How to Meditate ?

[mishka]

Can someone please tell me how best to meditate please. I've never done it before. I've bought a 'sounds of the forest' cd.

I have a problem when I lay down I get panicky, jerky and find it really hard to relax, is there a method you use ?

Thanks

[forwells]

Hi mishka :)

I shall explain what i did and it may help you .

First off it is not hard , it is just learning to clear your mind .

I would put my Ipod on and lay on the bed , be comfortable , not hot , not cold . Lay on your back with your hands down by your side flat on the bed to start with .

Now just close your eyes and listern to the sounds , if your mind wanders do not worry , it will , just bring it back . What i use to do was focus on the inside of my eye lids . Pick what ever you chose to focus on , eg sitting in a forest , on a beach .

Do this for 20 minutes 3 times a day .

Now yes you will panic and jerky and thats ok , just feel it , now when you are meditation is time to show you mind that the symptoms of stress on your body is nothing to worry about . This will fade over time .

Tip i would have is dont even try to do this when you are at your worst , meditation is about teaching you mind and you get more benifit from it when you are calmer . So when you are calm still meditate as it will work better then .

One tip i learned also is your hands , put your thumb and next finger together when meditating . What happens is your body learns that when these are together it is to be calm . What should then happen is when you are feeling stressed in your day anywhere or anytime you can put these to fingers together and your mind will know that it is time to calm down .

Meditation can be strange and it may bring on symptoms like buzzing , pins and needles and you may feel like you are heavy or light . You may feel like you are even sort of out of your body . Now do not panic to these feelings they are proof that it is working .

You can get CDs that run you though ways to meditate . Eg would be guided meditation They talk for a while and then play music and then talk again . These ones i stopped as the would scare the poo out of me when they started talking the second time . I swear i was like those cats in the cartoons that jump and hang from the roof . :lol:

Even though i dont meditate much now , i still like listerning to these tumes just before sleep when i have had a hard day .

Just remember the biggest thing is there is no wrong way to meditate , it is all jsut about letting go and relaxing the mind and body . Something that many people never do weather they have anxiety or not . Its all about taking a few moments out for self .

Oh and when your nose gets itchy , do just lie there and stress about it , strach it and go back to being still.

Hope that helps
cheers kev :D

[mishka]

Thats brilliant Kev thankyou again.

I will lock the dogs downstairs and give this a go today.

I like the thumb and finger tip, I can see how that could work :)

Thanks

Gail

[forwells]

Hi Gail

so how did you go ?

cheers kev :D

[lorelei13]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditate

thought it might help - don't have much experience tbh! =)

[mishka]

Thankyou all :)

I tried meditation for the first time tonight. I think I did well for the first time, although I had bought a brand new meditation cd from ebay I only got half way through as it was scratched.

Anyway, I did my best to try to relax and I will keep at it as things can only get better.

I experienced weird twitchs in places I've never had them before, like my nose, lips, eyelids :shock:

I can deffinately now see how this can help and will be doing it 3 times a day from now on. (once I buy another cd :lol: )

Thanks for all you advice

Gail x

[redrich2000]

I would suggest getting a guided meditation recording. I find the Jon Kabat-Zinn one's pretty good.

There is a book called The mindful way through depression that has a mediation CD by Kabat Zinn with it which has a few different mediation options. You can also download them.

[palow]

I find a sitting position gives a better result than lying down. But I sit on a thick cushion and put pillows at my lower back so that my back doesn't start to tense up.

If you don't have music, try meditating by focusing on your hearing. Listen to the sounds around you, like fan or refrigerator humming, birds chirping. Focusing on what you hear does a really good job of stopping your thoughts. Try it.

Patrick