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xarismax
5 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 13 2008 : 3:09:20 PM
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Greetings everyone, i am new to yoga, and i will like to ask the following questions :
1) When i meditate i dont know where i should focus my mind.
Should i focus on my breath , on the mantra , or try to not focus at all ?
2) When i meditate on morning i always fail (i feel like i am not even meditating) should i meditate with an empty stomach ? or after i eat ?
i also noticed that i have better performance on the whole day if i dont meditate at morning , but replace morning meditation with listening to music (which is a guided meditation music).
so should i do normal meditation at morning ? and if yes , how will i make it successful ? |
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riptiz
United Kingdom
741 Posts |
Posted - Mar 13 2008 : 5:38:39 PM
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Hi Xarismax,
Welcome.
1) You should gently focus on the mantra but not to the point that you force it to remain in your mind.One gently repeats the mantra and when you realise that you have stopped repeating it, you gently return to the mantra again.Nothing forced.
2) You should meditate on an empty stomach as the energy flows through an empty vessel easier much like an empty pipe.
Yes, you should meditate in the morning if possible but if one needs to get up so early that they fall to sleep and not meditate then it is counter productive and one should wait a little longer.
L&L
Dave |
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yogibear
409 Posts |
Posted - Mar 13 2008 : 7:16:45 PM
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Hi xarismax,
Welcome to the forum.
In addition to Dave's advice, you can have a glass of water and a shower before your morning meditation and see if that helps.
Also, AYP standard practice is twice per day but once is better than nothing. For the best results, 2x.
Best, yb. |
Edited by - yogibear on Mar 13 2008 7:25:17 PM |
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xarismax
5 Posts |
Posted - Mar 14 2008 : 01:09:36 AM
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thanks a lot ,
i believe this will help me a lot. |
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Sparkle
Ireland
1457 Posts |
Posted - Mar 14 2008 : 08:51:23 AM
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Hi xarismax
Welcome to the forum
Another addition: If you do some light asanas or stretching before meditation it can help, even 5 minutes is great.
It can waken up the spine, which not only improves meditation but also frees the energy for your day. |
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xarismax
5 Posts |
Posted - Mar 14 2008 : 3:20:31 PM
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Thanks for your suggestions,
can you name some light asanas or stretching so i can find more information on google ? |
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jillatay
USA
206 Posts |
Posted - Mar 14 2008 : 6:26:41 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by xarismax
Greetings everyone, i am new to yoga, and i will like to ask the following questions :
1) When i meditate i dont know where i should focus my mind.
Should i focus on my breath , on the mantra , or try to not focus at all ?
Hi xarismax,
Have you read the main lessons at http://www.aypsite.org ? I highly recommend the deep meditation instructions in the first few lessons. It will clearly define the technique as used here at AYP. It is also highly recommended you do only the one technique and not mix it up with other disciplines to begin with until you get the feel for what is going on. It is like a controlled experiment. That way if things get wild you know what to self pace on. This is powerful stuff, I can attest.
Best wishes on you journey,
Jill |
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Sparkle
Ireland
1457 Posts |
Posted - Mar 14 2008 : 6:44:07 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by xarismax
Thanks for your suggestions,
can you name some light asanas or stretching so i can find more information on google ?
You could read Yogani's excellent book titled Asanas Mudras and Bandhas. In the meantime you could look at doing the Sun salutation http://www.santosha.com/asanas/suryanamaskar.html
This is an excellent general all round routine.
There are other's here also who could guide you better than I. |
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xarismax
5 Posts |
Posted - Mar 15 2008 : 5:29:33 PM
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thanks , the asanas and all your replies , helped me a lot .
Now i have more questions :
1) What is the recommended amount of light in the room ?
Should i light the room as much as i can ?
or try to create a dark atmosphere without using light and closing curtains so the sun rays dont come inside the room ?
2) What is the recommended speed of mantra ?
Of course , you will say as fast as it is comfortable but :
If i start with spamming the mantra for 4 seconds it becomes comfortable and it mantra can continue repeating itself alone. This way i can create an artificial fast mantra like 5-6 repeats of it every second .
On the other side i can also try using a slow mantra that after 4 seconds will become also comfortable. Like repeating it every 2 seconds .
So how do you start your mantra ? which will determine the speed of it .
You repeat it only 1 time and let the mind decide alone the speed ?
or start spamming it in your mind and choose another custom speed (that will be comfortable also).
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Richard
United Kingdom
857 Posts |
Posted - Mar 16 2008 : 1:10:39 PM
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HI Xarismax welcome
If you read the main lessons Here Slowly and carefully most of your questions will be answered also I can thoroughly recommend Yoganis little blue book "Deep Meditation" get it if you can its invaluable for beginners and experienced people alike. I will try to answer some of your questions.
quote:
1) What is the recommended amount of light in the room ?
Should i light the room as much as i can ?
or try to create a dark atmosphere without using light and closing curtains so the sun rays dont come inside the room ?
There is no recommendation for this, whatever is the most comfortable for you is the right way to go, You will find in time you will be able to meditate anywhere in any conditions. Having said that I think most people find it easier in the beginning to meditate in dimmed light.
quote:
2) What is the recommended speed of mantra ?
