How Has Meditation Changed Your Life And How Do You Go About It?

There was a time in my life over thirty years ago when I didn't meditate, and knew nothing about the health benefits associated with meditation. Being a late starter in meditation I now realise I missed out in life by not learning to meditate much earlier. So I guess as most of us reading this thread will be fairly familiar with meditation and it's benefits on mind body and soul, this would be a good chance for us to describe how meditation has helped us in our lives.

 

Sitting in position is also hard for me because i get really really sore. It really just calms me down and helps me relax. I've had some interesting visions and conversation while meditating, but I may have fallen asleep and dreamed them all too. I'll go with "visions" though, because I was mediating at the time. But meditate to a cycle of runic inscriptions and they differ pending my mood or what I'm set to accomplish. In a way, all I'm really doing is letting go of my mind so that my higher folk are quite open to it. Sharing my knowledge or thoughts I guess. I think it's important especially for me to be able to let it all go, have someone else digest it.

 

i learned meditation as a young hollywood punk rocker who had done too much acid - i used meditation to heal and remove myself from the streets - i learned i could heal myself - then i jumped back into the muck, and healed myself over and over, probably committing ten times the amount of mistakes as the average person due to my feeling of invincibility

it wasn't until i reached near age fifty and it hurt to sit for more than ten minutes that i started making substantive life changes - as for how meditation has changed me, after 35 years of meditation i am a meditated person and i wouldn't know what life was like without it

but on a daily basis it does center me and clarify my mind, and during that time i often remember important things that i need to do, which the normal noise of the mind obscures

as for mystical shit - i have had some - it's all like being a tourist though - hey - look at the beautiful waterfal - that's pretty, okay let's move on

nowdays i like about ten minutes of silent meditation and ten minutes of chanting - i like to mix the flow of pleasing syllables with my basic dull halfwit mind

 

Meditation taught me the practical application of mind which is creative thinking as distinct from reactive or associative concerns or musings. It taught me there is no fear or hardship of being in the presence of a quiescent mind and that we can in fact cultivate a consistently open appreciation of life in complete safety as the presence of life itself turns out to be a responsible and caring guide. At this point I can't make the distinction between meditation and ambient consistent attention but I do experience a profoundly dynamic relationship with nature. Walking in the earth feels like being held in loving arms and I find myself constantly flirting with joy.

I do not have many relations with the usual abstractions that most consider necessary chores in life. I don't have enough credentials to cash a check. I see many people needlessly concerned but none the less fully impassioned with the belief that is just the way life is. Reality itself vibrating to the point of luminosity is in a constant state of assured becoming but this is only recognized by those who are bold enough with their own time to observe the world without making or giving credence to prejudicial demands on their own participation in life.

I learned from quiet observation that nothing in this world is needed or required but that we call upon ourselves our own evocative measures in a search for satisfaction. To be essentially dissatisfied is not a requirement of nature but to find harmony in it requires giving up our discordant refrains or demands upon it. Hungry but know not what for. How do you know how much or what to eat? What is your daily minimum requirement. What are your potentials and genuine effects? Many unanswered questions about what, where and who we are, the answers to which may significantly alter our calculations going forward about what constitutes meaningful engagement with life.

Turns out we are by and large delusional and suffer greatly from the hangover of institutionalized ignorance. Fortunately however delusion can be dispelled and is not a prevailing requirement of consciousness. What prevails upon the conscious is the note of familiarity. As a cultural paradigm we are taught disparity and to apply variable rates of interest. Problem is the cultural paradigm becomes the default filter for the way we perceive and therefore react to and act towards the world. It creates a kind of suggestive hypnotic state that you can't pinch yourself awake from but it can be shown to be unworthy of our continued integrity to it. The ecological fact of life is that it is of one symbiotic family of consistently friendly elements.

In regards to meditation being an activity that we use to find temporary relief for one thing or another I find a candy bar just as effective. The only meaningful change is fundamental. The only thing that dispels slumber is actually waking up.

accept no substitutes or happy dreams...

 

The reason I became interested in meditation was to use it as a means to calm my mind from the everyday stresses in life, mainly in the work I was doing at the time. After reading a few basic steps in a book on meditation, and following the mindfulness breathing technique and OM mantra I became familiar with how to achieve a meditative relaxed state of mind.
All my meditation sessions at the time were in a sitting position and it wasn't long before I became aware of the fleeting visions one gets during meditation. After a 40 minute session during each evening after work, it wasn't long before I began to experience a feeling of euphoria after regaining full consciousness, providing I had experienced visions during the meditation.

