How to meditate effectively?

This is why there are meditation teachers!

I mean surely somebody is gonna jump in this thread with $0.02 for ya pretty soon, so I am not even gonna offer tips. Well here is one tip, when your mind wanders just acknowledge it and bring your focus back to your breath.

Honestly I would rather see you find a Teacher offline, I mean I could play teacher to you in this thread here but that's not my thing man

It takes months and years to make serious progress in meditation, definitely a lifelong practice.

Even advanced meditators get distracted from time to time, only Masters meditate in perfect stillness all the time both sitting and while moving around

 

there many different forms of meditation, for me, working out and running is a form of meditation, and it has been effective for me.

 

Hi philstronaut!!! I've been meditating off and on for 6 years now and Adyashanti is a good go to when trying to find out what true meditation is. Here's his latest audiobook:

Guided Meditations: Evoking the Divine Ground of Your Being

If Adyashanti isn't your taste I can recommend others if you give me more info to work with.

Headspace may also interest you.

PM me for help. Good luck and take care!!!

(sorry I can't post links yet since I'm a newbie)

 

regarding distraction maybe you need to see if you're distracting your mind all the time. like listening to music while chatting, or texting while in class. or if talking to a friend while exercising...or ur at a meeting/class and ur making notes of next meeting/class

the brain is like a puppy. u cannot tell the puppy to not bark only from 5 to 6 every mondays. so if ur distracting ur mind n engaging in multi tasking all the time, ur training ur brain to distract itself n not have focus.

there is a video on youtube regarding distraction in youtube search bar type:
mark freeman ocd distraction

i dont distract myself consciously. earlier i listened to self help videos while working. now i dont do it. also at times distraction is okay. its like ur meditating n there's a fire in the house n u smell smoke u wouldnt want to be indifferent towards the smoke

i think meditation means being okay with ur thoughts. so when i close my eyes i visualize a hammock on which i'm lying with beach ahead, a few trees around me, a partner by my side, n birds chirping above n flying in circles

unwanted thoughts do come as: you'll never get that, you dont have enough money, you got no friends, life is short n your wasting it in such meditation, go get out n get success, look at ur friends n see how successful they are, go watch a movie, how many friends do u have on watsapp...etc etc

i let the thoughts come n go. i dont act on them, rather just let them pass. they're like sweat. the more u do physical exercise the more u'll sweat n u have to sweat more so u become stronger...similarly the more u relax ur mind the more u'll have thoughts of anxiety n stuff n it's okay...just take a good shower after that

but i also dont meditate all the time. i read books n hope to be a writer. that should take me to the successful place where i want to be. so let the distractive thoughts come, they're like sweat n even that's needed.

 

Been meditating for around four years. The practice is quite simple. Sit still and focus on your breath. If you feel your mind wandering gently bring it back to your breath. Rinse and repeat.

The difficult part is making time for it. There are two main ways. Block off a certain amount of time and do that amount of time everyday. Or block a certain sitting time and sit at that time everyday.

What I do now is not record the time but sit in the morning and before bed. I don't record the time but I sit until my body and mind want to keep sitting. If there is any urge to get up I stay sat down. This won't be good for anyone with major time commitments and deadlines though.

It's important to start small. If you are just beginning aim only for ten minutes a day. Do that for about a month and then build up slowly. Try fifteen minutes a day for the next month, or twenty.

Its important to be consistent with sitting for at-least some time every single day. Build up the length of sittings over time as your body and mind get used to it.

 

I found this pretty helpful:

 

Meditation is the key

 

My mind wanders so badly that I don't even realize it's wandering and I completely forget that I had intended to meditate. I find that guided meditations help me to rein in my mind when it starts wandering by providing me with a guide. I also find that body scanning works better for me than breath. Ymmv.

 

I highly recommend Vipassana meditation.. do a google search and check out the website!

I did a 10 day silent retreat that teaches and trains you to meditate like a champ. They have locations everywhere according to the website... I was on a waiting list for a month and half but was worth the wait.

It's 100 percent donation based so it doesn't matter what your financial situations is.

Also its secular, it does mention Buddhist principles but it doesnt matter if you have another faith or belief system it can totally be incorporated and expressed within vipassana meditation.

Fyi im not affiliated or repping them , im just saying I dug it big time

 

Yeah. I have attended about 4 retreats in Thailand and the UK. I presume you are talking about the Goenka courses. They are run very professionally.

For Vipassana, they are probably the world leaders in bringing well-run retreats to people. Perfect starting point.

I must try to get back to another course. I haven't practiced properly in 5 years.

It is the perfect code for living a clean life, in my opinion.

The site is www.dhamma.org

 

Here is an intro