Need help with meditation

I've been trying to look online for some kind of guided meditation to help me get started with a meditation practice. My thoughts are very frantic and it's hard for me to slow it down. So to sit down and just observe all of this sometimes makes me a little anxious. There are so many sites about meditation but I'd rather go off of a recommendation from someone. Is there a site that you personally have had success with? I'm looking primarily for videos on guided meditation. Anything informative would help me greatly.

 

I personally don't believe in online guides, gurus, books or even books for learning meditation. I feel the way I do because I tried to teach online for about ten years.

Nobody did what I told them to do and I had no way to check their practice. Only an uncaring teacher gives you techniques with no follow up. So if they give you books, websites, allow you to call them guru from an email, they simply do not care about you.

I do recommend that you get the phone book out and look at yoga centers near you, and Buddhist centers. I also recommend that you take a great array of classes at different groups so you can find one that synchs with you.

The value of having like-minded people doing the same practice is inestimable. At some point in any practice you will run into internal conflict and rough spots. Finding a group of fellow practitioners is not for the start of practice or the end but for the middle where the majority of the intense stuff happens.

That said, there are many types of practice.

The simplest visualization practice is to look for deities that you like, can even be Christian, and learn a mantra and sit straight with eyes closed and picture the deity and chant the mantra. Good to do that for about a half an hour once a day. Anyone can do that with no additional knowledge.

 

I would like to take meditation classes but I can't afford it. That's why I was looking for something or someone to give me advice or recommendations. When I sit down to meditate do I just sit and observe the feelings that come up?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjgHaqJi2WU"]Ajaan Geoffrey DeGraff

 

The essence of simple sitting meditation is to sit straight yet relaxed. If you can't sit lotus, then cross legged, if not that then in a chair. Use some back rest. Do not lay down.

Start off for one small amount of time every day. Take the weekend off. Sit, in the morning preferably, after bathing, brushing teeth, before breakfast. Sit. Don't do nothin. Don't not think. Don't concentrate. Just be. It's nice to get the morning sun against your back - don't face East. There's literally nothing to it.

Have no expectations. No fear. After a few sessions you will notice that at times the mind is more ative and at times it's less active. That's as it should be. Give it a shot.

More thinking, or technique will add just more fluff to your mind. It takes awhile before the routine and sitting itself allows you to relax and open up. But it will.

 

Here's a good way to get started. Start with concentration meditation. Find an object of focus that you can fall in love with and merge with. Ideas below:

A word or phrase. This can be secular or devotional depending on what really turns you on.

The feeling of the breath as it enters and leaves your nostrils

A visualized nature scene like a waterfall

Sensations in your body. In the body scan, you pay attention to feelings in your feet and ankles, calves, knees and work your way up your body. Spend at least a minute on each.

Every time your mind wanders, bring your attention back to your object.

You're aiming for an intimate and deep loving absorption with your object of focus. If you have a favorite childhood nature spot, visualize that. If the breath bores you, try a phrase like Om Namah Shivaya, peaceful calm or "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace," or even a nonsense word.

It can be secular or devotional.

After experimenting with concentration, add mindfulness to it. When thoughts come up, simply observe and take note of these thoughts and emotions. They are happening in the present moment. Become an impartial observer, as these are just processes happening within you. Then, bring your attention back to the object of focus.

I've said in another thread that meditation is the art of falling in love. Find something you can fall in love with and focus on it. Then add the mindfulness element. Mindfulness builds equanimity. When you can be present with experience as it arises, especially thoughts and emotions, without attachment, this leads to peace. Don't worry about shutting down thought. Just make friends with it and observe it.

This is meditation. There are so many techniques out there and that can be confusing. Just remember concentration and mindfulness.

Also make sure to warm up for it if you have the time. Try lovingkindness visualizations, prayer, gratitude, stretching, deep breathing and other things that help create the right mindset before meditation.