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Philosophy/religion

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Does anyone have a daily meditation practice? Would anyone like one but needs motivation?

887 replies

mangolassi · 18/11/2008 07:15

Ooh, I feel all shy

I am agnostic and generally confused about spiritual things, but after recovering from a bout of pnd found a great book - The Mindful Way Through Depression. It has a programme of daily meditation, and I've tried in the past, but it's soooo hard to stick to with no support.

The meditation style in the book is 'western insight' - basically vipassana with the Buddhism taken out - but it would be great to have a thread for anyone trying to get started with daily practice, whatever kind of meditation appeals. Even better if there's anyone who actually has a daily practice already

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katiek123 · 16/03/2009 08:24

pinkfluffy - LOL re your DH's attitude to a buddha in the garden - mine would have the same reaction!!!
girls - i would LOVE to join you in the programme, despite - like rev - not having the book at home (er - which one is it again?) - thanks for the bodyscan details mango - eating mindfully is something i never do, kids or no kids present, so that is my focus as far as the routine activity is concerned i reckon!
as for BfM recommendation - it was ...drumroll... LOUIE, i'm pretty sure! hurrah for louie. er, unless i'm wrong . well, hurrah for her anyway
okay - am ready to go! xxx

mangolassi · 16/03/2009 08:28

Congratulations on the move to your own house ! Definitely possible to meditate and pack - focus on what you're packing right now, and every time your mind wanders to unpacking next week/ the next room/ why your dh has kept that nasty golf trophy in the wardrobe for the last 15 years/ what you're going to have for dinner, gently bring your mind back to the one thing you're packing at the moment.

And I'll take a look at that website later, too - maybe something for dd when she's a bit older -thanks

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mangolassi · 16/03/2009 08:31

Great, there's loads of us! Managed my one trip on bike mindfully this morning, so not a bad start. Have time booked with dp for the body scan later on, too.

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peanutbrittle · 16/03/2009 08:36

yep...I'm on for today, am quite excited about it actually - had a tough weekend (self-inflicted, too much booze) and so plan to do a sort of detox in line with it (well, no alcohol at least)

katie - the book we are using is this one it comes with a cd which I haven't listened to yet but plan to start tonight

my mindful activities are going to be washing my hands, washing the dishes and brushing my teeth.

mindful eating will be hard for me as I am a wolfer, but I will try

some of the FWBO centres in south london offer the 8 week course eg at croydon if it were offered on a different evening I would do this...I think they do them at bethnal green too...

here's to our joint venture everyone!

LouieStrumpet · 16/03/2009 09:37

Thanks for the drumroll katie - I needed something to cheer me up after dying my hair 'auburn' yesterday and now according to my colleague I look like Anne of Green Gables! Nice. Oh yes, and don't forget dh who said to me this morning that he still loves me even though it looks like my head is on fire

Anyway I tried to have a mindful shower this morning - it was just incredible how fast my thoughts were zinging around but it worked in some ways. I will also try mindfully eating my lunch as I am at work and meals + children as someone has already pointed out, do not always equal mindful eating.

I tried the body scan last night and was amazed at what I found, namely that I store a lot of tension in my shoulders and neck. I think I should work on relaxing them a bit!

katiek123 · 16/03/2009 21:52

louie - anyone who looks like anne of green gables is my hero(ine) - i always loved anne! i once dyed my hair canary yellow by mistake and DH's comments were much less kindly than those of that nice affable husband of yours, i can tell you

okay - mindful eating score PATHETIC am afraid. i found myself eating muesli standing up while making a lunchbox for DD and hurrying DS along with putting his socks on etc - hardly the buddhist ideal. at lunch i tried to eat my toastie a bit more mindfully, and did manage a peaceful interlude outside at the garden table with a nuthatch nibbling on peanuts nearby in the glorious sunshine... but it only lasted 3 minutes as i was ravenous after my cycle home from yoga. for tea i ate lasagne while looking over DH's shoulder at light fittings on the PC after a late homecoming from PTA meeting. NUL POINTS, in short, and an illustration of why i need to be more mindful generally and particularly with regards to food (i consider food as fuel, and find food prep/eating quite tedious - apart from good dark chocolate naturally )

will start again from tomorrow. thanks for the book link peanut i will order it and try to get more serious about this - i need it!

