Meditation Resources
As a good friend of the Couple I had meditated and done guided relaxations off and on since 9th grade, with varying levels of discipline. I meditated sitting, lying down, walking, sobbing hysterically in the fetal position, guided, unguided, with the Quakers, with my sister, on my own, inside and outside, and for various amounts of time, so don't get the idea that I had some strict notion of the Ideal Sit or Pure Buddhism.
I am still in the same place, many years later. I meditate because I love silence, I seek wisdom, and because it seems to be the only thing that consistently helps me find some peace in the midst of the relentless stream of anxious thoughts running through my head constantly. My disdain for everything woo-woo and New Agey has been tempered by the fact that meditation and mindfulness seem to be basically the only tools that allow me to live with and move through a baseline physiological state of PANIC.
In anticipation of the wedding I was looking forward to sitting each day and maybe reaching a new level of commitment to daily practice. I made a "Nabble" forum for those who wanted to participate with me and discuss their experience. Many people joined me and we had good conversations on the forum.
Now Nabble keeps reminding me the forum is going to be deleted. But one piece of it I would especially not like to lose, and that is the list of meditation resources. So I am re-creating it here and will be updating it to include new ideas and favorites. Please explore and enjoy. I am still finding my way with this, although I am excited that I have reached a new level of discipline, in my own way, with meditation. The baseline now is hopefully 20 minutes a day. The goal for the last several months on Rarotonga has been an hour. Now I am back to Seattle reality so 20 minutes becomes a challenge again. Here you are:
I like the clear and simple Insight Meditation approach: New To Meditation?
Tons of free streaming guided meditations and dharma talks: dharmaseed
The Mindful Way Through Depression is a great book on meditation and mental health. It comes with a CD. Here are the tracks from that CD that I particularly find useful:
Listen to first! 3 minute general intro: Introduction
These three (sitting, 10 min each) work well together:
Mindfulness of the Breath
Mindfulness of the Breath and Body
Mindfulness of Sounds and Thoughts
Great quick one, 4 minutes. Do it on the bus or at work to re-center:
The Breathing Space
A meditation session is also often called a "sit."
But lying down is my favorite way to do a "sit:"
Usually I lay in corpse pose on a mat with a pillow under my knees, a thin pad under my head, and a heavy blanket smooth over most of my body, kind of like this man.
All Yoga Nidra, lying down:
Some elements of Yoga Nidra are setting a personal resolve (e.g. "I choose to live with an open heart."), rotating bodyscan, counting down the breath, crazy-cool visualizations (an endless sea with no shore).
10 minute Yoga Nidra
20 minute Yoga Nidra
30 minute Yoga Nidra
45 minute Yoga Nidra (different "narrator")
I recommend doing the shorter ones a few times before the 45 minute one. It is kind of long and challenging, at least for me. For example you count down your breath from 27 to 1 in 4 different places -- Belly, chest, throat, and nostrils. Enough to really break a mental sweat.
I love Yoga Nidra in general, but here is one to help you sleep:
50 minute Yoga Nidra: Relaxation Technique for Deep Sleep with Relaxing Music and Rain Sounds
I once heard a teacher say that if you fall asleep during meditation, you need to sleep more than you need to meditate. They are different activities, both restorative. Lately, I've been needing sleep more, but I have to help my brain realize that.
20 minute Guided Meditation to Sleep
Finally, for now, if you are feeling more interested in the more "spiritual" side of meditation in context, find any Dharma talk by my new favorite teacher: Kiku Christina Lehnherr
posted by self_invasion | 7:58 PM
1 Comments:
Awesome! I am very new to meditation. I look forward to using these and seeing if they help with my anxiety
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