Choosing the right place:
Finding a place that enhances your meditation quality is important. The place should be calm and peaceful. For example, sitting under a tree in nature surrounded by birds singing is a good place because it calms your mind. You can do it in your room. A small corner in your is okay, but if you have an extra room, use it.
- For beginners, it is important that the place should be void of external noises such as traffics, TV, people taking, etc. That's why early mornings are preferred for meditation.
- There are some noises you can't have control over such as a dog barking on the street. It is good. It can be a wake-up call if you are lost in thoughts while meditating. Become aware of it and accept it. Notice how it stops bothering you when you accept it i.e. when you stop giving it the power to bother you.
You are comfortable when you are able to forget your body. So
- Wear loose, comfortable clothes. If you are outside or can't change clothes, do your best to make yourself as comfortable as possible.
- It doesn't matter whether you sit on the ground or a chair, that is not the point. So choose whichever is comfortable for you. But sit with your spine erect.
- When you are meditating, you don't want to be thinking about how long you have been meditating. So decide beforehand how long you want to meditate and set a timer for it.
- For a beginner, it is helpful to start off with 5 or 10 mins. If you are very motivated, start with 15 or 20 mins.
These are also called passive meditation because they do not involve any physical activity. They are all about awareness, watching the mind, breath. They look simple and since they look simple your mind might tell you that not worth your time. Be aware of this deception, many people fall into it.
1. Watching your breath:
It is also a form vipassana meditation. It is through Vipassana that the Gautama Buddha became enlightened. It is very simple and is the most basic meditation out there. It is prescribed for beginners because meditation requires a certain degree of concentration. It can help you develop that as well. But it is a really a meditation technique, not a concentration technique.
how to do it?
- Sit comfortable, gently close your eyes. Let the normal breathing happen; do not try to control your breathing.
- Become aware of the inhalation and exhalation, watch the breath touching your nostrils when entering and leaving your body. Don't pressure yourself to concentrate on breathing; this isn't concentration. Be comfortable, just let your awareness fall on it.
- Thoughts will come, emotions will come. When it happens, stop watching the breaths and start watching the thought or emotion that has come.
- Your primary object of watching is breathing. But now some guests[thoughts and emotions] have come, So watch them, see what they are, don't comment or judge or do anything, simply be an observer. Once you finish it, return to watching the breath.
2. No-mind Meditation:
"When there are thoughts, it is a distraction. When there are no thoughts, it is meditation"-Ramana Maharshi
The word Zen comes from Zazen, which means, just sitting, doing nothing. No thinking, no doing, no anticipation, no worries, just calm present. If you can do it, it is a meditation.
how to do it?
- Sit comfortably. Be in the present moment without thinking anything, doing anything. Don't focus on anything, in particular, just choice-less awareness. Simply be!
- Soon, your mind will start telling you "what are you doing, just sitting doing nothing? Are you kidding me? You will not benefit anything from this, Instead of sitting here, you could have done this, that etc.," Do not take any of what it says seriously. Simply be a witness to all that.
- As you watch the thought, you will feel yourself as a conscious presence behind or beneath the thought.
- Do it as long as you want.
"One conscious breath -in and out- is a meditation" - Eckhart Tolle.
This is for you if you want to seriously grow in meditation. It will transform your whole life.
Any activity can be turned into meditation. If you do any activity consciously, then it is a meditation. Meditation in its essence is living in the present moment without compulsive thinking. If you have observed yourself carefully, you would know that you are always thinking. Most of it are useless, repetitive and never happen. Take any activity eating, bathing, riding. It is almost as if you have a robot inside yourself that does all these activities and you are simply trapped inside your head listening to whatever the mind says.
It significantly reduces the quality of your doing. If you are aware of what you are doing, the doing will have a quality to it. That's why spiritual teachers stress so much on mindfulness.
How to do it?
- Take any activity that you perform daily. It can be driving or even as simple as washing your hands.
- Let's consider eating. What else do you do when you are eating? Watch TV? Use mobile? Zen tells that you have to do only one activity at a time, with full attention given to that activity alone. Note that it doesn't mean you have to lose yourself in the activity. You have to be aware that you are doing it.
- Next time when you are eating, don't turn on TV or keep the mobile phone with you or talk to anyone. Start eating slowly. Enjoy the food, observe the chewing. See how you empty your plate. Most importantly Don't think about anything, not even eating. Just eat!
