Meditation - how do you do it

[BayandBlonde]

I'm not sure if chat is the correct place for this. MNHQ please move if so

So after about 12 months of shit in my life (cheating ex, horse being sick, work just pants and it being winter)

I'm now alone with just my animals and I would love to spend some of my spare time just chilling / meditating.

But I actually have no idea where to start.

Please can you share your techniques and meditating environment

I see lots on crystals (mentioned on here and on other social media) do they work, how do you apply them?

i am definitely not a yoga or meditation pro, but i like watching meditation with adriene on youtube. i sit on the floor, prop my phone up and follow her instructions

I recommend this book

It has a CD on the back with 8 meditations of 10 min (one of them is only 3min).
It’s what got me into meditation.

Do you have a Kadampa centre near you? They have meditation classes.
HTH

I have crystals and i do feel the benefits of them. If you’re interested I would have a research and find what you feel drawn to. They do require some up keep in the form of cleansing though, as they can become stagnant. Good starter crystals and all rounders are; amethyst, rose quartz, clear quartz and citrine.

For meditation it’s one of those things where you’ll find a practice that you just love. I am quite good now at going into a Medititive state with no tools. But I found guided meditation to be useful when I started and I also do use the Calm app, which has meditations on. It’s free to download so you can download to see it the mediation’s on there would be your thing, and then if you choose you can pay. Although it’s great for the relaxing sounds and music on there, so once your familiar it’s great for that

Also my biggest tip is don’t aim for a long period of time to begin with. I’d start off with say 1 minute, 3ninutes, 5minutes then 10 and beyond. It can be quite daunting and I did start with 10mins and was unable to do it. It’s not meant to be overwhelming. And I find focusing on the breath is the best way to start as a beginner and then introduce mantras etc.

I also do EFT and affirmations. If you’ve had a stressful time and maybe confidence knocked with your ex, it maybe worth you researching them.

EFT - look at brad Yates in YouTube and Nick Ortner.
Affirmations - Louise Hay and a general google.

@BF888

Thank you. One of my concerns was my short attention span, but starting off short makes sense. I've seen the calm app, I will take a look.

Yoga isn't for me, I really do hate it. I love to sleep, but thats just not possible during the normal course of the day but learning how to meditate, even if it's just for 5 mins, sounds perfect

Search for guided meditations on youtube. (I like The Honest Guys stuff) and the Smiling Mind app is good and free.

Try Headspace - a beginners free block of sessions. It really helped me.

I can't recommend the 'Waking Up' app from Sam Harris enough

Thank you for your comments.

I've come down with a stinking cold, so I have a good reason to laze around tomorrow looking at these suggestions