Meditation techniques

Sagittarius79

Hello, just from reading the posts here some of you mention that you meditate and as this is the the Paranormal forum I'm guessing that you meditate for a specific reason. I would like to do the same, to maybe try and develop any 'sixth sense' I have. I've done a bit of research on the net and tried out a few things but didn't really get anything from them. Would any of you folks be willing to share any tips with me?

Oryx

There was a thread on this topic ages ago, might try and dig it up. What have you been trying, and why do you reckon youre getting nothing out of it?

Also, you might want to check the spirituality forum.

Sagittarius79

Hi, thanks for responding.

Well I do yoga so I've just been trying the breathing/relaxation techniques to hopefully reach, what I've recently discovered is called, Alpha state?
Other methods I've read say to practice yogic-type deep breathing for about 5 mins, then to imagine your body feeling heavy with the weight then slowly lifting off you, to then envision a purple light around your head and to close your eyes and to try to imagine what your third eye looks like. You then should attempt to move to the next level by imagining yourself walking along and finding yourself at a bridge and trying to imagine who or what is on the other side of the bridge? Something along those lines anyway.

I do find it easy to make myself settle and block out everything around me and can use my imagination to walk me through the steps but I just feel sometimes that I hit a block or that I'm not really feeling whats happening in my head. I have been told before that both sides of my family are 'sensitive' and that I should try to develop my own ability. A friend of mind died a while ago and I still feel a great loss over this and never got to say goodbye. Maybe I'm just trying to give myself peace of mind by working on this.

Sagittarius79

Just saw the Spirituality forum, will take this there

Oryx

There are plenty of people here who are wiser than me on this subject. Hopefully they will have some input.

But my 2c would be, dont try too hard. If youre trying to develop and make something happen the minute it does, your concious brain kicks in and the whole thing stops.:) Very frustrating! So relax and stop struggling to reach out to 'it'. Let it come to you. Dont worry about having something happen to you exactly as described by anyone else. Your lessons will come to you in their own way. If a bridge image is not a natural thing for you, use what is.

Breathing is a very helpful tool, use whatever breathing technique felt best for you .:D

You mentioned someone youve lost. It may be helpful when in your relaxed state to think of them. Picture them. How they looked and sounded. And send them all your love and the thoughts you want to. While this may sound airy fairy in a short message such as this, its how I sometimes begin to channel. It can be very powerful, and I would hope at the very least you would find it comforting.

Sagittarius79

Thanks KtK, what you've said has already been helpful.

What you say makes sense, in that I shouldn't try to make something happen but try to open myself up more to whats already there?

In relation to my friend, he keeps coming into my mind without me realising, I can't stop thinking about it. I know there was someone he badly wanted to connect with on the 'other side' so I tried to meditate one day and imagine him seeing that person and them being together again and how happy they felt and I was overcome with emotion, it was a very strong image that I had and I felt relief for him. I will try doing this again but I don't want to dwell on just one person either I suppose, just to increase my sensitivity and awareness in general, if I do have any at all!

Oryx

Sagittarius79 wrote:

What you say makes sense, in that I shouldn't try to make something happen but try to open myself up more to whats already there?

Youd be amazed whats already there its just in my experience, chasing after it doesnt work.

In relation to my friend, he keeps coming into my mind without me realising, I can't stop thinking about it. I know there was someone he badly wanted to connect with on the 'other side' so I tried to meditate one day and imagine him seeing that person and them being together again and how happy they felt and I was overcome with emotion, it was a very strong image that I had and I felt relief for him. I will try doing this again but I don't want to dwell on just one person either I suppose, just to increase my sensitivity and awareness in general, if I do have any at all!

sounds like youre way ahead of me!

ladybirdirl

Sounds like you're doing really well already!

I've found meditation hard, I must say but for me the key has been the music. A friend of mine introduced me to some chant music that really works for me.

The only item which KTK has well covered is to relax.As soon as I start to think 'oh is this working' is the minute the meditation breaks. You can control that though - if you get your concious butting in, just let the thought go

.No one can really teach you to meditate or give you a method that's better than your own IMO. My advice would be to keep doing what you're doing as it sounds like you're really opening up to your higher self, embrace it

Ladybird

stevenmu

Like the others before me have said, trying too hard is definitely bad for meditation, mainly because it leads you to thinking too much.

