Meditating

[FaeFollower]

I am wondering...wondering if this is a stupid question. :P I am just curious as to how one really 'meditates'. I mean, I understand the idea of it, what it is, but I am never able to clear my thoughts enough to just let my mind just wander at will. There is not really any place in my house that is both quiet and comfortable, which I suppose doesn't help things much. I don't often feel very connected to my deities (in fact, I am still trying to figure out what exactly my deities are) and I feel sort of lost most of the time. Alone is maybe a word I could use. Anyway, I am trying to connect with something, but I am never really able to 'tune in' to whatever it is I'm looking for. Does that make sense at all? Anyway, any help would be very much appreciated. :confused:

[windandflame]

Yeah I have the same problem, I have 2 kids, and I live in a house with concrete walls and tile floors (that's how they build them in Puerto Rico), so its rarely quiet. Here's some links that you may find useful:
http://www.whywiccanssuck.com/learn3.html
Yes, it's from the infamous WWS site, but read all the sections, it's a great resource.
http://www.cantrap.net/technique/technique.html
Read the section on 'How to Meditate' is a little more step-bystep than the one above.
Hope this helps!

[Ari]

FaeFollower wrote: "I am just curious as to how one really 'meditates'. I mean, I understand the idea of it, what it is, but I am never able to clear my thoughts enough to just let my mind just wander at will."

There are many different kinds of meditation that vary both in the technique and the kind of results you can get out of them. Most Neo-pagans primary use guided meditations which are based on visualisation, but these can be hard to start with if you're having trouble concentrating or holding a mental image. Sometimes it's easiest to just start with watching your breath. Pick a point during the breathing cycle where you feel a physical sensation - air moving past the tip of your nose during exhalation is a good one - and focus on that. When thoughts come up (and they will) don't worry about it - just acknowledge them and go back to the breath so you don't get lost in a train of thought and forget what you're doing. You don't really need a quiet place to do this although it obviously helps - I have a fairly long commute and meditate on public transport.

[Arylon]

This is a good question....I find that when I mediatate, I end up on a mental "trip", very much like a dream. I always write down my experience, but don't know if they really serve any purpose aside from being pretty... :)

[georgina]

when i meditate clearing my head is the hardest thing to do so i visualise a background of only one colour and once thats firmly there then i visualise a shape of a different colour in my background and once thats firmly there i can move on with clear head and i also very calm and already doing my breathing for meditation.


(im sorry i babble)

[Erincelt]

Like Ari has said, there are many different forms of meditation...

There's contemplative meditation, where you sit calmly -- maybe with some instrumental music playing softly -- and focus on a single thought, idea, or situation until you have examined every nuance and possibility.

There's immersive meditation, where you focus on art -- music, a painting, a poem you have mounted so you can read it over and over... just whatever -- and examine how you respond to it, what kind of imagery it evokes, etc etc. I'm a fan of doing this with music.

There is the zazen sitting meditation of Zen, where you sit with back straight, eyes partly lidded, hands relaxed into the cosmic mudra shape, and gradually detach yourself from your own thoughts, until eventually you become a non-judging observer of your environs. Very powerful, very good if practiced daily.

There is the walking meditation of Zen as well, fairly similar, except you ... well ... walk. In steady steps, often timed with your breathing -- such as inhale threes steps, exhale three steps, repeat. When one starts to do occasional long meditation sessions with zazen, this is good to switch to every now and then.

Then there's guided visualization, where somebody else -- or a taped voice -- leads you through a set of images and situations to which you willingly submit. If done well, its like a waking dream.

And there's others out there as well, but I think you're getting the idea... ;)

[Xentor]

I perform guided meditation and have watched (but not participated in) Zen meditations Erincelt described.

Clearing one's mind surely is the hardest, and not always the goal. I meditate to fall asleep, for instance, or to stop bothering, or to guide energy, or to overcome a physical problem (in my case, asthma).

I rarely meditate in order to think about a subject. I feel I can focus on thinking better when not meditating, while I can focus on feeling better when I do meditate.