Of course , you will say as fast as it is comfortable but :
If i start with spamming the mantra for 4 seconds it becomes comfortable and it mantra can continue repeating itself alone. This way i can create an artificial fast mantra like 5-6 repeats of it every second .
On the other side i can also try using a slow mantra that after 4 seconds will become also comfortable. Like repeating it every 2 seconds .
So how do you start your mantra ? which will determine the speed of it .
You repeat it only 1 time and let the mind decide alone the speed ?
or start spamming it in your mind and choose another custom speed (that will be comfortable also).
The mind will find lots of ways to try and make meditation complicated in fact the simplest way is always the best we don't try to control the mantra in any way just repeat it in your mind and it will find its own speed and clarity.
Here is a quote from "Deep Meditation"
quote:
We think the mantra in a repetition very easily
inside. The speed of repetition may vary, and we do
not mind it. We do not intone the mantra out loud.
We do not deliberately locate the mantra in any
particular part of the body. Whenever we realize we
are not thinking the mantra inside anymore, we come
back to it easily. This may happen many times in a
sitting, or only once or twice. It doesn’t matter. We
follow this procedure of easily coming back to the
mantra when we realize we are off it for the
predetermined time of our meditation session. That’s
it. Very simple.
Hope this helps.
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Edited by - Richard on Mar 16 2008 1:29:39 PM |
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NagoyaSea
424 Posts |
Posted - Mar 16 2008 : 2:01:53 PM
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Hi Xarismax and welcome to the forum.
Please do go through the AYP lessons. The beginning ones teach a lot about the meditation technique and so much more.
A lot of your practice is personal preference. For example, I prefer to roll out of bed and greet the day with a prayer of thanks for one more day to grow and learn. Then I meditate before any preparation for the day or before any activities that stir my ever-busy mind and let it wander, so the shower comes after my practice. I like meditating before the sun rises, when the world is still dark and silent. And I meditate in silence rather than having any music playing. But these are just my preferences.
You'll find the rhythm that feels right to you and the pattern of practice that feels right for you.
Light and love,
Kathy |
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xarismax
5 Posts |
Posted - Mar 16 2008 : 2:08:53 PM
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Thanks both ,
Your answers are illustrative .
I will follow your advise .
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eputkonen
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - Mar 19 2008 : 4:31:02 PM
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Hello!
I find meditation is easier on an empty stomach...the food pulls blood from the brain to the stomach. If you are really hungry - where it would be a distraction - eat a little light food (a piece of fruit or something) to tide you over.
When you really meditate in the morning, performance is better the rest of the day. I don't know what you are doing that would cause performance to decrease the rest of the day.
Mantra (japa) is a practice...not really meditation as I see it. Meditation is not concentration of the mind - so focusing on things is also not really meditation. I would suggest just taking a few minutes to do absolutely nothing. Cease doing everything and just sit...fully aware, that is aware of as much as you can be aware. Not so much a mental exercise, but kinesthetically (feel it). How much of your body do you feel? Do you feel the action of breathing? What do you hear? What do you smell? Fully aware and curious to see how much you can be aware of.
I had an article published in January called 'Effortless Meditation' - you can visit my site to read it if you want - as it contains this idea and expands upon it quite a bit. http://www.awaken2life.org/art6.html
Namaste,
~ Eric Putkonen
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Edited by - eputkonen on Mar 19 2008 5:44:04 PM |
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Divineis
Canada
420 Posts |
Posted - Mar 20 2008 : 01:40:14 AM
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eputkonen, I have to agree with you, that mantra\breath awareness\focusing on anything isn't really meditation. Though I think focus on anything in the now moment, brings you into subtler and subtler areas of perception until BAM, it hits, "hey, i'm not what I'm watching, I'm the one watching. I'm not the one seeing, I'm the one seeing". It just hits you why all those Zen guys dig the whole paradox thing, it's really the only way to explain it, and it makes perfect sense :) (I call this state of no state meditation).
I think the most important factor no matter what you're focusing on, wether it be nothing or everything or something (haha, I bet I could write and sell a book on this following statement alone).
See how much expectation you can drop to get fully in tune with realisation realising itself. That's all there is to it (it's easier not done than said :) haha... or something like that).
I'm not sure that really makes sense to new meditators, though think of it as... the world happens (one of my profs calls it "thusness"), you're simply sitting in meditation, so it's a pretty safe happening, so just 100% let go, accept everything that comes (over and over again), tune into the now moment.
You'll quickly realise, there's a certain "wave of perception" that deals with time, at the back of the wave is impressions of what has happened, maybe it just happened, maybe it happened a while ago. At the front of the wave, is expectations of what is going to happen. This is all part of it, ride the pinnacle of the wave as best as you can, though the pinnacle includes the front and back, accept that, that's how you refine your experience of riding the pinnacle, get closer and closer to truth.
Trust me, you'll soon know it's all the pinnacle, and then starts the journey of cultivating this knowing into every day life. You'll know what I mean when it doesn't happen :). |
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