[Hans_Olo]

Hello, I've been thinking to try meditation, but I know nothing about it or even where to start. Could somebody please refer me to places where I can get some easy to digest information on meditation for beginners.
Thank you in advance!

[Thunder Bow]

Originally Posted by Hans_Olo

Hello, I've been thinking to try meditation, but I know nothing about it or even where to start. Could somebody please refer me to places where I can get some easy to digest information on meditation for beginners.
Thank you in advance!

Sounds True has good beginner meditation CDs you can use.

[yagr]

On this page:

http://forums.psychcentral.com/creat...pprentice.html

you'll find post #7 begins chapter four of a book I wrote. Chapter four has the story's hero beginning his meditation practice under the formal guidance of a meditation master. It was written with the desire to allow the reader to learn how to meditate themselves. Chapter four starts the lessons but chapters six and seven really get into it. Good luck.

[EnglishDave]

Running a Google Search for Basic Meditation brings many results, a few of which I scanned. This one:

Mindfulness: Getting Started - Mindful

seems accessible, easy to follow with the relevant information and has a very good Walk Through of a Breathing Meditation, a starting point for any beginner.

I would look around your area of the Ukraine for Meditation Classes. I am a firm believer that guidance at the beginning leads to good Practice and less frustration.

Dave.

[Gus1234U]

there is a member group and forum on Mindfulness Meditation, where you can find others to talk to about your experiences, and theirs~

i have been meditating regularly for about 10 yrs, and have benefited greatly from it. sometimes it's hard to see at first, and many give up before they have spent the time necessary to reap the rewards. it's like any change of life-style,, persistance, practice, practice, practice~~~ and persistance

http://forums.psychcentral.com/group...editation.html

There is many different types of meditation. There is Tai Chi, there is TM, there is ponderance (Selah) Dwell on this, there is emptying oneself (hard to do), there is thoughts of positive affirmation, there is logical reasoning. The list is endless. Google it, research it and go from there...tc and blessings

[Hans_Olo]

Thank you very much for your suggestions. Unfortunately, I can't hire a guide in real life, so I'll look into Mindfulness: Getting Started - Mindful
Any other advice for the starters?

I do yoga and a bit of tai chi at home. I don't remember all the positions I was shown so I admit I make up some of my own - it's the thought and intent that matters. I control my breathing during and between each position focusing my thoughts on particular parts of my body. In the end, I lay on my back continuing to focus on my breathing and a 'theme' (like the colour red, a forest, or running water).

[yagr]

Originally Posted by Hans_Olo

Thank you very much for your suggestions.
Any other advice for the starters?

I might, but it would be helpful if I could get a bit more information in order to personalize the suggestions. Could you elaborate on your motivation for beginning meditation? Health, spiritual, mental? As has been suggested here, there are many different types of meditation and different motivations are best served by different forms.

When I met my wife (thirty years ago) I was studying for the monastery and so, my motivation was probably different than yours - and so the type of meditation I did might not fit your needs. Since then I have practiced many different types and forms and find that while each shares certain benefits, each also has specific benefits.

Regardless of which form of meditation you choose in the end, one thing that I think is very important for beginning meditater to realize is that there is no such thing as a bad meditation session. The act of trying is beneficial, even if the results do not meet your expectations.

[Hans_Olo]

Originally Posted by yagr

I might, but it would be helpful if I could get a bit more information in order to personalize the suggestions. Could you elaborate on your motivation for beginning meditation? Health, spiritual, mental? As has been suggested here, there are many different types of meditation and different motivations are best served by different forms.

When I met my wife (thirty years ago) I was studying for the monastery and so, my motivation was probably different than yours - and so the type of meditation I did might not fit your needs. Since then I have practiced many different types and forms and find that while each shares certain benefits, each also has specific benefits.

Regardless of which form of meditation you choose in the end, one thing that I think is very important for beginning meditater to realize is that there is no such thing as a bad meditation session. The act of trying is beneficial, even if the results do not meet your expectations.

My motivation for trying meditation is mostly to help my mental health. Would it work if I'm not spiritual or I'm just wsting everybody's time?

[Lazarus16]

Originally Posted by Hans_Olo

My motivation for trying meditation is mostly to help my mental health. Would it work if I'm not spiritual or I'm just wsting everybody's time?

I second, I'm an agnostic (I believe something created the universe but I don't pray or go to the church or believe in a specific god). If I tried to learn meditation, would that work or I'd just be wasting everybody's time?

