Meditation and finding yourself....

[longlegzs80]

I gotta ask, has meditation ever brought someone to figuring out themselves? Has meditation and hearing your inner voice if you have one given you direction in your life. Just wondering if I should consider. I want to know the good, bad and the ugly experiences of meditation. Thank you.

[Tony T]

Meditation is great for relaxation and clearing the mind. I don't think it will help you "figure yourself out" but you might get some excellent insights from time to time.

 

I recommend you attend some meditation classes, many of which are given free to the public at various community centers and non-denominational religious institutions. The Unity Church, Buddhist Centers and other places regularly offer meditation classes.

 

There are many types of meditation. You can Google the subject, see for yourself, and find what may be best for you. There are entire sections of meditation tapes and books in the major bookstores.

 

Meditation, like anything else, can only do as much as the person practicing will allow. Gandhi, for instance, was able to free India from British rule by meditating all day, one day a week for a very long time. (Well, that was his major thing, anyway.) Not one gun was fired. Perhaps that's a noble goal and you shouldn't set yours quite that far but just hope that your life will come together in ways you never dreamed...and don't be in a rush.

 

There's lots of time to discover yourself...many people go through their entire lives having no idea they have a self to learn about. You're already ahead of the game.

 

Good luck!

[boshemia]

I guess it depends on your idea of what meditation really is. I pray, and sometimes I do receive answers. There is something else I have just learned to do, something my counselor explained to me, but it didn't really work they way it was supposed to. I have a really cluttered mind, and if I try to focus it on one thing it only lasts a few seconds before something else takes over.

 

So I started writing it... sine I am more comfortable writing than speaking it works for me. If you can control your mind better than I can, then do it however it works.

 

Anyways... It's a take off of the re-parenting exercises. It's talking to yourself as a seperate person. He taught me to imagine sitting down with a child (teen, adult etc.) version of myself. Then there is a two way conversation going on, me as the person with the problem, and me as the person who is listening and responding.

 

Yeah, I know it sounded kind of nutty to me too. It works though, a lot of my memories from childhood have "changed", and I've figured out a lot about myself looking from the outside in so to speak. I'm learning to change things that other people have said that hurt me, to change beliefs about myself, and the world around me.

 

Maybe that's why I have a hard time doing it in my head, somehow writing it down makes it easier for me to accept, because I write thing that aren't real every day... and writing those things isn't crazy, just creative.

 

So yeah... if you think it's crazy, then this post is fictional. Just so you know.

[Trialbyfire]

I do yoga but have difficulty doing the meditation portion. It's the immaturity in me that makes me giggle when they do the vocalization.

 

Keep in mind that I'm kind of twitchy. I rarely sit completely still. If I'm in front of a computer like now, I'm usually multi-tasking, surfing multiple forums or working and surfing. I also tend to chat with friends while I'm doing this.

 

What works for me is to drive somewhere that I know well, somewhere special to me that's calm and peaceful, in front of a river or ocean. The best time is around sunrise.

 

One of my special places is beside this river. It's on an Indian Reserve and was once a burial ground so there's something very spiritual about the place. I sit and watch the herons, ospreys, kingfishers and the wide, wide river. It gives me a sense of peace and makes me understand how little my problems are, compared to the natural beauty around me. I will be gone but the hills across the river will still be there. It's a form of refocusing and natural meditation.