In order to meditate you need to sit down, so it helps to have a cushion of some sort. They sell specific meditation cushions called zafus. When I started out I just used a reading wedge pillow that I had, and it was ok. Now I have a zafu and it is much better, because it is more comfortable. So you sit down, close your eyes, and you can touch your thumb and index finger of your non-dominant hand together to form an anchor. This will help you re-enter the meditative state over time. Begin by focusing your attention on your body, just feel the overall comfort of it. Then bring your awareness to your breath. It helps to have a timer of some sort so that you know when to quit. I just use a simple digital kitchen timer. Right now I am meditating for a half an hour, my manual suggests at least 45 minutes. So you are focusing on your breath. When a thought pops into your mind, try to become aware of the fact that you are thinking, and then bring your awareness back to your body and breath. My manual says that it is like walking on a tightrope. Every time you begin thinking it is like falling off of the tightrope, but then once you catch yourself, there is always a new tightrope to begin walking on again. So you do this over and over, working to quiet the mind down and strengthen your focus on one object, that of your breath. It can be a lot of frustrating work in the beginning, but don't beat yourself up, it is totally natural to have a busy mind when you first start out. Each day you get a little bit better. But you can't do that until you start, so start meditating!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
How To Meditate
In order to meditate you need to sit down, so it helps to have a cushion of some sort. They sell specific meditation cushions called zafus. When I started out I just used a reading wedge pillow that I had, and it was ok. Now I have a zafu and it is much better, because it is more comfortable. So you sit down, close your eyes, and you can touch your thumb and index finger of your non-dominant hand together to form an anchor. This will help you re-enter the meditative state over time. Begin by focusing your attention on your body, just feel the overall comfort of it. Then bring your awareness to your breath. It helps to have a timer of some sort so that you know when to quit. I just use a simple digital kitchen timer. Right now I am meditating for a half an hour, my manual suggests at least 45 minutes. So you are focusing on your breath. When a thought pops into your mind, try to become aware of the fact that you are thinking, and then bring your awareness back to your body and breath. My manual says that it is like walking on a tightrope. Every time you begin thinking it is like falling off of the tightrope, but then once you catch yourself, there is always a new tightrope to begin walking on again. So you do this over and over, working to quiet the mind down and strengthen your focus on one object, that of your breath. It can be a lot of frustrating work in the beginning, but don't beat yourself up, it is totally natural to have a busy mind when you first start out. Each day you get a little bit better. But you can't do that until you start, so start meditating!
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