Tips for Meditation

[Artemis]

I find it really hard to meditate. I'm not used to sitting still for too long and not doing anything. That and there are always people around distracting me at all hours of the day, and night.

Any tips that could help, even with all these distractions around?

[DPhoenix]

You could try a simple chant as you meditate and have something visually to focus on (like a candle flame). That might help you to focus your mind. Good luck!

[North Star]

I would suggest to work on your breathing. Breath in deeply (through your nose) and then out (through mouth). Really just try to focus on that, your mind will clear once you focus on your breathing. A doctor gave me this advice years ago and I cannot stress enough how much it helps. Either to calm myself down when anxiety and stress hit, or to get me to an altered state for rituals, sometimes just taking a few minutes each day to practice this can help tremendously.

I find it very difficult to shut my mind off and that is the best way for me to start any meditation. I usually use the thought of "positive energy in, negative energy out" or something like that. And I have 4 kids so I know about noise and distractions lol. And stress!

If noise and others around you are disturbing you could try some relaxing music (calm, instrumental, no lyrics). Go outdoors if you have to, sit under a tree and relax and just breathe with some soothing music. Or near water, or whatever you enjoy.

If you cannot find any quiet time during the day, practice at night before falling asleep when it is quieter and you will not be disturbed. This helps me with certain dream magick just to clear my mind before bed.

Good luck to you!

[North Star]

Just came across this, thought it might help you.


Meditation Crystals:

Do you ever have problems meditating? Using this combination of stones can help! If you're having issues "making time" to meditate, try placing these in a pouch (blue, for deep mental thoughts/stimulation) and keeping the pouch with you at all times.... If you're having issues focusing during meditation, you can keep them in the bag, or you can place them in a bowl and hold the stones, taking turns in the order that I listed them below. If you're having issues staying deep in thought, hold onto Labradorite for a longer period of time. When you do not keep these stones with you, keep them on your altar, outside of the pouch, laying on top of the pouch.

Amethyst: helps to calm and center the mind
Carnelian: Helps keep the mind focused, pulls away excess thoughts
Jasper: helps the mind concentrate, allowing for deeper meditation
Labradorite: deepens meditation; raises consciousness; increases visualization
Clear or Rose Quartz: brings mental clarity, focus, and concentration
Jade: brings serenity; soothes mind; removes negative thoughts and energies
Moonstone: helps to connect the higher self and one's consciousness

[Artemis]

Thanks for the tips DPhoneix.

Well late last night I put on some meditation music and focused on my breathing. I ended up falling asleep at one point. Just a little while ago I tried it again, with headphones, and there were a few times I felt myself drifting off but I just kept focusing on my breathing and when I opened my eyes after 10 mins I felt really relaxed, sleepy but relaxed.

Thanks for the advice North Star. I'll try purchasing the stones next month. At the moment my budget doesn't allow me to spend on something not business related.

[Lillady]

Artemis, Good job on getting meditation down, sorry you fell asleep the first time, which is easy to do. Breathing is the most important part as you have experienced now it helps to stay focused when there are a lot of distractions around or your mind is full. Just keep practicing you will be able to stay awake but the thoughts in your mind stay clear and your vision you need to focus on there. The relaxed feeling is how you should feel, shutting out the wildness around you. This way you can speak to your deities and whatever it is you need to accomplish during meditation. Blessed Be!

[scaravich]

I meditate regularly, and sometimes it can be very difficult if I'm really anxious/worried about things, really tired, or whatever.

Some things I've found help...

Don't close your eyes but don't leave them open. Like, kind of half way.

Sit in a way that is relaxed and comfortable but has a "good posture." I think this will prevent you from falling asleep, but helps you stay in that kind of 'in-between' phase.

Concentrate on the breathing like said, and use visualization techniques to help. Like, when you breathe in, imagine breathing in positive energy or light or something. When you breathe out, imagine breathing out negative energy or smoke or something. This kind of visualization can really help you... because it's not a really complicated or deep thing to think about, but it keeps your mind focused on something so it doesn't wander. I feel like after a while of concentrating just on breathing without visualization, I tend to be more likely to let my mind distract itself or start to fall asleep or whatever.