back soon xxx

peanutbrittle · 16/03/2009 23:18

no mindful eating for me either katie

I did do the bodyscan for the first time, and LOVED it. each part of my body got all tingly as I focussed on it. It was weird, but in a very pleasant way. I think it helped the enormous tension I generally have in my upper back and neck a bit too. DD1 came down at the start though so I had to promise to go up to her in bed when I was finished so it wasn't totally uninterrupted.

Was actually v good timing for me to start on this today. I was feeling quite low today and ranted and raved at the kids/DH this evening like I haven't done in ages. I could feel the spiral getting itself ready to spin out again, But instead of wallowing/worrying I read chapter 3 again and did the bodyscan and feel much better.

Katie I woud recommend getting the book - I listened to the cd for the first time tonight and I think the guidance really helps. His voice is quite nice too...

off to bed now...hope everyone is well

mangolassi · 17/03/2009 09:50

Ah, I'm jealous of your body scan experience, peanut. I keep thinking I should love it, but actually I don't - if I close my eyes I instantly start dropping off to sleep, but with eyes open can't concentrate. I spent most of yesterday's thinking about pain in my upper back, but when actually supposed to be focusing on my upper back the ache moved to my left hand instead. And very difficult to keep still, too.

Maybe tonight I'll try it sitting up with my eyes closed, that might work better for me. And I'm trying not to get too caught up in how it should be and accept how it is...

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peanutbrittle · 17/03/2009 10:04

hah mangolassi - i did actually drop off to sleep at the very end though...and I did it this morning but there was no tingling, just a lot of wishing I were still asleep...it is hard not to fall asleep when you are knackered, which i seem perpetually to be...I do find the conscious letting go of teh muscles quite lovely though, and one thing that helps me focus on the body parts is to imagine each one being enveloped in a little sort of aura of warm light, say taking the toes, it wraps itself around the big toe first, then around the next one, and the next...like a little extendible pod...the tingling sort of goes along with that...helps me stay awake too to have a visual thing going on too...does that make any sense?

LouieStrumpet · 17/03/2009 10:30

Morning all.

I managed to do the bodyscan last night and got in some yoga as well with some interesting results. The body scan was great - in fact I feel like you peanut, quite warm and tingly. But while I was doing the yoga I was feeling quite peaceful and then I just had a surge of really strong negative emotion. It took me by surprise but I managed to not go down with it and to get back on course.

I had a good think about it afterward though, and fortunately I had read a bit in the Mindful Way Through Depression that talked about what was happening. I think that for such a long time, more than a decade really, I have relied upon this negative emotion to help me cope. I know that sounds counter-intuitive but the pessimistic, numbing and self-flagellating (if that doesn't sound too rude!) attitude have been my companion over some rough areas of my life and I am finding them hard to give up. Even typing that sounds weird, I know I should be dropping these things like I have just found a huge hairy spider in my hand (shudder), but these coping mechanisms have wrapped so tightly around me I think my subconscious believes them to be part of me, and the new path I am venturing on is completely the opposite in terms of feeling, perceiving and thinking.

Today I feel a bit out of sorts, but I will persist, I know that this new path will lead to the chance for peace and happinness - soemthing I can honestly say I haven't felt since my childhood.

