Bee
Proud Member
Oh thanks for this - very useful! Will try this out too, I do some sort of that but not so specifically, mostly go with my own flow and try to focus on the ticking of the clock or something.I have a few suggestions that might help. I'm not a master at it by any means, but I have been working on it for years. When you first start out meditating the mind chatter is usually the big problem. And the more stressful one's life is at the moment, of course the more difficult it is for everyone. One thing to consider is that meditation doesn't have to be total silence of the mind. Our brains are always chattering, so it's next to impossible to shut it all out. Instead it's more about focus. Focusing the thoughts on something, directing your mind to think about one thing instead of all the little thoughts that keep popping up. Once you get fairly good at that, it's a springboard to more complex meditations.
Try starting out with something totally, totally simple. Think of your favorite shape. Just a 2-dimensional shape, like a circle, a heart, a square, whatever. And a color. Be clear about what color, nothing complex. Like if you chose a pink heart, close your eyes and try to visualize nothing but a big pink heart in front of you. Just see it in your mind (don't expect to see anything visually, it's just an idea, a daydream). Whenever your mind starts to go off on some tangent (which it will, over and over, lol), go back to the heart. Just look at it, see the color, the shape. Keep forcing your thoughts back to it. When you can hold that without too many interruptions, try something else. You can go to a 'real' 3-D object like a candle flame or an apple in as much detail as you can imagine. The goal is to hold this in your mind with minimal brain chatter for as long as you can. A minute, two, five minutes... whatever you can work up to. I won't say it's easy, lol, but it's the key. If visuals alone aren't doing it for you, try adding a chant of some kind. That works wonderfully. Chant anything that's constructive (in your mind or outloud). "I can focus, yes I can" or something religious or "la la la la" in a particular rhythm, lol. It doesn't matter what, just that you're focused on it. One that I find works is to focus on the breath with sound, so it's like a breath chant. Each time you breathe out think of a sound (I like "la" ... I find it easy, but of course the classic is "om'). And while focusing on your image, pay attention to each breath and softly or even silently make the sound as you exhale. The more you work on this, the easier it will become over time and you'll find it's less difficult to push the chatty thoughts away. Hope that helps
Haha and wtf....awesomely hilarious dream you had, could totally picture that! :lmao: