Can someone plz teach me how to Meditate.

Although I have started meditation recently,I think I can tell you a thing or two about it.
The process to start meditating is difficult,just like doing something that you hate.But "be professional and not emotional" .
If you have a strong resolve and some patience then it will not be a problem.
What I do is,count my breaths as they go in backwards from any number.I repeat when I reach one.If concentration gets lost I start from that initial number.It is difficult,cannot do it for more than 15 minutes but i seem to be getting a hang of it.

Hope this helps .

 

It all depends on what kind of meditation that you are interested in.

There are two major hemispheres for choosing: theist or non-theist (that is, meditation acknowledging a God entity - or - meditation involving no acknowledgement of a God principle - regardless of whether one believes in God or not in the second version).

Of the non-theist variety, one method is akin to Budhist or Asian practices where the object of the meditation is to settle into nothingness, by putting thoughts and feelings to rest. One can do this by simply watching one's breath (in/out), and we can focus on those words, too, like a mantra : "in" ..."out," repeating them silently in our mind as the movements occur. Or, one can monitor the breath by the chest rising up and down, in which case we just employ the mantra "up"/"down" or "rise"/"fall" as the breathing occurs, and such words are meant to solely occupy your thoughts so that you will think of nothing else, except this mantra (but not for the mantra's own sake, but simply to control thinking overall to a barest minimum). Then, if other thought distractions come along, you simply "note" it and passively let it pass, letting it go, and resuming your breath words (in/out or up/down, etc.). Being present to each breath is important: don't rush, don't try to get somewhere, just be really and genuinely present to each inhale and each exhale - up/down...rise/fall. If you become tired and stop your mantra unconsciously, you simply reawaken, note your lapse in awareness, and resume the mantra and watching your breath. Similarly, if environmental distractions arise (room too hot, too cold, leg cramping, distant noise, new smell), you simply "note" it and let it go by, and go back to your breath words, which are meant to be the only thoughts you should be generally focusing upon. Don't get agitated or disturbed by distractions - but let them pass (note them in a second of time and let it go); don't focus or stop on them - that's the point - maintain serenity and calm. If the same distraction keeps arising, just note again and let it go --note again, and let it go, for as long as it takes -- it's all part of the process - be alarmed or disturbed by nothing. Be present to all serenely, and refocus back on the central meditation. A cross-legged posture is not necessary, by the way, but you should at least sit with your back/spine straight (a chair is okay) - as if the spine were struck in the ground and balancing at a pivot (which is what cross-legged postures tend to achieve). Also, if sitting, you normally shouldn't cross your legs or arms, but keep your arms and hands on each lap.

The breathing meditation I describe above is typically and formally known as Vipassana meditation. Other forms of non-theistic meditation take on variants of the above. Instead of focusing on the breath, one might focus on a mantra word (sometimes and unknowingly it may be a name of a Hindu deity or some other Asian god in the Hindu language or some other -- hence, this is really crossing into theistic meditation), or one can use a sound as a mantra, like Zen, with "Ohmmm" (also a sound of divinity in Eastern religions), or focusing on an object (some object in your hand) or image (like imagining light flowing through the body) or counting. All of these pretty much accomplish the same thing: to turn unnecessary thinking off by setting the mind on a specific word or mantra, and ignoring all other thinking, emotions, and external and internal stimuli ("noting" all these otherwise extraneous events and letting go), so as not to disturb the central meditation.

Christian practitioners of non-theistic exercises in meditation fall into two camps: those who say it's okay to engage in such practices, and those who say it is not okay. Christians who use such practices will often employ a Christian prayer before and after the meditation in what is formally known as "protecting the practice," that is to say, beginning and ending any activity in and with a Christian mindset and motive. Those Christian groups who oppose such non-theistic practices (often fundamentalists) may see these as dangerous ways of leaving one's mind open to demonic spirits, the idea being that if I shut down my own thoughts and will and lapse into nothingness, I just leave my soul open to any entity who might want to take over. For instance, if I possess a spirit of anger or lust already in me, I may just be allowing such tendencies to have free movement while I anesthetize myself (or invite a new demon), and the meditation may do very little to expel or purify one's soul of these things, etc. Others feel that becoming still and quiet allows us to purify the bad thoughts and feelings within us, letting them come up and out of us (which we "note" and watch "by imagination only" pass out of us) but do not otherwise entertain them, keeping focused on the meditation. That kind of thing.

Then, there is the other hemisphere of meditations that outright embrace the theist (God) principle. Like the non-theist meditations, the theist meditations are similarly interested in turning off the thoughts in the mind and all distractions. Hence, the task, as with breathing, is to give the mind something to focus on - like breathing God's spirit in and out, or a religious mantra ("Jesus" or "My God and my all", or "Jesus, mercy," etc.; there are literally thousands of Christian mantras and phrases that one can use to occupy thought. Such meditation is often termed as Centering Prayer (and some Christian fundamentalists are even against this type of prayer for the same reasons as above). However, building on the same principle, when the thinking gets distracted, one simply notes the distraction and then returns to the mantra, etc. The activity is the same - control thinking and virtually turn it off in fact. As a theist form of meditation, mediation becomes more of a prayer than just plain meditation of no thought, but the point of the prayer is still not to think of anything. The idea is, what can I possibly think about that God does not already know. Thinking, in this sense, can actually be quite useless to prayer -- also much of prayer should be more about listening to God, rather than our thinking and talking (although there is a time and place for vocal prayer, too -- but that's vocal prayer, not meditation/contemplative prayer). In a more contemplative prayer, the aim (as St. Teresa of Avila says) is not to "think much," but to "love much." Hence, when we occupy our thoughts with a mantra (basically giving the mind something banal to do, so that we can forget the mind), then we let our heart (via our free will from the heart center) pour out love toward God, as God pours his love and fills us. Here a mutual, life-giving relationship unfolds in the midst of our no-thinking and no distraction, and not just simply nothingness. Actually, a better way to say this is that like the non-theistic forms of meditation, the theistic forms do likewise achieve nothingness, but then allows it to be filled with Divinity, within the self or no self.

From a recovery standpoint, any of these forms of meditation are meant to build stamina and teach one how to sit still amid distractions, which have a practical application of being able to sit still through sexual distractions (thoughts - we note them and let them go), feelings (we note them and let them go), pain or discomfort in the groin (we note it and let it pass), etc. Hence, we learn to sit peacefully and almost passively and separate from anything that may afflict us - it need not excite or alarm us, etc. Theistic prayerful meditation, then, takes it one final step further by allowing the self to be immersed in relationship to a loving God, the effects of which can transform one's brokenness down to the deepest centers of our being - healing the very brokenness that causes us to self medicate with addiction in the first place. Hence, in God meditation, there is power and loving divinity present that heals and restores and wants only what is good and holy for us. In return, the practitioner aims to surrender his mind, body, soul, and free will to such an infinite loving God, so that we can be the living will of God and not just living by our own self and self-centered will.

Hope this basic outline helps.

 

Look up The Honest Guys on youtube! Guided meditation is a good place to start.

 

Hey bro, I have the same question too because I have keep being told that meditation would do us brain a great job, it improves attention, memory and learning capacity! But I too have no idea how to meditate, the type of meditation I am planning to do is the Mindfulness Meditation, its all about focusing your attention on the breathing. I tried it few times, found it actually harder than it sounds. Searching for the more detailed tutorial at the moment.

 

Meditation is not so much problem solving. To get the most out of meditating, forget about the end results of meditating. Just enjoy it. It's about spontaneity. Your problems will solve themselves in time. Anticipation will destroy your moment.

 

1. Sit with your legs crossed in a quiet place where you will not be disturbed.
2. Open YouTube and search for 'Meditation music' by YellowBrickCinema.
3. Play one of their videos, put on your earphones and close your eyes.
4. Start taking deep breaths and look between your eyebrows (with your eyes closed)
5. Return to normal breathing and try to focus on the music as hard as you can.
6. Immediately stop any thoughts as they come.
7. Let your head spin.

 

@skylar_legit This is the best one -

 

Oh god! I forgot, there's this app called Headspace that is amazing. They have a free 10 day program, it's always free and it will help you get started. It's probably the best one to use. If you wanted to subscribe, I think they have a free three months to access to everything right now. You can just unsubscribe when that few months is up. But yeah, I've been using it lately and just the ten minute one literally walks you through a mindfulness meditation that is really useful. And then when you have the full thing I think you get meditations for running, cooking, sleeping and then they have an emergency one for strong emotional outbursts. Might help with urges too, to be honest. But I'm not sure.

 

I learned meditation as a simple way to learn how to feel and be present. I do not usually assign any religious or philosophical purpose or attachment to it, but approach it as a simple breathing exercise. You can do it in your car, waiting in line at the grocery store, sitting cross legged on a mountain top, or laying in bed, or sitting next to someone.
Just try to regulate your breathing and listen to your body and the space around you. I like to count in my mind, usually breathing in for four seconds, holding, then exhaling for eight seconds. I visualize being in a white room. A room so blindingly and brilliantly bright that I'm enveloped by it, and so seemless that I cannot tell the floor from the ceiling and walls. I listen to my heartbeat. I try to relax my body, from my toes, up through my legs, into my hips and up my spine, relaxing my shoulders and arms, and eventually my neck and face.
I usually pray that God will give me a moment of relaxation and keep me in tune with my body and in harmony with the world around me, and protect anf guide me as I let go of my cares and concerns for a few moments.

Keep it simple at first, concentrate on breathing, and only try to meditate for a few breaths at a time, eventually building the amount of time you spend and applying some discipline towards developing it. enjoy your journey, fellow fapstronauts

 

Meditation is pretty simple:

Sit in a comfortable position, relax but sit straight up, legs crossed works best for me. Close your eyes, and breathe. Thoughts are going to enter your head as you do this, instead of allowing them in or pushing them away, just imagine shallow stream of water in front of you, whenever you have a thought just let it pass in the stream as if it's a little piece of debris. Continue breathing, continue letting these thoughts just pass by in front of you.

 

Mindfulness is another really good method and can only take 10 mins or so for a good body scan. Ive been trying it out cos my auntie practices it, and it really works at improving concentration and calmness. Check it out. Also head space aswell as one the others mentioned, is really gd.