- You can do this with any activity. In the beginning, it will be tough. You will lose again and again, but with practice, you will be able to master it.
Want meditation for anxiety? Want to get rid of all negative emotions and live a positive life?Are sitting meditations difficult for you? Try these crazy super awesome active meditations.
The following active meditations were invented by Osho Rajneesh, one of the greatest spiritual masters ever born on Earth. He says that he created them because it has been difficult for this new generation people to go directly to sitting meditations. These meditations look absolutely ridiculous but work really well.
It will just give quick overview of a couple of these and give you a link to help you understand them better.
1. Dynamic Meditation:
It is one of the most popular widely used active meditations. It has been prescribed by many doctors as well.
How it works:
You have been told by the society to act in a certain way, repress certain emotions and thoughts. These form negative mental patterns that causes so much suffering. Dynamic meditation helps you break those old negative patterns, mental habits and throw out repressed feelings such as anger, sadness, jealousy.
how to do it?
This meditation is best done in the early morning. It is one hour long and is divided into five stages. First 3 stages exhaust you completely. It is in the fourth stage that the meditation happens!
Instructions
1st stage: 10 minutes
In this step, you have breathing chaotically through the nose, giving in everything you have.
2nd stage: 1o minutes
This step requires you to go completely mad. Shout, scream, dance, cry, laugh,roll on the floor, act like a child or do anything you want without physically harming yourself or others. Throw jealousy, hatred, good, bad, pain, misery pleasure literally everything out of your body and mind and become completely empty inside.
3rd stage: 10 minutes
It involves jumping up and down with your arms raised above your head shouting the mantra, “Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!” for 10 mins.
4th stage: 15 minutes
You have to stop whatever you are doing, freeze wherever you are, in whatever position you find yourself.
5th stage: 15 minutes
Celebrate! With music and dance express whatsoever is there. Carry your aliveness with you throughout the day.
Looks crazy right? Hold on, don't judge this meditation until you try it. It has amazing benefits. When I first did this(although I couldn't complete it), I had my first "aha this! What a sense of peace" moment. In my very 1st session, I realized its power.
Also, make sure you do it alone or with like minded people. You don't want to scare your family off.
2. Mystic Rose Meditation:
"This Osho Meditative Therapy has been described as the most important new meditation since the creation of Vipassana."
This meditation brings out all the negativity, pain, trauma that has been injected to you by the society. It cleanses your heart, purifies your soul. I believe this meditation can immensely help people who are into depression or anxiety/ Read the instructions, you will know.
It should be done for three weeks continuously. It has 3 stage; one stage for one week 3 hours a day.
Again I'm just gonna give a quick overview of the technique and a link to a page where Osho has explained this beautifully.
Instrusctions:
Laughing: The first 7 days, for 3 hours everyday, you have to laugh continuously for no reason at all.
Crying: For the next 7 days, 3 hours everyday, simply cry.
Witnessing: Last 7 days, for 3 hours, Simply sit and start observing everything that comes up inside you. Be a watcher on the hills.
You can read more about it here: Osho mystic rose meditation therapy
- Don't try to mix multiple techniques. Don't try to change it or improve it. It doesn't work like that.
- Don't go searching for techniques all the time. Pick a technique, try it for few days. If it is for you, it will click.
- Don't do any other activities in your meditation place and meditate in the same place every day. Because the place gains vibrations every time you meditate.
- Start small. First start with 5 or 10 mins. Then improve this gradually up to an hour or more.
- Start simple. If you are new, It is better to start with simple breathing meditation technique[ first one]
- Don't have any expectations. Treat it like an experiment. It is especially important when you are doing mindfulness everyday. Our minds are programmed to be goal-oriented. But the truth is meditation is a non-goal oriented state. Know the benefits but don't desire them. Treat it like a daily routine.
Studies show that it takes around 66 days to make a habit automatic. So you have to put some real effort in the first two months.
- Meditate at the same time every day.
- When the meditation period comes, don't think about anything, just do it. The mind tries to tell you " let's do it after some time, I don't wanna do it now" etc. Don't give it a chance, just do it.
- The above tip can be used to wake up early as well if you have trouble waking up early. When the alarm hits, don't think about anything. Just get out of bed and wash your face.
That's it. If you have any questions, post it below in the comments.
Welcome to Steemit. Namaste.
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