Personally, I find that the only goal you should have when meditating is to meditate. Even at that I find it hard to meditate properly, when I started I used to always start thinking "am I doing it properly", " am I meditating corractly" and so on. The real trick to meditating is to clear your mind completely, of any and all thoughts.

Many people suggest that the best way to do this starting out is to begin by focusing on one thought, some people find it benificial to focus on one thing, some prefer music, some prefer music or some other visual stimulus. Once you master completely focusing on just one thing than you begin to try to completely empty your mind of everything. Something I always find usefull is to visualise my mind as and empty space within my head that I am within, I then visualise every thought that enters my head as a thought cloud/bubble (like in a cartoon), which allows me to acknowledge any thoguhts and deal with them and then push them out.

Also, as was said, it helps a lot to be constantly aware when you're not meditating, to focus on everything around you, to thin kabout how they feel, there texture, their scent, how they look, to notice everything about even the tiniest thing you see. For e.g. if you're on the train going to work and you see a building, try to really visualise everyaspect of that building, what it's like to stand beside, whaty it's like to press your hand against it, what it's like to be in there. And do that for every single thing you see all day.

Sagittarius79

Thanks for the advise Steven, its funny what you say in your last paragraph as I felt I'd done a meditation last week that was a bit deeper than what I usually do and the next day I felt so calm and was more aware of what was around me. I have about a 10 min walk from my office to the train station in the city centre and tried to focus on all of the sounds around me, it really surprised me what I could hear, I felt like Superman did in the films where he can here things from miles away! A bit simplistic maybe but thats how I felt.

hiorta

ENTERING THE SILENCE

The primary goal of meditation is to quiet the mind. For many of those beginning meditative practice, this can seem like a daunting task. The effort to simply sit there and not have your mind go chattering away can be like trying not to think of a pink elephant - the more you try, the more that the mind comes up with distractions.
Unfortunately, this can cause many people to give up. They may decide that they simply can't do it, and are therefore a failure at the practice. But, that's the point. Meditation is a practice. If we repeat our efforts daily, preferably at the same time, in the same place, we will begin to see results. It may only seem "impossible" because we haven't given it enough of a chance.

There are also different types of meditations which can help to still the mind. Transcendental Meditation uses the technique of a mantra, a sound which may have a spiritual meaning, but a distinct sound that can be repeated over and over again, leaving no room for vagrant thoughts.

There are several oriental forms of meditation that include chanting, which can achieve the same result.

The Sufis employ a highly rhythmic dance, with a beat that sends them into the contemplative zone.

Some forms of prayer, such as with rosary beads, provide a repetitive symbolism that can free the mind from ordinary thoughts.

There are many techniques, but the goal is the same - to allow an inner silence from which we can directly experience Spirit without distraction.

This inner silence means that we are not being impinged on by worrisome ideas about work, family, health, etc. We are just being there. This is a literal "peace of mind". In this quiet, we have the opportunity to experience a state of pure perception, of sensing the presence of Divinity. This presence is always there of course, but it is subtle. To first connect with It, one must listen very carefully, with full attention.

Beginners in meditation often feel that they must fight off errant thoughts. Although this may work for some, I have seen that this can actually create a greater tension and anxiety. What can be far more constructive is to objectify the thought. For example you're trying to clear your mind and the thought comes up, "Fred at work was telling me...". Instead of trying to force yourself to not think of Fred, back off from this thought and just look at it. Detach from it. It needn't mean anything to you. You don't have to push it away, or force it to do anything. Allow it to be there, but just don't feed it any additional energy. It will run out of steam on its own.

One of the greatest barriers in meditation, in my opinion, is the fear of being alone. In our modern society, solitude is not a desirable condition and many of us are simply unfamiliar with it. It can be helpful to recognize this possibility and begin your practice of meditation with simply being alone and sitting still for a specified period of time. Often, that is all that is needed to find the silence.

One minute of being in the silence during a 10 minute practice, is progress. Our civilized minds are accustomed to a great deal of stimulation, through the pressures of modern business and the impact of the media. As one continues the effort of finding inner peace, a calm and serenity can descend, making each successive endeavor more successful.