And like said having a visual aid like a candle flame is helpful to. With your half-open eyes, pick something to stare at... especially if it's something that's easy to focus on and ignore everything else your eyes might be able to pick up. Once I used 4 sticks of incense sat near each other so it made a little square of orange lights. Very dim but it worked really well!

[Moira]

All above are good tips so I`m just gonna add a little. First find comfortable position where your spine is straight and do not lean on anything (I guarantee you, you won`t fall asleep like this). Before is recommended to do some exercises for your spine. Then breathe (like others said or other breathing techniques). To calm your emotions a simple visualisation can help: imagine a calm water (water is connected to emotions) - it works for me every time. After it, choose an object and concentrate on it. After some time something will happen - state called meditation. Concentration is the key. If your thoughts wander a lot, try pathworkings

[Artemis]

Moira what is pathworkings?

[Moira]

Guided meditation. Very good book about pathworking is: http://nickfarrell.eu/nick-farrell-magi ... rking.html

[Artemis]

I have been listening to a few guided meditations. I end up really sleepy afterwards though and find it difficult to stay awake after going through one.

[Firebird]

just to clarify different kinds of meditation...the two we use in ritual frequently are...

Guided meditation is spoken words that are meant to evoke a feeling or a sense of some kind, that takes you through a scenario of some kind (ie, a walk on the beach, a flight through the heavens, a rainstorm, a stroll in the woods) the spoken words weave a complete journey, describing the sounds, smells, sights, and feelings you will encounter during the meditation.
Pathworking meditation is spoken words meant to take you on a journey of discovery. The words spoken will set up the scene, by leading you to a "place" describing some of the things you may encounter, then the speaker will stop speaking for up to 5 minutes at different destinations where it is then up to your mind to fill in the blanks, or "work the path". You may be receiving messages from a God or Goddess, a babbling brook, the crane at the waters edge the possibilities are endless, ...the meditations are not complete in that the one undergoing the meditation completes the scenes, and is thereby gaining esoteric knowledge.

Guided meditations are used to bring on a sense, usually peace and calmness.
Pathworking meditations are used to open the deepest recess of your mind where you might find a past life, or discover a totem animal or guide, or unravel a deeply embedded memory, or discover a truth of some sort....receive messages.

There are many other kinds of meditations and I don't presume to know them all, yet the above aforementioned get intertwined frequently and they are really quite different.

many blessings, Firebird

[-Dark-Moon-]

http://www.amazon.com/Magical-States-Co ... B008MBHNVI

I quite like this book on path working

[North Star]

There are essentially 2 types of magickal practice in Wicca: raising power and drawing power. The first is the art of personal power, where one draws upon his or her own abilities. The latter is concerned with drawing power from spirits or dieties in order to empower a spell or other work of magick.

Basically, what Firebird said. I think the difference is sometimes over-looked. I am not familiar with the terms 'guided or patchworking', I just always thought of it as raising or drawing. Maybe it is not the same, but sounds kind of like it to me...

I do think there is a big difference in meditating and relaxation, or divinatory (or magickal, or whatever you want to call it) meditative states. Sometimes it can take a lot of practice to find techniques and control to master both. For some it comes easier... but it is important to note as Firebird did there are two forms of this for most of us. Whatever you call it, they both serve a purpose and are worth spending time finding the best techniques for yourself. As you can tell, I haven't changed how I do it in years lol but it did take me a while to develop fully.

[AncientSideEffects]

Curious why no one explained the purpose of a chant, or why its sounds or syllables instead of phrase, for the most part.
The reason for that is the subconscious doesn't know all sounds or words. Its like binary code. It takes bits and pieces to create a phrase. Our mind is capable of understanding this because of conditioning through schooling. Baby talk is the subconscious language, if haven't put 2 and 2 together yet. Chants like "OM" is actually the subconscious sound for "home." Hence why monks use it. Home is referred to as the house of enlightenment. They spend years meditating and chanting this to get there. So its both guided and pathwork in one.
I started meditating in high school after I got home.. Since then I've relaxed from that and just consciously meditate. Hit that state of calmness and maintain it. I become very prophetic and philosophical in this state. I can maintain it through a day or end it when I feel like I've had enough. Exhausted when done, I'll relax and listen to music or watch some TV and go to sleep after.
It takes a long time to learn, some faster then others, but don't he discouraged. Eventually you'll get it and be able to do it at the snap of a finger.