Meditation Experiences

[Jared Gregory]

Hello guys meditation for me is very relaxing and calm's my mind each time I do it. 

But I do have thoughts flying around whenever i am trying to meditate so i just allow the thought's to be there and just observe them. 

I just wanted to see if anybody else has similar experiences when they are meditating and any advice they would like to share. 

[kurt]

@Jared Gregory

Yes for sure!

Meditations vary of course, and I have tried a few.  I took a meditation "course" a while back and was impressed that I really didn't know what I was doing until I tried some new approaches.

It's really important to sit up straight if thats not what you are already doing, it seems to make a big difference for me.  

I also take a couple of deep breaths (pranayama) which clams my body and therefore seems to have an effect on the mind to be able to contain itself a bit better.

The next step is called "letting the dog run" lol,  which is just taking the leash off the mind and letting it wander (mindfully) for a few minutes.  It's a really useful thing because if you look at your experience you will see that all the mind wants to really do is wander around.  That's its nature, so its better to co-operate with its nature, and this is conducive to a better meditation.

From then on it's just befriending the mind, because again this is what the mind is actually looking for, its looking for itself.  After a while it gets quite endearing and the mind begins to start to understand that it can trust you and let go.  

I think this is where the benefits come from, the fact that youre just paying attention and educating the mind that its not alone and that it need not try to control everything in life.  Which seems to do the trick for me in my every day doings with "others".

 

[Prabhaker]

43 minutes ago, Jared Gregory said:

But I do have thoughts flying around whenever i am trying to meditate so i just allow the thought's to be there and just observe them. 

Your thoughts have to understand one thing: that you are not interested in them. The moment you have made this point you have attained a tremendous victory. Just watch. Don't say anything to the thoughts. Don't judge. Don't condemn. Don't tell them to move. Let them do whatsoever they are doing, any gymnastics let them do; you simply watch, enjoy. It is just a beautiful film. And you will be surprised: just watching, a moment comes when thoughts are not there, there is nothing to watch.

Meditation is not thinking at all; it is witnessing. It is just sitting silently deep within yourself, looking at whatsoever is happening inside and outside both. Outside there is traffic noise, inside there is also traffic noise -- the traffic in the head. So many thoughts rushing in every direction. But you are simply sitting aloof, unconcerned, watching everything with no evaluation.

[Lawrence]

48 minutes ago, kurt said:

The next step is called "letting the dog run" lol,  which is just taking the leash off the mind and letting it wander (mindfully) for a few minutes.

@kurt @Jared Gregory Hahaha... I like this term and funnily enough during a meditation session earlier, I allowed my mind to do exactly that!

Thanks =)

Edited October 2, 2016 by Lawrence

[Jared Gregory]

@kurt @Lawrence I will let the dog run hahaha when i next meditate.