Alternating techniques mid meditation

[rorghee]

Sometimes, on the badder days of meditation, I tend to be tempted to alternate between meditation techniques mid meditation. I have 2 ways i like to meditate; actively release thoughts or let go and watch thoughts - They kind of contradict each other 

 

say Ive let go and I'm just watching my thoughts(or attempting to) and it just isn't 'working', for a second I try letting go of thoughts and it seems to work so I get tempted to change techniques (these techniques seem to do almost the complete opposite of eachother). and vice versa, I try let go of thoughts too much and it doesn't work so I think I should just let go and watch as it feels too manipulative. Sometimes I find myself doing both at the same time which I'm pretty sure isn't the way to go

am I meant to just get through this and stick to one agenda through my whole 30 mins or is it ok to alternate in accordance to my feelings? (I know at that point  I'm taking my thoughts and feeling too seriously but it's hard to stop) so what should I do on these bad days?

Usually if I stick to one technique on a bad day it'll make me feel like shit mentally, with that I know meditation isn't smooth sailing, been doing this for 2 years 

dont give me that "just relax and don't expect anything, stop trying so hard" it's not that simple given one of my techniques involve manipulating my thoughts a bit 

[the dream]

I think this is quite a good question, can you elaborate a little more regarding the techniques themselves?

[rorghee]

@the dream the first one is to let go of control of thoughts and feelings and just to watch everything, the second is to actively release thoughts that arise and when that is successful it is peaceful, until another thought comes up.

i think Leo has a video on it called 'how to meditate deeper' it's the first two techniques he talks about

 

[FakeEnlightenment]

@rorghee

11 hours ago, rorghee said:

Sometimes, on the badder days of meditation, I tend to be tempted to alternate between meditation techniques mid meditation. I have 2 ways i like to meditate; actively release thoughts or let go and watch thoughts - They kind of contradict each other 

 

say Ive let go and I'm just watching my thoughts(or attempting to) and it just isn't 'working', for a second I try letting go of thoughts and it seems to work so I get tempted to change techniques (these techniques seem to do almost the complete opposite of eachother). and vice versa, I try let go of thoughts too much and it doesn't work so I think I should just let go and watch as it feels too manipulative. Sometimes I find myself doing both at the same time which I'm pretty sure isn't the way to go

am I meant to just get through this and stick to one agenda through my whole 30 mins or is it ok to alternate in accordance to my feelings? (I know at that point  I'm taking my thoughts and feeling too seriously but it's hard to stop) so what should I do on these bad days?

Usually if I stick to one technique on a bad day it'll make me feel like shit mentally, with that I know meditation isn't smooth sailing, been doing this for 2 years 

dont give me that "just relax and don't expect anything, stop trying so hard" it's not that simple given one of my techniques involve manipulating my thoughts a bit 

Hi, I do this too a lot during meditation and it becomes quite a big distraction. I've promised to myself now that if I sit down and start with one technique, do nothing for example, I have to finish the session with that technique. Usually the techniques which bring you the most irritation and or suffering are the ones you should practice the most. If you're using the first technique you described actively releasing thoughts, you are directly manipulating your experience. It probably feels good to switch between the two mid session because it gives you a break in a sense, from manipulation, to letting go. 

If you start to get frustrated or bored with a technique, I would say to find new ones as backups so you don't get burnout on your meditation sessions, or try using a guided meditation. Leo's video "The next level of meditation" is my favorite. 

Also, its ok to just abandon the meditation session for the time being if you feel frustrated, nothing wrong with that. Sitting there just for the sake of completing the session isn't going to help you in the long run if you can't meditate at all. Just make sure to do it later in the day.

[PsiloPutty]

I often do a simple mantra-based meditating for the first 20 mins of the session and Vipassana for the last 25-30 minutes. The mantra clears my mind and prepares it for Vipassana.