Meditation

[solitaire]

I would like to learn how to visualise and read somewhere that it is best to learn how to meditate first.

Does anyone have any tips on how to start with meditation and the best ways to do it?

I have tried sitting comforatably and relaxing to quiet my mind but often end up feeling more noisy (if that makes sense).

thanks

[SunshineintheDark]

For me, what helped to shut my brain up was to imagine just blackness, and then a large empty box, with the sides and top and bottom on the outer edge of my "sight". Then, once you can mentally keep the box up, visualize the thoughts bouncing off the outside off the box before you even get a chance to acknowledge them. With enough practice, they will bounce off automatically.

Edited to add: As soon as you realize something is trying to pop into your mind, say "Nope", and make it bounce off. For me, I can almost see the front of the words hit the side and bounce out of view.

[Elysium]

I would like to learn how to visualise and read somewhere that it is best to learn how to meditate first.

Does anyone have any tips on how to start with meditation and the best ways to do it?

I have tried sitting comforatably and relaxing to quiet my mind but often end up feeling more noisy (if that makes sense).

thanks

I use Tibetan prayer beads to help me meditate, they're good for starting out with meditation and learning how to breathe. For each bead I do one deep inhalation, and one deep exhalation. After getting the breathing down pat, I find it gets a lot easier to visualize.

[solitaire]

thank you sunshineinthedark and elysium, i will keep trying the visualising part is still a way off i think but can definately try and find something similar to prayer beads to use as a focus point

[AlaunusFoxglove]

Something that has helped me a lot with learning meditation is using guided meditations. They taught me how to breathe and helped train my mind to focus on one thing, and also worked my visualization skills. I have a few CDs I got at a new age bookstore I like. There are also a lot of guided meditation videos on Youtube. Some are really good, and some not so much.

Some nights, I like creating my own meditation, and other nights I enjoy a guided meditation.

[solitaire]

Thank you AlanusFoxglove

I have been looking at some guided meditation cd's online i will let you know if i get any and if they help

[YanaKhan]

Starting meditation can be hard. Like, really hard
I used to try and listen to my thoughts to make them go away and ended up stopping my meditation, because the thoughts were driving me crazy. It makes a lot of sense that when you try and quiet your brain, it becomes noisy
I wouldn't start with meditation. I would try standing still for as long as you can. I mean not move a muscle. It's easier to do that in a comfortable position with your eyes closed. Just concentrate on your breathing and don't try quieting your brain. Do this once a day for about a month. At the end of my month I realized my brain actually is quiet while doing that. Just don't try to make it quiet. If you are anything like me, it won't work

[grlry]

Starting meditation can be hard. Like, really hard
I used to try and listen to my thoughts to make them go away and ended up stopping my meditation, because the thoughts were driving me crazy. It makes a lot of sense that when you try and quiet your brain, it becomes noisy
I wouldn't start with meditation. I would try standing still for as long as you can. I mean not move a muscle. It's easier to do that in a comfortable position with your eyes closed. Just concentrate on your breathing and don't try quieting your brain. Do this once a day for about a month. At the end of my month I realized my brain actually is quiet while doing that. Just don't try to make it quiet. If you are anything like me, it won't work

Thank you for sharing this! I've been 'meditating' for a bit and I can't keep my brain quiet. If I'm not doing my usual bit of worrying about things I can't control, than my ferret-like brain wanders off into random places as if I saw something shiny!
I'm going to 'go back to the drawing board' and try your suggestion above!

[corvidus]

Here is a trick for quieting down the brain-chatter that I really enjoy

There is a hierarchy within the Mind. The highest part is Awareness, what most people experience as silence and mental vacancy, and within Awareness there are Sub-Minds.

These Sub-Minds hold conversations with Awareness and with each other. The trick is to identify each of these Sub-Minds and quite them. Tell them they have nothing to worry about and that they are to be silent. Keep telling them this until you feel release and relaxation corresponding to that particular Sub-Mind (it isn't always in the brain, it can sometimes come from the organs and digestive system).

[solitaire]

Thank you YhanKhan and corvidus, all this information is very helpful, I will let you know how I get on after trying these great suggestions