Suggestions, tips and ideas about beginning a meditation regiment?!
Question: It has been suggested to me that I would greatly beneifit from daily meditation however I am unsure as to where to begin and I cant spend money on books or tapes at this time.
Answers: It has been suggested to me that I would greatly beneifit from daily meditation however I am unsure as to where to begin and I cant spend money on books or tapes at this time.
Meditation takes 'discipline' but what you want is a 'regimen' and not a 'regiment' UNLESS you want to join a group of people in the military who meditate before they go into battle or some such silliness. Okay, I'm JOKING ... but I was able to make this joke because I 'meditate' in some form or another nearly 24/7. Yes, I've been doing it for so long it's 'always going on in the back of my mind.' So ...
Find a 'comfortable but firm' chair that you can put in a place where you can 'see out' to something 'beautiful' or that you can put near a painting or poster of something beautiful ... trees, water, snow on a mountainside ... sit down with BOTH FEET FLAT on the floor, and your hands 'loosely open' pointing slightly 'in' on your knees. Take 5 'deep breaths' ... count 'in' to 5 and 'out' to 10. Then just sit and 'look at the beauty' for five minutes. DO NOT MOVE YOUR EYES and just think 'It's beautiful, it's calming' ... and do this for AT LEAST two weeks, every day at the SAME TIME until you start to 'form the habit' of taking that 'small break.' Once you are there, you'll need to 'stop thinking' about anything ... and that can take up to 6 months to 'learn' and may take you an hour or two at first (unless you are a 'natural' ... it took me 20 minutes at the longest, but I've 'studied religion' my whole life, so I was 'better prepared' than most.) What you 'want' to do is 'not think of anything' for at least 10 minutes. Then you may 'move on' to the next step, which is 'guided thinking.' You may use ANY book that has 'something good in it' ... from the Christian Bible to a 'day book of meditations' or even 'What my mother/dad/some old person/life taught me' books. READ 'one thing' (a sentence to a paragraph) while you are sitting but BEFORE you start 'looking out at the beauty' ... and this time you want to 'think' but think ONLY about what you just read.
It will take at least a YEAR for you to 'get into the habit' of meditation, but these 'simple steps' will help you 'meditate' in whatever way 'fits you and your life' ... and if you get 'really good' you may start to incorporate doing 'yoga asanas' (yoga positions, yoga exercises) or sitting in 'half lotus' while you meditate. For the yoga stuff (including the half lotus) you'll be sitting on the floor or your 'firm' bed ... Good luck.
You can sometimes find books and tapes in thrift stores and an investment would be well worth it.
Also, try your local library--they frequently have books and videos on meditation.
But as a start you need to buy some candles and have a comfortable place where you can sit to stare at the candle and relax your mind. Put on some relaxing music. You need to concentrate on one body part at a time, relaxing that body part before moving on to the next one. You start with your feet and work your way up.
Even on line you can get help through Google. Type in "meditation" and you will find all kinds of help to start meditating.
Believe me, I've done it for years and it is one of my favorite forms of relaxation.
Have fun!
In Yoga, the body must learn to be still. You may began by having a lit candle three feet away from you. Focus only on the candle for two minutes. If your mind wanders, gently, not forcefully, bring it back. After two minutes, close your eyes by palming and focus on the spot of light that you see in your minds eye. Two minutes only for now.
Another way is to close your eyes and train yourself to think nothing. Blank the mind of all!
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Just a quick note on your spelling.
Regiment is a bunch of soldiers.
Regimen is a regularly applied practice.