I have the hardest time trying to find the right kind of meditation for me, there are so many! Yoga and Tai Chi, interest me the most. It must be because I always liked martial arts. I'm a big fan of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagall, Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris. What interest me in yoga is I have very little flexibility, because of it, I have trouble doing deaflifts at the gym, bent over rows, lots of exercises and I heard yoga was very good for improving flexibility, along with my daily stretching.

I'm very intellectual, I'm an enginner and live a life of celibacy in harmony with myself and the world. Each day I try to help others and make our world a better world. I don't medidate though and I feel a void, I feel I'm missing something, I always try to improve myself be it physically or mentally and I believe I could improve myself A LOT by medidating but don't know what type of meditation to choose.

Thanks in advance for your wise words!

[yagr]

Originally Posted by Hans_Olo

My motivation for trying meditation is mostly to help my mental health. Would it work if I'm not spiritual or I'm just wsting everybody's time?

First, you are most definitely not wasting your, or anyone else's time. You might remember that link I offered in my first post (it was offered with no expectation - np if you didn't open it). In it you would have found that the subject opened like this:

“What do you know about meditation?” he asked suddenly.
I had heard of it before but little else. I knew that at least some monks meditated but that's about all. “Not much,” I admitted.
“Good!” Daniel exclaimed, “then you won't have to unlearn a bunch of bad habits and preconceived notions. Most people have certain serious misconceptions about meditation. For instance, some believe that mediation is some arcane religious practice, but it is not. People from all religions and backgrounds meditate; in fact, even many atheists and agnostics meditate.

Hopefully, that will make you feel a little more confident going forward without the spiritual angle. There's been many hundreds of studies showing the positive effects of meditation on mental health. One recent one was done by Harvard researchers through Mass General Hospital in which the findings were so significant that the study head, Dr. Sara Lazar issued a press release explaining that the author's found that meditating for only 8 weeks actually significantly changed the brain’s grey matter — a major part of the central nervous system that is associated with processing information, as well as providing nutrients and energy to neurons. This is why, the authors believe, that meditation has shown evidence in improving memory, empathy, sense of self, and stress relief.

I believe that one of the best forms of meditation is what is called breathing meditation or anapanasati. The second term is Pali, and I'm just offering it in the event you wish to do a search on it. The nice thing about this meditation is that you always have your breath to focus on. Anyway - real simple - just pay attention to the breath. No special breathing techniques, breath normally and pay attention to it. You attention will wander. When it does, bring your attention back to the breath. If it wanders one hundred times, bring it back one hundred times. There's no points for your attention wandering only once versus one hundred times btw, the points come from sticking to it and bringing your attention back every time you notice it has wandered.

[yagr]

Originally Posted by Lazarus16

I second, I'm an agnostic (I believe something created the universe but I don't pray or go to the church or believe in a specific god). If I tried to learn meditation, would that work or I'd just be wasting everybody's time?

Hi Lazarus! Everything I said to Hans Olo above is for you too. I, btw, am Buddhist - and an atheist. I don't pray or go to church either.

Originally Posted by Lazarus16

I have the hardest time trying to find the right kind of meditation for me, there are so many! Yoga and Tai Chi, interest me the most. It must be because I always liked martial arts. I'm a big fan of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagall, Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris.

If you missed my response to Hans Olo in post #3 of this thread where I gave him a link to a story I wrote, you might find it of particular interest. I have been an instructor in Kung Fu San Soo and am a practitioner of many different styles including Jeet Kune Do (created by Bruce Lee). The story I linked takes place in a dojo where the hero of our story is taught meditation as a condition of his martial arts lessons.

Originally Posted by Lazarus16

What interest me in yoga is I have very little flexibility, because of it, I have trouble doing deaflifts at the gym, bent over rows, lots of exercises and I heard yoga was very good for improving flexibility, along with my daily stretching.

I've come down with a very debilitating auto-immune disease and yoga keeps me moving.

Originally Posted by Lazarus16

I'm very intellectual, I'm an enginner and live a life of celibacy in harmony with myself and the world. Each day I try to help others and make our world a better world. I don't medidate though and I feel a void, I feel I'm missing something, I always try to improve myself be it physically or mentally and I believe I could improve myself A LOT by medidating but don't know what type of meditation to choose.

I've degree's in mathematics and physics and am a member of Mensa. I'm also married which means that I too lead a life of celibacy... We have a bit in common. I'd suggest that you try the meditation that I suggested for Hans above and you are always welcome to PM if you have ongoing questions.

