Meditation techniques.
Following on from my last post where I talked about some basics you need to do, ideally, before starting a meditation, I'll chat to you now about different ways to meditate.
The very first time I meditated it was using a candle technique I had been shown. I lit a candle, making sure nothing was near to it (in case i fell asleep!) then I made myself comfortable sitting a few feet from it. I kept my eyes open to start with and gazed right at the candle flame, watching it flicker, taking in everything about the flame. After a few minutes I closed my eyes and after some seconds I could see the image of the candle flame in colors around where my third eye is (between the eyebrows). The colors kept changing and I just stayed focussed on this flame as long as it was there. Then I gently opened my eyes.
I recommend this if you have never meditated before, or if you find it difficult to quieten your mind, as it really helps to focus the mind and to keep it still.
I was taught a mantra meditation a few years later by a Yogi. He gave me a mantra (you can use Om for this) and the idea is to get comfortable and close your eyes and then simply repeat this sound over and over again, either out loud or to
yourself. Because you are focussing on one thing, and the sound itself can be quite hypnotic, it again should help you achieve a still mind and a 'meditative state'.
My favorite type of meditation, perhaps because I am a creative and very visual person is guided visualisations. I started by listening to cd's (well, tapes back then!) and then did my own. I found that by using a visualisation such as the ones on this blog, I would get into a deeply relaxed state effortlessly. (This is ideal for then achieving the kind of meditation where your mind is completely still). This would then lead to a feeling of weightlessness in which I was no longer aware of my body. This in turn would lead to my mind becoming blank as if I was in a state of bliss. Time disappears and you feel like you are floating in nothingness...
Another meditation technique is that used in Tibetan meditation where you half close your eyes and simply focus on your breath, in and out slowly through the nose. Fix your gaze on a spot on in front of you and don't let your eyes wander if possible. Feel the breath as it travels in through your nostrils and into your lungs, and then out again. I think I would have found this hard if I hadn't done the other meditation techniques I have mentioned, first. That's because it's all too easy for thoughts to keep coming in!
However having done the other methods for many, many years, I found I went into a VERY deep meditative state with this meditation technique.
I will show you through my videos how to do some of the techniques I have mentioned here, and will add them to this blog over the coming weeks and months, so keep in touch!
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