Hi Logan,
Is there any meditation centre around where you live, of any kind? Where you could go and learn to meditate, have somebody to guide you.. and do it together with others in a group, which can be motivating…
Don’t know if that is an option.. Where i live, unfortunately, there is no such thing, i would love to, cause it could be so helpful.

Me too for a long time i struggled with ‘how to meditate’, and i was trying it but probably not in the best way. I’m not saying that i’m great at it now.
But what helped me a lot, was to do a meditation course. In my case it was a Vipassana course, 10 days of only meditating. After 2 courses i’ve started to grasp a little bit what to do, and i found it more helpful to experience it rather than just reading from a book or listening to a tape. Of course there are many other meditation courses, perhaps that could help to get started with it to do something like that.

Good luck with your meditation, it can be a long process but i feel it’s definitely worth it, my life is so much better thanks to it.(when i do it consistently, that is 😉 )

Dear Anita,

Thank you. Your description of meditation has been very helpful to me the past few days. I’m dealing with a problem and I can’t stop thinking about it. I’ve thought it through so thoroughly from every possible angle, and I keep doing it again and again. It’s exhausting. I’ve needed a way out, a one-step instruction on how to get out. Your words “..move your attention from thinking to sensing” are really helping me. I was driving yesterday and instead of rehashing through my endless negative thoughts, I recalled your words. So I rolled down the windows and felt the warm air and sun on my skin. I noticed the white clouds in the blue sky. I smelled the air and listened to the car engine and tires rolling on the concrete. For about 20 seconds I was using only my senses and had no thoughts. I had zero thoughts for about 20 seconds!! I’ve read so much — everything Eckhart Tolle has written and so many of the others too. I know all about the ego and the “pain-body”. So your words are something I’ve read before and have known for a long time. But I’ve gotten so caught up in all the extra information that I don’t need. When it really comes down to it, all a person needs to escape his or her suffering is a simple one-step instruction like the one you’ve posted: move your attention from thinking to sensing. I know I have a lot of work to do to get from 20 seconds of freedom to, say, a whole minute (lol), but darn-it I’m motivated! I believe it’s really the only way to end suffering.

Thank you, Anita!

Lori

Meditation is about relaxation and bringing yourself to the present moment. Most people have the image of a monk sitting cross legged quietly meditating. This is only one form. Start small by just taking 10 slow deep breathes. [You could also look into walking meditation]

Remember the mind is always running so just go with the flow. Some days you can focus on your breathing, other days that catchy tune on the radio, so long as you don’t focus on your thoughts you’re fine. [Example, you randomly think ‘what do I feel like for dinner’ let it pass instead of listing food you have in the fridge] I’ve been doing various meditation forms on and off since I was a kid, best to start small, and be celebrate the fact you could go 5 seconds or 5 minutes.

Yes, Llama Jack, I think it’s a fine analogy. In my case, in addition to the shops with the wonderful dress and 40 flavors of ice cream, there are shops that encourage me to re-think the past and anticipate the future. Those 2 shops are the hardest for me to stay out of.

Yes, anita, very well said. Thank you. I do believe there’s a difference between critical thinking (where we learn from the past to make better choices in the future) and repetitive, circular thinking (where we constantly second-guess ourselves, replay our failures and the failures of others, worry about tomorrow, etc.). So, yes, maybe throughout the day it’s ok to take a peek inside those two shops (as, like you say, we shouldn’t and can’t always avoid them), browse a bit perhaps, but not to stay too long? And when it’s hard getting out, moving from our thoughts to our senses will help. During meditation, however, in my case I have found that I need to do my best to avoid those two shops altogether.