Hi T-Nation!
first off im sorry I know this topic has been discussed before but id like to hear some more experiences. Recently ive noticed my mind is always racing mostly because of stress from exams/university/etc. I cant even really let off steam in the gym because of a broken fibula.
Ive tried meditating a few times, but found it very hard to calm my mind and sit still long enough. Ive been reading about meditation and would really like to hear from all you who have tried meditation/regularly meditate. So any advice or just your experiences would be great.
how long did it take to get to the point where you could actually meditate instead of just sitting around? how did it affect your thinking/training/life in general?
[quote]Marzouk wrote:
Nope… but i mite look into it, and pick up some tampons while i’m out…[/quote]
Seriously? You might as well buy tampons for every olympic star and professional athlete. Many use meditation for visulization purposes, relaxation, and focusing.
Every time I go for a run or a walk I am meditating. I use it mostly for visualization but the side effect is relaxation. Every goal I’ve ever achieved I’ve seen this way. I think everyone should do it
I got good at meditation in college. Good in the sense that I was able to shut my mind down and sit calmly for 30-45 minutes without a whole lot of thought, up to 2 times a day.
If something popped into my mind, I would let it go, and if I couldn’t calm down, I just sat through it. If I fell asleep, I fell asleep and tried again the next day.
I didn’t become enlightened or anything of the sort. However, I did regularly experience my visual field turn green or blue, then compress into a little ball, and shoot off into the distance. This was a continual thing, a ball forming and shooting off into the distance repeatedly, and when it happened I knew I was into my meditative state.
It took a couple years of consistent practice to be able to get there consistently, however I did get a benefit from it right away and had some good experiences shortly after starting.
It was awesome stuff, and its the one thing I wish I kept practicing.
One thing about meditation is that discussing it here with people you don’t really know is fine, but I’d never tell anyone I know that I meditate. Then you just look like the kind of guy that goes around telling everyone you don’t have a TV and all that kind of shit.
[quote]debraD wrote:
Every time I go for a run or a walk I am meditating. I use it mostly for visualization but the side effect is relaxation. Every goal I’ve ever achieved I’ve seen this way. I think everyone should do it :)[/quote]
I’m going to have to try the running meditation/goal visualization now. Thanks Deb
OP- When I was in my teens and had to do it for a martial art on a regular basis, I caught on right away. Now, at age 25, I’ve only been able to do it for less than minute at a time after a week of trying.
It’s interesting how hard it is to control your own mind and also how many people laugh at other’s attempts to do it.
[quote]debraD wrote:
Every time I go for a run or a walk I am meditating. I use it mostly for visualization but the side effect is relaxation. Every goal I’ve ever achieved I’ve seen this way. I think everyone should do it :)[/quote]
This. Any activity can be meditative as long as you’re not focusing on being competitive or breaking PR’s. From gluing plastic airplanes together to weight-lifting or going for a walk- the process of relaxing the mind isn’t purely the realm of sitting in one space and achieving a state of “no thought”.
I tried that method years ago and failed. Any tape that told me to imagine I was laying in a bed of marshmallow had the exact opposite effect and set me howling in laughter. Eventually I realised I already knew how to meditate. It was right under my nose the whole time: art, something I have done since I was a child.
Find that thing you enjoy and turn to that to calm your mind.
When I lived in the suburbs of Dallas I had a similar place, out by a creek near Mountainview Lake. Brilliant, winding walk that seemed to go on forever. Long way from that now though so I have to stick with photoshop and the occasional sketch.
[quote]theuofh wrote:
I got good at meditation in college. Good in the sense that I was able to shut my mind down and sit calmly for 30-45 minutes without a whole lot of thought, up to 2 times a day.
If something popped into my mind, I would let it go, and if I couldn’t calm down, I just sat through it. If I fell asleep, I fell asleep and tried again the next day.
I didn’t become enlightened or anything of the sort. However, I did regularly experience my visual field turn green or blue, then compress into a little ball, and shoot off into the distance. This was a continual thing, a ball forming and shooting off into the distance repeatedly, and when it happened I knew I was into my meditative state.
It took a couple years of consistent practice to be able to get there consistently, however I did get a benefit from it right away and had some good experiences shortly after starting.
It was awesome stuff, and its the one thing I wish I kept practicing.
[/quote]
what good experiences and benefits did you have? and can you get that deep into meditation by using the “observing your breathing” technique?
and DebraD you mentioned visualization, can anyone explain what exactly that is?
thanks for the replies everyone
[quote]debraD wrote:
Every time I go for a run or a walk I am meditating. I use it mostly for visualization but the side effect is relaxation. Every goal I’ve ever achieved I’ve seen this way. I think everyone should do it :)[/quote]
This. Any activity can be meditative as long as you’re not focusing on being competitive or breaking PR’s. From gluing plastic airplanes together to weight-lifting or going for a walk- the process of relaxing the mind isn’t purely the realm of sitting in one space and achieving a state of “no thought”.
I tried that method years ago and failed. Any tape that told me to imagine I was laying in a bed of marshmallow had the exact opposite effect and set me howling in laughter. Eventually I realised I already knew how to meditate. It was right under my nose the whole time: art, something I have done since I was a child.
Find that thing you enjoy and turn to that to calm your mind.[/quote]
For me that thing would probably be surfing, never realized it until right now but there is nothing like it that makes me feel as relaxed/happy… but unfortunately where I live I cant surf every day, but maybe by sitting and meditating I could get into that same state of mind.
