Few people can go into meditation and https://www.julianalucky.com/ at the snap of their fingers. Therefore, most meditations begin with auxiliary “crutches”. For example, counting the number of exhalations, scanning the body, staring at the palm – this is not yet meditation, but attunement to it. It is needed in order to reach the state of meditation, when the mind is no longer distracted.
Over time, you will be able to enter meditation without a long setup.
When the state of meditation is reached (this is called Dhyana in Sanskrit), it is time to decide what to do next.
Yoga outdoors. Woman meditating in lotus position zen gesturing. Concept of healthy lifestyle and relaxation
Meditations come with different goals and objects of meditation.
If you want to regain strength and develop awareness, look towards simple objects that do not spend attention on their maintenance, such as breathing.
The original technique of holding an object on the breath is called Anapanasati, and this is the technique that Siddhartha Gautama Shakyamuni is said to have used before he became a Buddha. This is a Buddhist meditation with strict observance of the stages and techniques, which is characteristic of Buddhism as a whole.
Breathing is the most versatile object of meditation because it happens automatically. At the same time, beginners have difficulties with this technique: it is not so easy to capture its shades in different parts of the body and at the same time not affect its natural course.
Although in its pure form Anapanasati of 16 stages is practiced mainly by monks, the first four are quite accessible to everyone and give a steady concentration.
My teacher briefly about the practice of Anapanasati.
If you want to experience pleasant emotions or ease fear, look towards mantras – specially designed sequences of sounds. This meditation is called Japa.
For example, the mantra AUM, consists only of the basic sounds A, U and M, from which all the others are obtained with the help of the language in the same way that all colors can be obtained by mixing red, green and blue. The master puts logic into the sound and rhythm, so you should use the original sound without translation into Russian or English.
In Japa meditation, the object is the mantra, its sound and meaning. The meditative state is achieved by monotonous repetition, and the weakening of fear comes from switching attention to the mantra and thinking about the meaning of the mantra, in comparison with which fear will seem like a mere trifle.
Pay attention to the difference between a musical mantra and the rhythmic chanting of the same mantra by a specially trained person. Music is aesthetics, Mantra is a “can opener” for opening the mind (from Sanskrit: Man – mind, Tra – instrument).
If you want to work with beliefs, such meditations should end with visualization. They are especially loved by psychologists and coaches for eliminating “toxic” beliefs: “I can’t do this”, “I’m too old for this”, “you can’t even catch a fish from a pond without difficulty”, etc.
You can eliminate the unnecessary, or you can instill the right: the mind gets used to what is observed in visualization, and it begins to seem quite normal in real life, it simplifies the onset of what was observed.
If you need to find a solution to a complex logical problem, such meditations should end with careful observation of the incoming solutions. Such meditations are suitable for those who think a lot logically and creatively: programmers, designers, architects and others.