accepting the thoughts and passing them on, observing the thoughts as if I was watching them go by, and using interval bells to get my mind back on track! I just have trouble with the breathing and concentrating. Also, my foot always falls asleep about 15 minutes after doing half-lotus, and I'm still incapable of switching positions to half-lotus with the other foot on top.

As for breathing, I definitely don't have a good breathing routine. I usually breathe through my mouth, because I live in Houston and for some reason I always feel congested here. During meditation, I get myself to breathe through my nose, but it can be difficult...so difficult that I find myself focusing on controlling my breath; which I know I'm not supposed to do.

My main drives of getting into meditation is for a number of reasons...depression, social anxiety, inability to read/concentrate (I literally can't read from textbooks, even after taking notes, I feel that I have absorbed nothing. This is even when I find the subject interesting.), and memory problems.

Basically, what I'm asking is, are there any good methods that I can use to improve my meditating? I have tried vipassana, zazen, and mindfulness. I find that doing meditation with my eyes open is usually more difficult because my eyes begin to burn easily, probably because of allergies.

Again, any tips are greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

:grin:


There is a funny little video out there somewhere on the internet of an Indian meditation teacher in the Indian school system. He is sitting down to talk to a large group of children. He asks, what do you want to learn about? One of them responds, "about meditation and concentration!" The old indian teacher looks out at the group and says, "is this really what you want to know about? Or are you only asking this because you know who I am?"

The group nods that this is what they want to know about. As he sets about describing the differences, he put something so... succinctly... that I think it might help you. He talks about the first step to building concentration. In a classroom, you, the student, may be reading a book. But eventually your eyes wander off to the window, and you spy a lizard crawling on a nearby tree. The teacher sees you drifting from the book and tells you to "concentrate". So you go back to the book and start trying to concentrate on the book again. But soon enough, you're back to the lizard.

This meditation teacher suggested that rather than trying to develop concentration on the book, perhaps it would be better to see how you can concentrate on the lizard. Let your attention move where it wants to, and it will naturally find something to concentrate on. It is later on, after concentration on the lizard has become easy, that other objects can become concentration exercises.


--------------------
Why shouldn't the truth be stranger than fiction?
Fiction, after all, has to make sense. -- Mark Twain

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