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MEDITATION TECHNIQUES FOR BEGINNERS :
Meditation sounds simple
enough, and it actually is, but many things in life that are simple
are not easy, and meditation is a perfect example.
How hard can it be to just sit? Well, if you've ever tried meditation
before now, you're probably a lot like me. I would unplug the phone,
turn off the TV and all the lights in the house, light a candle and
some good incense, and then try to force my legs into the pretzel
position and sit quietly.
The first thing I noticed was that my legs hurt and my lower back
was screaming. I couldn't shut my mind up long enough to relax, and
started remembering and thinking about things so upsetting and chaotic
that I gave up and took a nap.
What I learned was that my first mistake was trying to sit like that
and assuming that I'd be able to quiet my mind on the first try.
Try sitting cross legged or on your feet or whatever way is most comfortable
for you. A dimly lit room and the incense was a good start, now as
you try to quiet your mind, count slowly from one to ten with each
breath-it gives your mind something to do while it's learning to shut
up. Also, closing your eyes is not necessary, you could get a piece
of wood with the grain easy to see, a big enough piece that when you
look at it that's all you see (the back of a door?)
Sit in front of the wood grain and watch it as you slowly inhale and
count, Inhale through your nose slowly and hold-exhale slowly out
through your mouth and "one," again and "two."
Try it for five full minutes. It's okay if your mind gets distracted
(it's used to being distracted) not sitting still, so forgive yourself
and start again when retraining your mind. Try to listen to the sounds
behind the car doors, the sirens, or any of the other daily sounds
you hear in your place, listen for the birds behind the cars, for
the wind behind neighbors, just listen and breathe.
On you next attempt take it a step further, setting your timer for
7 minutes instead of 5, and add the habit of practicing listening
to your feelings of warm or cool, hard and soft, pressure and breath,
be here now. Take your mediation only this far for the first month
or so, and allow yourself time to learn how to breath and congratulate
yourself on beginning to mediate, never be hard on yourself or give
up, it takes a long time to get good at this, but the holistic benefits
are great, increased breathing power, a sense of calm that you can
tap into anytime you need it, are all excellent benefits of meditation
exercise.
Follow your breathing as if it was a tennis ball, without manipulating
your breath, watch it in your mind as you inhale and exhale, the tennis
ball bouncing against a soft wall, and the wall bending with each
breath as it throws your breath back at you, cool visual, hunh?
You may also choose to take advantage of a mantra, or sound that you
hum or say while you are meditating. While "Ohm" is popular,
you may hum your mantra or make up anty sound that you like. The only
hint is the simpler, the better. One vowel mantras seem to work best.
You can even use a prayer or part of a poem, it if helps, but I tend
to stick to simple.
The last and maybe best part of meditation is sending good feelings
and warmth to others. While meditation is a wonderful preventative
exercise in medicine, you can give it away as well by thinking good
thoughts about those you care about.
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