Later on as I became more experienced I decided to meditate during the early morning before going to work instead of during the evenings. That's when I discovered a new way of meditating, so instead of sitting upright in a chair I would position myself in a reclining office chair instead, with my feet and legs stretched out in front of me in horizontal fashion. I rested my feet on another office chair seat positioned directly in front of me. The method I used then and still do to this day, is to cross my legs and put my hands behind my head thus supporting my head and then the back of my hands are resting on a small cushion positioned over the chair headrest. Quite by accident by meditating this way over a period of time I eventually became aware of a euphoric energy flow rising from my solar plexus up towards my head. I experienced many different visions during this meditation with some looking like short video clips of natural scenery racing past me as if I was looking at it from a moving train. I have seen a pair of very distinct eyes looking directly at me on more than one occasion to, within the darkness of the area in front of my closed eyelids.

The room I meditate in is dark and I keep it at a reasonably warm temperature. Afterwards after regaining full consciousness, I always have a light snack such as a cake and drink some water which I find helps me to get my mind back into a waking state. I'm always very spaced out after my meditation sessions which last for around 40 minutes.
During my meditation I keep all thoughts away from my mind, so I'm aiming for a completely blank mind with no thoughts at all. I don't use a mantra or mindfulness breathing technique now because I can put myself into the required state without needing to do this. Just one other point I forgot to mention, during my meditation I always feel the need to move my hands after some time from behind the back of my head down towards my solar plexus so I place them close to my hips.

So that's how I meditate and it works well for me.

 

Yes, i meditate all of the time......
learned how from my mom.

 

Thanks for posting, I would be interested to know what meditation technique you use and how meditation has helped you in life if you would be happy to talk about it ?

I think discussing our very own personal experiences can be quite helpful to those who are new to meditation, or who haven't tried it before and might be tempted to give it a go.

 

well, come watch me.....lol

In all seriousness, there are no rules for it...it is being quiet and still for a long time, and getting in tune with your most deepest inner self and all energies around you......and floating with what is good and true and trying to fix what is wrong within yourself......and being in harmony with nature and all that is around.....If something tries to interfere, it is just leaving for awhile and returning later.
It helps keep me grounded and true to myself.

 

I think I should also mention that the meditation described in my previous post is the technique that I only use first thing in the morning. I can just as easily slip into a meditative state quite simply by sitting in a chair, and as soon as I close my eyes I'm gone. I also meditate while listening to music to, I prefer mainly listening to rock, heavy metal or drum and bass

Perhaps the most important thing I have learnt about meditation is the way you can use it for body self healing purposes, simply by focusing all of your concentration on the area of your body where you have the problem. This is usually but not always associated with a pain, which is the way in which your body is telling you that there is something wrong with you, either somewhere in that area or somewhere else that the pain is connected with. Say for instance I have a slight pain somewhere in my stomach area, I can go into the meditative state and lightly press the fingers of one hand over the area where the pain is and focus all my concentration in this one area. As I do this I usually become aware of a slight pulsation at the end of my finger tips, which of course is the pulse from my heart beat. Usually it doesn't take that long while I'm concentrating in the area of pain, for the pain to gradually subside away and completely disappear. I have done this on numerous occasions and it hasn't failed me once yet. So there it is you see you can even become a self healer during meditation, and all you need is a little faith in yourself.

Just a word of caution though, a little common sense should be exercised here because you may have a serious health issue associated with the pain. So I would see a doctor if the pain is really that bad in the first place, you never can be too careful with your health.

It has taken me a long time to learn what I know now about meditation, so if you're a beginner you will have to be patient to gain results. Regular practice is essential at becoming good at meditation, I would recommend short regular sessions at no more than 30 minutes each day while you are learning at least.

 

Perhaps I'm wrong but I read the first post mainly as question reg

and read the responses about meditation techniques.... Just a surprise cause I wouldn't have thought to answer the question that way. Not judging about if the answer was proper or not - just a surprise cz I wouldn't have thought to answer it that way. But might be the topic title which asks for - which I have to confess that my English isn't well enough to interpret it that way :blush5:

Beside my surprise the q how it helped? hmmmm.... more in a way to come back to this very moment, come back to what I sense in a situation and the awareness to not be washed away by emotions which arise - in some situations quite heavily and quickly - like a trigger. To some sense one could say that it helps me to stay centered but still getting touched by the outside.

 

I meditate. Sometimes for an hour...sometimes just a few minutes of deep breathing and picturing golden light is enough. I have been walking in the woods before and felt I was mediating on my walk.