Getting back to Meditating ... my mind is racing. Help?

[Myrina]

I used to be a good girl and would meditate about 3 times a week but as happens, life got in the way. After a coupld years of job changes, teenagers growing up and moving out, friends coming into and leaving my life, I've decided it's time to get back to meditating to re-find my Spirit and my center.

Have been at it for a few evenings now: lit candles, a sage bundle burning, Native American drum music in the background.
Last night was HORRIBLE. After 20 minutes, my heart was racing, my mind was a jumble and I was dizzy like I'd been drinking.
Tonight was better - I think I left myself for a few minutes and when 30 minutes was up, I was very calm, had an even heart-rate, and felt relaxed. Still had trouble focusing my mind on one thing - or the no-thing as the case may be - so that I can hear what the Universe is trying to tell me.

Anyone with experience have any tips on how I can facilitate my way back to center? Or is it just going to take time?

Thanks! O8)

[Shallah Kali]

1. I am just learning to meditate

so far I don't like it. My mind and emotions leap around like hyperactive fleas on amphetamines. I have read enough on meditation to see this is normal so I don't freak out or put myself down for being bad. 5 minutes of this is all I can stand right now so I have no advice for you, only encouragement to keep at it. Studies show so many benefits to meditation on top of the millennia of evidence from a variety of religious and philosophical systems have demonstrated.

[Fire Walk With Me]

9. That means it's working.

Stick with it and you will progressively discover peace and alertness without stress. It's all about training the body to =stop= for a while. :hug:

[BanzaiBonnie]

16. Good for you SK

Keep at it. Five minutes every day is good. Just let the thoughts drift through your mind... let them come and go. Everyone I know starts that way.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

2. Starting with the breath meditation worked for me

Initially focusing on the natural breath- the entire in breath and entire outbreath

Then deepening the breath, in a comfortable seated position- spine straight
softening the belly- Then fill the belly like a balloon on in breath
emptying the belly on the out breath (naval towards spine)

Once comf. with that incorporate the filling of the ribs w/ filling of belly
imagine pulling the breath up from your grounded sitz bones/ perineum
pulling the breath up from the earth

exhale in opposite direction-
wave like pattern

Once comf w/ this two part breath go for the three part breath
pulling the breath from the earth upward into the bellly, the rib cage then chest
allow shoulder blades in the back and clavicles in the front body to broaden

exhale in opposite direction-

It's a good starting point
and remember its the minds nature to wander
When it gets away from you just gently guide it back to the breath
no judgement.

[Celebration]

3. I would say using some

guided visualizations, good headphones, plus some binaural beats in the background is a huge help to me, an infrequent meditator. There's lots of stuff out there. Good luck.

[GliderGuider]

4. The approach I use is not to aim for any particular state or place

I don't use mantras or visualizations, or even any "stage setting" beyond simply trying to ensure that the place is relatively quiet (and even that's not essential).

My approach is to begin with a conscious, progressive relaxation of my entire body, starting from my toes and finishing with my crown. During or following this I go into a state of "open focus" where I try to allow all my thoughts and feelings as well as all external cues (noises, smells, temperature etc.) into my awareness simultaneously. Then for the duration of the meditation I simply notice where I am, internally and externally, and accept whatever I find, without trying to change, guide or direct anything. Any sort of thought process is OK, any feelings are OK, anything that happens around me is OK. Whatever happens in the moment, no matter what it is, is the truth of that moment, and for me meditation is about connecting with the truth of the moment.

I feel quite strongly that clinging to an expectation of getting to a particular state results in resisting or rejecting the state I'm actually in. That is the exact opposite of the full acceptance and surrender to the moment that I'm trying to achieve. Such resistance actually prevents successful meditation, in my experience.

[Myrina]

5. That makes alot of sense ...

... I just want to get to a point where I can turn off all the 'radio static' so I can hear what my mind/soul really need to tell me ... there's so many random and disconnected thoughts zinging around that it feels like I'm in a bus station at rush hour -- it's almost sensory overload. I want to be able to shut that stuff out.

[GliderGuider]

6. Perhaps what you perceive as radio static

actually contains the message your soul is trying to tell you. If you try to shut off the radio, is it possible you may shut off the message as well as the static?

The technique I described actually works very well for calming the static. I find that when I start out with a lot of inner noise, simply allowing it, accepting it and even welcoming it gives it space to shift. It always shifts eventually because everything in life changes, and when it does shift all of a sudden the signal becomes clear. As with so much else in life I find that I just need to put myself in an accepting and open frame of mind and then trust in the benevolence of the universe. Trust is the key.

[Myrina]

7. Touche

... and trust certainly has always been my boogey-man.

Thanks for the insights, I will definitely try to put them to work! :hug:

[Shallah Kali]

11. open focus

That is what I am learning to do - accept or let everything just be whatever the source and relax around it, giving it space instead of contracting around it, withdrawing, pushing away, avoiding, or getting caught up in the whirl. If something aches at me I acknowledge it, notice and relax around it, then return my focus to the breath. I know eventually the

currently I am a nervous worry wart from a long line of worry warts and being around someone worrying sets me off. I am hoping meditation will help me keep calm or at least calmer even when others are fretting themselves into a froth as well as reducing the amount of frothing I do on my own!

[Matariki]

8. Personally I would skip the drumming and sage

that seems like it would be distracting and excite your senses. I'd especially imagine that the drumming could be the thing that's making your heart rate increase, depending on the rhythm.

[get the red out]

10. What helped me

I read somewhere that it was very counter-productive to judge how my meditation was going, or to judge myself for not doing "good" enough. And I have found that when I do that any chance at calm basically goes out the window. I went through a very long time where my body would start itching all over when I would be still to meditate, I believe that was related to a fear I had of loosing myself if my thinking ever became still. It has gotten better and I attend a meditation class weekly, but lately I haven't had the time to meditate in the morning as I was doing, but have tried to use what I have experienced in meditation to quiet my thoughts when they get too much for even just walking around with.

I have to believe that the "not having time to meditate" period going on right now is a necessary experience as well. I have been using my mornings to train and exercise our puppy.

[kimmerspixelated]

12. Here is a link to a Spring Forest Qigong 15 minute med.

http://www.springforestqigong.com/docs/Open_Your_Heart_Change_Your_World.mp3

I actually just experienced it before logging on today. I liked it. I think another med. might be coming with my order.

[Myrina]

13. Thanks everyone for the suggestions and encouragement!

O8) :grouphug:

[GliderGuider]

14. My partner suggests not meditating

Or rather, don't think of what you're doing as "meditation", because when you do that you put expectations on yourself that make you contract and resist psychologically if it doesn't work the way you think it "should".

Instead, she suggests a technique recommended by Eckhart Tolle. Just sit and relax. Don't try to do anything at all. Don't worry about your thoughts, let them do whatever they want to do. Just listen for the silence between the sounds in your environment. Even if it's just a millisecond of silence. Listen for the stillness between sounds, notice it, say "Thank you" and move on. Don't try and achieve any result or state of mind, just notice the moments of quiet between sounds. As time goes on, the moments of stillness will multiply and become longer as you become more attuned to hearing the silence.

There are lots of "non-meditation" techniques that help avoid the trap of expectation and forcing a specific outcome. If you read "The Power of Now" there are more there.

[Ricochet21]

15. Very good response

I second that!