Meditation

[kckbxblnd]

Hey
I realize that meditation is indeed a personal thing between the meditator and the higher entity--or whatever they may or may not be meditating too. I was wondering about the basics of meditation, the origin, techniques, purposes, and either benefits or negative points... Any type of insight would really help
<3
KickBoxBlonde

[Hardball]

Get a library card and go to the library or use google. A lot of meditation incorporates breathing exercises, posture, environment, music, and a quiet mind. There are also tapes that will guide you through meditation.

[Muay Siam]

I was wondering about the basics of meditation, the origin, techniques, purposes, and either benefits or negative points... Any type of insight would really help
<3
KickBoxBlonde

Basics :
breathing...deeply in and out at the same interval, keep it rythmic and constant, do not stress it, relax. concentrate on a specific location on your body, there are many spots you can focus on, but for me i concentrate on the top of my head. try picture a spinning circle, clockwise, on the spot. or try imagine a white light coming down through the top of your head, down the spine.
Purposes for meditation varies, for concentration, charging power, intellectual improvement, relaxation, rejuvanation, healing, recreation, enlightment, and the list goes on...
negative points, there are NONE!...unless if you train in advanced, there are a few no-nos...but not much damage, just insomnia(not tired but all heated up) and in some cases of mixing advanced energy techniques will cause your body fucntions to collapse, from over load.
origins? unknown, my guess would be some where within asia.

[npk9]

meditation is a state of mind that you try to achieve - not something that deals with a higher enitity - thens when people of religion start to get confused and worry that it impedes there relationship with "god"

[HtTKar]

I dont know alot about meditation. But I have used it to develop proper breathing. Most people breath very shallow which is not good at all. Basically there are 3 types of breathing during meditation; positive, negative, and neutral. By focusing on breathing properly, your body will learn to breath properly on its own, even during stress.

A normal breath for a person should completely fill their lungs, and then the lungs should empty completely. A full breath. With neutral breathing you inhale for 7 seconds and exhale for 7 seconds. This is how your body acts naturally. Watch how a person breaths when sleeping. That is the natural way to breath. Breathing neutral will calm you down without changing your heartrate much.

Positive breathing and negative breathing should not be done until you have a lot of experience controlling yourself. People have died from positive breathing. I read somewhere that people have spontaniously combusted from positive breathing. Positive breathing is 2 seconds inhaling, 2 second exhale. When you first do try this, have someone with experience around. Most people pass out from hyperventalation at first so be careful.

Negative breathing is used to slow your heartrate down, and again should not be practiced until you have experience. Negative is 14 second inhales and 14 second exhales.

Thats about all I know.

[bbbb]

I used to hate this one...but it work's.

It's simply a counting meditation.

When you breathe in you say "and"...

when you exhale you say 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10 and back to 1.

If you can count to 10 and get back to 1 without losing count you are doing well. I find I'm relaxed by about "and"...the first one..

It work's: but I thought it was boring...but then I thought ,"I suppose it doesn't have to be that interesting..hey..I'm boring...

Meditation just clear's your mind and allow's you to think about what's more important..or even not to "think" at all/ too much. (Whatever.)

"You wil notice that when you get to the end of the inhale ..that you don't have to immediately exhale...I want you to enjoy that moment for a moment and then breathe out when you feel like it."

>this is when it start's to work for you...Meditation isn't HARD.

[bbbb]

I(syndrome)

.. learnt this from Perth meditation Centre.
The bloke there said that he didn't like people to be forced to hold their breath. He didn't teach it that way.

So I suppose some people are taught to forcibly hold their breath.

I would be careful of this approach. Just relax and let it be natural.

Shallow-Deep-whatever...just feel the breath/or watch it...it may take a little practise but then you will start to relax and realise it's nothing really than learning to slow down and take control back when feeling stressed out man!!

[DarknessZ28]

My mom has this meditation tape that I just recently started trying. I've tried meditation in the past and read thats its good to focus on breathing, imagine this incredible place and relax. But I've always found it difficult to concentrate on walking myself through it and actually concentrating on the feeling of being relaxed and all at the same time. I found that the tape really helps, I just have to sit back and go along with it. I've felt the most at peace with this, feels almost like you're in a protective shell but not trapped, just disconnected from things around you in reality. When its over I feel rested and like I've been asleep for hours but(and I havent checked) I think its only 20-25 minutes long.
I suggest trying that, I am till my body gets use to the 'feeling' so I can just do it on my own. Can't tell if I'm benefitting from it so far though, only been trying this for a 2 days now

Anyone else have experience with tapes like this? Did they work in the long run? The first time I listened to it I was scared because I thought it was going to hypnotize me into doing something I didn't want to lol

[bbbb]

2 more cent's:

All the Buddhist reading's on the internet talk about "Those who pay attention shall not die".

At my Kung Fu they tell us(or maybe just me?!) all about our feeling's and to feel them..that they're not bad...etc

Meditation just seem's to be a way of strengthening attention span.

..and pay attention to what you, yourself, are doing so you can become a better person.


"For our action's are our only true posession's....."

If Kung Fu teaches respons-a-bility: Then meditation aid's that cause, IMHO.

[Innocence]

I can share a bit about buddhist meditation

The aim is to clear all thoughts from your mind, and to do this, it's suggested that you concentrate on 1 thing (your breathing). So just sit down and make yourself comfortable (lotus or half lotus), close your eyes (or leave them semi open looking at a spot 2m infront of you), breathe. While you're sitting there, just be mindful of your breaths, whether it is a long breath, a deep breath or a short or shallow one. Just keep thinking about your breathing.

You'll find all these other thoughts coming into your mind...you'll think about what happened at school/work today, your friends, your computer games etc, but drag your concentration back to your breathing.

Oh, and keep your back straight, and have a jacket or cloth to cover your legs.

[zhorner]

well...here we go.

their are two basic types of meditation that i know of...

eastern, which is considered bad by most practicing christians, is just like innocence said...you clear your mind of all thought. this comes from the hindu religion. when your mind is perfectly clear...it is supposed to be the closest thing to reaching "nirvana", or "moksha" without death. it is said when done right you will get a "religious high" it is a lot harder than you think have absolutely no thought in mind...

and the other type i have no idea where it comes from...you basically sit and relax and instead of thinking about nothing....you fill your mind with only what makes you happy. if a fatso really loves cake...then they will just think about cake...and no i did not make this up.

p.s. christians dont like eastern meditation because they feel when you have nothing in your mind...evil can easily enter...and this is why christianity is full stupid.

[HtTKar]

eastern, which is considered bad by most practicing christians...
p.s. christians dont like eastern meditation because they feel when you have nothing in your mind...evil can easily enter...and this is why christianity is full stupid.

Where do you get these ideas from? What an idiot

[zhorner]

Where do you get these ideas from? What an idiot

my religion teacher 2 semesters ago....DR. doug baker has probably forgotten more about religion than you know...you pathetic little ring-worm.

yes...i did say...dr.

and he is a practicing christian just to let you know, so he wasnt just making something up to bash them.

you more than likely fall in to the category of christians that most do...you have no clue as to the history of your religion and only understand a small portion of its beliefs...outside of jesus.

how dare you question my intelligence.

[eXcessiveForce]

I'll question your intelligence, but he's right about many sects of christianity not endorsing eastern meditation.

It comes from a section in the bible regarding demons. I have long since forgotten what book or verse.

Mostly they have problems with Transcendental Meditation.

[zhorner]

I'll question your intelligence

how did you question my intelligence without asking a question?

and then you went on to back up what i was saying...come on eX you are above this.