Hope everyone's practice goes well today...

katiek123 · 17/03/2009 11:43

hi girls - just quickly checking in to say i have ordered the book so will try to catch up with you once i've done some of the necessary reading! doing poorly with the old mindful eating again today - this is really making me realise how little attention i pay to my meals and how little importance i attach to food beyond refuelling - oh well, i guess awareness is the first step to change. must try the bodyscan later today - will have time this evening x

colette · 17/03/2009 15:38

Pinkfluffyslippers
Thanks for your suggestion , I will listen to the extracts. It looks like the sort of thing I am looking for. x

peanutbrittle · 18/03/2009 09:05

having a bit of a bad time - couldn't face going to work today, first time I've allowed myself to do this for ages. I have received the questionnaire from the pscychotherapy unit and trying to fill it in made me feel all peculiar. Can't imagine what the process itself will be like [terrified emoticon] will try to regroup for a while this morning and then tackle it, I need to get it finished and sent or it will continue to play on my mind and bring me down.

Hoping to go to FWBO meeting tonight, tho' DH has been talking about doing cinema so might just do some mediation/body scan here myself now that I am going to be home today...

hope you are all ok

mangolassi · 18/03/2009 09:25

Interesting ideas, peanut, I'll try that tonight. Yesterday it was far too hot to sit cross-legged (luckily thunderstorm broke last night), so I ended up lying down again, right in front of a fan. My overall feeling was still one of discomfort, I'm starting to wonder where those feelings come from.

Katie, my mindful driving isn't going too well either! I keep remembering at the end of a journey. Still, it's all part of the practice isn't it?

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mangolassi · 18/03/2009 09:27

Sorry you're having a hard time peanut. You've got the day off, you obviously need it, so don't feel guilty about it. Try to use the time to relax instead. Be brave about the questionnaire!

Have to go now, but thinking of you x

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peanutbrittle · 18/03/2009 10:27

thanks for the kind words ML, they help

just had a nice package in the post so going to enjoy the feeling that engendered for a while, and then tackle the questionnaire. Have cleaned the kitchen this morning which was long overdue so at least i have a clean and pleasant place to sit while raking over details of my past...it's so not what the mindful book would recommend but it has to be done...

peanutbrittle · 18/03/2009 12:41

questionnaire finished and safely sealed in envelope waiting to be posted...phew! feeling better already...

justaboutback · 18/03/2009 17:03

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justaboutback · 18/03/2009 17:06

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mangolassi · 19/03/2009 06:16

Good job, peanut

I have very similar thoughts about my negative feelings, rev/ louie - for me I tend to have an automatic response that negative feelings are 'real' -this is how I really am, this is how my life really is - in a way that positive and neutral thoughts aren't.

Since starting to meditate a bit, I'm starting to notice the automatic thoughts as they arise - a classic one for me is to think 'I hate myself' - and instead of going down a path of why I hate myself, all the things I hate, I can stop and think, well that's a weird thought. What made that pop into my head?

V sorry to hear about your worries, rev. Hope you can get some reassuring news soon.

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LouieStrumpet · 19/03/2009 10:47

Well done from me too, peanut

rev, sorry to hear about all you are going through - I hope that solutions/better times are coming soon for you.

It is interesting, and relieving, to hear that others also have negative feeling during or after meditating. I have been really down in the dumps the past couple of days and I associate it with the negative feelings I felt while doing the yoga. Yesterday though I sat outside in the sun and read the book for a while and it talked about just sitting with your feelings instead of trying to fight against them. In fact it mentioned a poem (sorry to all those who have read the book)that was written by someone called Rumi in the 13th century:

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meaness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guesst honourably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark though, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

This poem is a bit of an inspiration for me now, and today I am feeling quite a lot beeter.

LouieStrumpet · 19/03/2009 10:48

Sorry that should be dark though in the poem not dark though...

justaboutback · 19/03/2009 10:54

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MayorNaze · 19/03/2009 10:58

hi chaps

have missed this thread for a bit - will catch up in a mo but wanted to share something (and gain some spiritual brownie points )

a lot is going in with me and my family at the moment in several areas - the other night instead of eating chocolate/drinking wine/stropping etc i lit a joss stick and just held it in my hand and concentrated on my breathing.

it was great and calmed me so much.

then i realised how dry my mouth and nose were from inhaling the incense and the moment was lost somewhat, but the principle was good...

hope you are all well here

LouieStrumpet · 19/03/2009 11:00

dark THOUGHT, for goodness sake!

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