# MEDITATION METHODS

This page is nothing special. All these ideas are generally available. They have no relationship with panoramic sensing or empathy with animals.

Parent Page : Creative Dozing

Our culture is rich in exercises on mindfulness and meditation.

This is a brief general summary of various approaches.

a) willpower and concentration
b) devotional methods
c) a routine
d) any mixture of any of these.

Willpower and Concentration
Some meditations develop willpower, discipline and concentration, by focusing in a single pointed often detached way on something specific. Some people may need to or want to follow this way, to develop an ability to concentrate.

Focusing and concentrating on a beautific image, a new lover, anything awesome, is natural and far easier than focusing on something without emotional or spiritual meaning.

## Devotional Methods

There are many beautiful devotional practices. For example : breathing in the great spirit, or letting it breathe me, and giving myself to it on the out breath.

If you use a form of prayer or mantra, this will pacify the thoughts. Devotional methods can be combined with most forms of inner-body awareness.

I leave it to each individuals own beliefs and creativity.

## A Routine

A routine may start with relaxing the breathing, move on through a series of awareness exercises or visualisations, and end with a prayer. This gives us a sequence, something slow but interesting to do. It is often used in led meditations.

If you already have an habitual routine and it is an effective method to calm your thoughts and relax your body and mind, then there is no need to change.

## A Flexible Routine

I have a number of different exercises which i use flexibly. Meditation develops and changes each time i do it. I find the element of creativity (instead of a fixed routine) keeps me interested.

I only do any meditation exercise if it is interesting or enjoyable, because if anything is fun – we want to repeat it, it's self generating, self-perpetuating.

My first and central idea is always meditate experimentally to avoid closed-mindedness. But, different people have different needs, some chaotic people need discipline and regular routines.

My basic meditation is the whole-breath-body, filling up and emptying out, expanding and contracting.

## Counting with Breaths

Conventional meditation methods often use the breath as a counting measure.

A very useful Buddhist meditation idea with breathing is 'being conscious and letting go'. There are various ways to combine the breathing with 'being conscious and letting go'. The simplest is "conscious i breathe in, letting go i breathe out".

Use the breathing as a counting measure, and focus on a sequence in the body. One breath at each focal point gives us a slow rhythm with enough movement to hold our attention. It's practical, it's something slow and peaceful to do.

Go through your whole body, step by step: feet, knees, hips; shoulders, elbows, hands; bowels, stomach (diaphragm), chest; neck, face, head; at each step thinking "conscious of my feet i breath in, letting go of my feet i breathe out; conscious of my knees... " etc.

Don't worry if your breathing becomes unsteady as you let it go. This is just your lower brain allowing your body to adjust to what it needs and wants, instead of being controlled by your routine habits.

Then come back to the whole breath-body, filling up and emptying out, expanding and contracting.

I often start a meditation by counting through my fingers. Conscious of and letting go of each finger – from the little fingers to the thumbs – both sides at the same time – then i count through my toes. If i can't actually feel the second and middle toe, i imagine them, i know they're there, so i count them anyway.

## Imagination

The enjoyment of any meditation or awareness exercise depends on if you are in pain in any way; or even if you are emotionally blocked with tension anywhere. 'Being conscious and letting go' can be focused on any pain or body stiffness as a healing technique. Actually trying to breathe into the area is an inner massage.

Use your imagination in any way you can imagine to heal stiffness or pain.

More Body Breathing Exercises develops all these ideas.

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