Bit of practice: I take a very strong visual image from memory, one that has no physical meaning. I use that image to block out every other thought untill I reach a state of focus I require. There's a specific focal point in that image, I fly around it and can only embrace it when the right state of mind is reached. Invading thoughts show by straying from the focal point. When I notice, I'll turn back to the visual and try reaching the focal point again. And again and again and again till I'm there.

Sometimes it's quicker and sometimes it's slower. It really depends on your average state of mind. If you have a lot of issues bothering you, it could be you have to work them out before you can properly meditate.

[sodken]

i to had a probleme finding a quiet spot.my solution was ear plug's,to start
you can get them almost anywhere.good set's in sporting good's store's.
i also went to bed a little early and meditated right before i went to sleep.
hope this help's some.once you get your mind used to relaxing in silence it will become easier to slip into meditation,and the ear plug's wont be needed unless it's extreamly noisy where you live.i have two young children myself.but i hardly use the
ear plug's anymore.

[beachdrifta]

hmm well i haven't meditated yet....seeing as i'm still extremely new to wicca.....but i do daydream a LOT, which i take to be somewhat similar. when i daydream i usually just stare at one thing (like a picture on a wall, or a tree, or i'll watch a bird or cloud in the sky), then i focus on all the sounds around me.....then just kind of space out hehe :) whatever comes to me, comes to me.............i don't normally try to day dream of anything specific....they usually just come to me :hehehehe:

[Loreley]

Faefollower,

It might be worthwhile to start with something smaller than full scale concentration meditation to contact with divinity.

Try some simple exercises while lying on your bed, just before you are going to sleep. Relaxation, banishing of "bad" energies, grounding, centering, shielding and then emptying your mind of all thoughts.

It's natural that your mind will wander a bit at first, but if you are truly relaxed, and if you really try to "think of nothing", eventually you will get to a "still" point.

Oh and don't be discouraged if you fall asleep in the first times :)

At first you might find out that emptying your mind is hard, but if you do this every day, 5 or 10 minutes for a few weeks, you will see how your ability to concentrate changes.

[Erincelt]

hmm well i haven't meditated yet....seeing as i'm still extremely new to wicca.....but i do daydream a LOT, which i take to be somewhat similar. when i daydream i usually just stare at one thing (like a picture on a wall, or a tree, or i'll watch a bird or cloud in the sky), then i focus on all the sounds around me.....then just kind of space out hehe :) whatever comes to me, comes to me.............i don't normally try to day dream of anything specific....they usually just come to me :hehehehe:
Hmm.. I'd say that's just informal Immersive. ;)

[beachdrifta]

Hmm.. I'd say that's just informal Immersive. ;)

forgive me but i'm not sure what that is lol i tend to have a lot of blonde moments....

[Erincelt]

forgive me but i'm not sure what that is lol i tend to have a lot of blonde moments....

There's immersive meditation, where you focus on art -- music, a painting, a poem you have mounted so you can read it over and over... just whatever -- and examine how you respond to it, what kind of imagery it evokes, etc etc. I'm a fan of doing this with music.

.......

Then there's guided visualization, where somebody else -- or a taped voice -- leads you through a set of images and situations to which you willingly submit. If done well, its like a waking dream.

I was actually thinking its like a mix of these two. :D

[beachdrifta]

ahhh yes. it is very similar to those two combined.....i guess i do meditate :)

[telecino]

Hi,

To clear your thoughts so that you can meditation, you have to use a technique that will keep the mind busy, as well as enhance your meditative technique.

The use of a mantra, repeated, will help you get your mind off your day-to-day life. But for me, it was not enough, i needed something more efficient.

So i used a technique that combines mantra (sound), mudra (hand position), mandala (visualisation), philosophycal concept, and chakra to focus on. Believe me, this technique was easy to learn, and it realy kept my mind busy. Most of all, the collaboration of all the effects realy does help meditation efficiently and attain a state of "no mind" when you're done doing the technique, so you can even learn how to transcend into higher consciousness with this. http://www.kujiin.com . Hope this helped.