How to Meditate

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jj
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How to Meditate

Postby jj » Thu Jul 04, 2013 5:29 pm

These aren't my words, but something I read which is a really good guide on how to get started with meditation. I highly recommend looking into this if you don't know much about it or have never tried it. :)


Yogic meditation is a technique for reining in the inner voice and obtaining a state known as mindfulness. First described nearly 3000 years ago it is practiced by Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists and anybody else who seeks a quiet mind.


The first stage is mindful concentration. In this practice we seek to quiet the inner voice by focusing our attention on one thing to the exclusion of all others. Usually this is practiced in conjunction with yogic breathing.


Pranayama or yogic breathing starts with the standard three point breath. Most of us do not breathe properly. We take shallow sips of breath and breathe irregularly. This technique is a method of using our lungs to their full capacity.
-Stand / sit keeping your spine straight.
-Take a deep and steady breath through your nose.
-Fill the lower part of your lungs letting your belly push out as you do so.
-Fill the middle part of your lungs letting your ribs and breastbone push out.
-Fill the highest part of your lungs letting your upper chest push out.
-Complete the breath by exhaling twice as slowly as you inhaled.


Now that we know the proper way to breathe in meditation we first sit in a comfortable position away from distractions. Sit with your back straight. Breathe slowly through your nose, hold for a second, then breathe out. Focus your attention on the breathing. Still your inner talking. Do not be frustrated if this is difficult at first. Be patient. If your mind wanders to other thoughts, and it will, our conscious mind is like a willful child, just gently, without frustration, move the mind back to the breathing. Do not worry about a goal of ten minutes or twenty minutes or whatever. Do this only for so long as you feel comfortable.



When you have practiced this for a bit it will get easier. It will become a pleasurable experience. You will feel invigorated yet calm at the same time. You will feel a blooming sense of well being in your mid section. You will gradually, with practice, achieve what we call “mindfulness”. this is a state of consciousness in which we experience the world directly without first filtering our perceptions through the lens of our inner talking. You see, we all experience the world this way as children. Later on we stop experiencing the world directly and start experiencing it second hand, in other words we describe the world to ourselves in our inner voice.


The direct perception of mindfulness is just something you have to experience for yourself. Any description of mine would fall short. Patience and persistence is the key. Do not be frustrated. It is an organic process. Just let it happen.

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