Meditation Bordem

[Red-White-Light]

Does anyone have any advice for meditation?

I literally can't meditate for more than 10 minutes, it drives me insane.

Even on the train or waiting it's very difficult.

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

Something that trumps boredom for me while meditating is, focusing on the calming physical sensations of proper deep breathing. Connect your mind to take long inhales and equally long exhales, breathing in your stomach not chest. For me it becomes like exercise. If a day or two goes by where I dont meditate, my mind/body actually feels worse and actually physically craves the deep breathing to keep my nervous system at homeostasis. 

You probably wont get this at the beginning, takes some time to build up the point where you notice it. 

Edited November 17, 2019 by TrynaBeTurquoise

[Leo Gura]

49 minutes ago, Red-White-Light said:

Does anyone have any advice for meditation?

I literally can't meditate for more than 10 minutes, it drives me insane.

Even on the train or waiting it's very difficult.

That's how it is. Takes a lot of practice to overcome that. Usually years of rigorous practice are required.

This problem of boredom is existential. It goes very deep. It can't be avoided. The point of meditation is to face it directly, which creates suffering -- which is why hardly anyone meditates.

Meditation is supposed to be so boring it kills you.

[Raptorsin7]

@Red-White-Light Use a guided meditation when you are first starting out. You will get lost in thought constantly, and it's nice to have someone's voice to reattach to when you're lost during your meditation. Just do your best to follow along the guided meditation, and eventually it will get easier and easier to follow along. MOST people suck at meditation when they first start so don't feel bad about not feeling good at it right now. Also, if you do 1 minute of concentration practice by focusing your attention on a metronome before you begin your practice, whatever duration you feel is right, it will help you a lot.

[mandyjw]

My suggestion is to take up running or somehow find a meditative activity that you enjoy. There are tons of different activities that you can do consciously that are powerful.  I ran in place of meditation for years, except I didn't know I was mediating, I just realized that the running staved off depression and was also really enjoyable. It just sort of turned into meditation the more conscious I became. 

Also watch your thoughts closely throughout the day whenever you can, go out in nature whenever possible, tie meditation together with daily life. Get creative about ways to painlessly fit it into your own life. When boredom comes up investigate what's beneath the boredom, what's the sensation of boredom other a judgement of the mind? 

[Maya_0]

It's not easy when first starting, especially since we have developed ADHD brains from all the modern technological stimulation and distractions.

If you are bored, you are thinking.

Think of the meditation as a game to notice whenever you are lost in thought. If you notice you are bored, just be aware of that arising mind content, and then return to the meditation. If you become bored and stop meditating, you've essentially lost the game, as you've become identified with the arising content. 

Be patient, be persistent. Be diligent and be very vigilant. 

 

[Dantas]

It took me years (3-4) of training to get to the point where meditation is not a choir. 

I've used several methods because it was almost impossible to silence my mind. The helpful one's: Guided meditations, Music meditations, walking meditations. Nowadays I do these just for fun, whereas my biggest accomplishments come from straight silent hours. It takes time and patience, but most of all it takes commitment. It is important to notice how everyone gets attuned to meditation differently. Some of us have jobs or careers that get us stimulated/thinking all the time. That was the case for me, for sure.

When you're not meditating for the sake of just finishing your daily routines, that's when it becomes easy to silence your mind in my experience. Be specific about 'why' you're doing it. Take your time, be patient, don't give up.

[Red-White-Light]

@Leo Gura 

You're right, I've been trying to avoid bordem which has been creating suffering. I've been facing bordem in my meditations and it's been helping.

[Nickyy]

18 minutes ago, Red-White-Light said:

@Leo Gura 

You're right, I've been trying to avoid bordem which has been creating suffering. I've been facing bordem in my meditations and it's been helping.

What is the boredom tho? Ever wondered what it is?

It's the mind saying "I don't want what is, I want something else, I want something that was exciting in the past and I want it to happen for me sometime in the near future".

Just understanding that is what's happening and then letting go of trying to do anything about it, judging it, resisting it, or trying to change it will result in the ego collapsing and pure awareness is revealed .

Meditation is like a double edged sword, because by sitting you're subtely expecting something to happen in the future. Some kind of awakening. This is a trap, because awakening doesn't happen in the future, it is just being converted up by identification with past and future. 

 

[Surfingthewave]

@Red-White-Light What's boring about discovering existence itself? What's boring about discovering love like you've never experienced? What's boring about experiencing such happiness that it will make you cry? This is what you've yet to see. 

I'm also surprised at Leo's reaction. This is the generation we live in, unable to concentrate for more than 10 minutes. No offence but you expect massive results instantly without doing the work. It takes years my friend. Get to work. Forget the train and walking, you need to meditate first with no distractions in a quiet room.  10 minutes is good. Start slowly and build it up. Also use techniques to mix it up. 

Edited November 18, 2019 by Surfingthewave