[Lazarus16]

Originally Posted by yagr

Hi Lazarus! Everything I said to Hans Olo above is for you too. I, btw, am Buddhist - and an atheist. I don't pray or go to church either.


If you missed my response to Hans Olo in post #3 of this thread where I gave him a link to a story I wrote, you might find it of particular interest. I have been an instructor in Kung Fu San Soo and am a practitioner of many different styles including Jeet Kune Do (created by Bruce Lee). The story I linked takes place in a dojo where the hero of our story is taught meditation as a condition of his martial arts lessons.


I've come down with a very debilitating auto-immune disease and yoga keeps me moving.


I've degree's in mathematics and physics and am a member of Mensa. I'm also married which means that I too lead a life of celibacy... We have a bit in common. I'd suggest that you try the meditation that I suggested for Hans above and you are always welcome to PM if you have ongoing questions.

Hi Yagr! Your forum name reminds me of a certain NHL legend!

I see! Then that makes two of us. lol

I'll go check it out, I'm sure I'll find it of interest!

Sorry to hear about your very debilitating auto-immune disease. Glad to hear yoga is able to keep you moving!

All right, I'll check all of those, thanks for the replies and take care!

[yagr]

Originally Posted by Lazarus16

Hi Yagr! Your forum name reminds me of a certain NHL legend!

Amazing how the list of interests grows... I was a member of the US Jr. Olympic hockey team many, many moons ago. As team captain I was privileged to play a one period exhibition of one on one with another NHL legend - Bobby Orr. That might be going back too many years for you to remember but he was one of the greats and my personal hero at the time.

[Lazarus16]

Originally Posted by yagr

Amazing how the list of interests grows... I was a member of the US Jr. Olympic hockey team many, many moons ago. As team captain I was privileged to play a one period exhibition of one on one with another NHL legend - Bobby Orr. That might be going back too many years for you to remember but he was one of the greats and my personal hero at the time.

You were captain of the US Jr. Olympic hockey team?? That's AMAZING!!

I'll be honest, I don't know Bobby Orr much apart from his name and that he was yes, another NHL legend, like Jagr but I only heard good things about him. It must have been incredible to play one on one against him.

[EnglishDave]

I strongly endorse what Yagr says about Meditation being a Secular practice which has been proven to have both mental and physical benefits.

I would also recommend Breathing Meditation as a simple, yet powerful, starting point for anyone interested. I have utilised the simplicity of Breathing Meditation regularly over the years, and have even stripped back my practice to just this for weeks when my mind is so sick I lose the ability to attain my Goal.

I am a Christian with unconventional beliefs, who follows Buddhist Philosophy. I find no conflict between my Religion, Philosophy and Meditative practice.

Dave.

[hawkeye123]

YOu can check outlistings of Buddhist sanghas in the Vietnamese zen tradition of THich Nhat Hahn. THey have groups worldwide and have some online sanghas, or groups. It has helped me immensely! Also, there are vipassana meditation groups, Shambala Tibetan Buddhist groups, hindu, yoga groups. I would start with simple breathing meditation of mindfulness meditation. Even youtube has some free videos on this type of thing.

Guided meditation is where to start. The Deepak Chopra stuff is where I started. Its difficult to do, but you just have to keep trying and eventually it will work. You may advance quickly or you may take awhile to get there. But it is really worth it. My husband suffered from anxiety his entire life. So I created my own meditation video, which he was able to benefit from immediately.

At the end of the 18 minute video he was totally relaxed and reluctant to open his eyes. Deepak Chopra's tapes are great. Eventually you will be able to quiet your mind to the point where you have no thoughts. It's your mind that is the receptor of painful thoughts. When you quiet the mind, your heart and soul are your receptors. Healing occurs when you are in heart and soul. There are many great meditation videos online, on YouTube, I would put my on there, but the images I've used have copyrights, which means I can only use them for personal use, otherwise I would share. If you focus on your breathing, it pushes your mind to the background. Again, it gets easier with time, so don't fight yourself to get there. You need to let it happen.

Regardless of method, mediation I believe has much to do with intent. As I mentioned above, I would not concentrate so much on whether what you are physically doing is right.

[barbella]

Hi Hans Olo,
I think things will be just fine even if you are not spiritual. If you have access to a public library system, you could look for the materials by Jon Kabat Zinn on mindfulness base stress reduction (MBSR) - a set of CDs and a book call 'Full Catastrophe Living'. I think the program or something similar may be found online (if not by Kabat Zinn, then by someone else - it is available all over the world).