Oct
3 Meditation Tricks to Help Keep You Present
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Meditation, for me, is time dedicated to being present and aware of my oneness with God/Spirit/Consciousness. About 15% of the time I am able to drop into this zone and just buzz along. I come out of there in another world and everything hums along. The other 85% of the time I struggle with letting go of my plans, dreams, arguments, and task lists. This morning I was in the 85% category.
I usually have a few tricks to sink into a meditative state. First, I focus on my breath. This is the simplest thing I can do to reel my attention in. As I breathe in, I feel the air in my nostrils, down the airways, filling my lungs. As I breathe out, I feel my lungs relax and the air is pressed out my nose. I just watch it for sometime until it evaporates and I fall like a leaf in a soft place. My mind is clear and I am in IT.
When focusing on my breath does not work, I think an affirmation. I repeat the affirmation like a mantra. If my mind is really noisy, I say it out loud. I slow the pace of the affirmation and lower the volume from speaking, to a whisper, to a thought. As the pace and volume of the affirmation slows and lowers, so to does my mind. Eventually, the words are not thought, just felt. Soon after, I find myself in a meditative state, present, and at one with all.
Another technique I use to still my mind is to watch my thoughts. I imagine that I am lying on the ground looking up at them like clouds passing by. In the beginning I find myself sticking with a particular cloud as it passes. When I notice that I am drifting with a particular cloud, I remind myself to continue to watch the clouds pass by. After sometime I close my eyes in my imagination so that I can’t see the clouds passing. Soon after, I fall into the meditation.
Do you have any special ways to still your mind during prayer, meditation or throughout the day? I’d love to hear about them in the comments.
October 18th, 2006 at 9:10 pm
Your three suggestions have worked for me. Another technique that I use is to take deep breaths and at the same time focus on how my body feels. This is particularly helpful if I ‘m feeling some distracting emotion like being irritated, annoyed, hurt, or otherwise upset. I try to take my mind off the event that triggered the emotion and instead focus on how my body is reacting. With that kind of attention, the energy starts to dissipate by itself and I’m calmly progress towards meditation.
This technique is useful at any time that I want to calm myself.
October 19th, 2006 at 5:03 pm
Chris, great tip! I tried it today as frustration was rising at work and it completely dissipated. I’m adding that one to the list for meditation.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your ideas,
Nneka
March 11th, 2007 at 3:15 am
[...] My contribution this week is a post on enhancing your meditation practice: 3 Meditation Tricks to Help Keep You Present. [...]
July 5th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Hi,
To quieten or still the mind, either of these technique are effective: a. Visualise a jumping monkey, give him bananas and be amazed at how calm he could be.
b. Take-in a deep breath, with the out-going one, say I’m CALM… calm.., calm… bingo !
may the Blessings be !