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Meditation

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2004 Nov. - 2005 Jan.: Health Center (ARCHIVES): Meditation users admin

Author Message
Butterfly2
Member

01-03-2004

Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 5:56 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Can anyone recommend a CD for guided meditation? I've heard the Dr. Weil tape and didn't like it.

Karuuna
Member

08-31-2000

Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 6:50 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Buttefly, what specifically are you looking for? There are all kinds of varieties of meditation.

Calamity
Member

10-18-2001

Thursday, August 19, 2004 - 1:08 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Butterfly2: I recently picked up a guided meditation CD but have only previewed it so I don't know how good it is. Didn't realize until after I opened the package that headphones are required (for the Delta (?) waves to be effective). I will let you know how it is - once I get around to trying it, that is!

I'm interested in meditation for numerous reasons - improving my concentration, stress release, making a stronger mind-body connection. But my past practice attempts have all been abysmal failures. My mind simply refuses to quiet down, I get distracted, and then give up. I have had a little better luck when combining my meditative exercises with yoga.

I would also like to try some lucid dreaming techniques since I've always had some natural ability for it.

Autumn
Member

10-29-2003

Thursday, August 19, 2004 - 8:12 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Butterfly, there are also guided meditation websites that are quite good (learning meditation has some good ones), and some sites that allow you to listen to a segments from a meditation cd - which is helpful before you buy.

Hope that helps you.

Karuuna
Member

08-31-2000

Thursday, August 19, 2004 - 8:25 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Personally, I find the guided meditations more difficult in learning to quiet my mind. They seem to only provoke more thinking for me.

I've meditated for nearly 20 years now, and am fairly successful in reaching a deep meditative state with a few breaths and holding it for 15-20 minutes. I've learned mostly by focusing solely on my breath, and counting the pace of the inhales, holds and exhales. When I start to think, I change the count to force me to refocus on breath. Don't know if it would work for others, but it finally quieted my stubborn mind. :-)

Autumn
Member

10-29-2003

Thursday, August 19, 2004 - 8:32 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Karuuna, I think it depends on the person and if you're learning/beginning ~ for example those who aren't visual find it easier to settle in and focus with a guided meditation especially until they build it up. For others it actually does help quiet and focus the mind and enables them to relax.

We're all unique of course and by exploring and trying we find what works for us. (and I know what you mean by a stubborn mind.)

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Friday, August 20, 2004 - 6:49 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
What's the difference between, say, deep meditation, guided imagery, etc. -- and hypnotization? Some years ago I needed to "be in another place" than where I was for a while. I imagined myself to be in the center of a rose with the soft, velvet petals wrapped around me. It was dark, quiet, peaceful. I truly was not concious of my surroundings. I was nowhere. And yet, when I wanted to "come to", I could. Someone more in the know about all this said I probably had hypnotized myself. What do you think?

Butterfly2
Member

01-03-2004

Monday, August 23, 2004 - 9:03 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Karuuna, I'm thinking primarily for stress release. During a stressful workday it would be nice to be able to dial down on a 15-20 minute break during the workday or after work so I can concentrate on non-work things I need to do at home. At work I wouldn't always have a truly quiet place to be, which is part of the reason I was thinking a CD might be a good option. I also thought that the CD might keep my mind from wandering back to whatever it is that is stressing me out!

Calamity
Member

10-18-2001

Monday, August 23, 2004 - 1:43 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Colordeagua: I don't know if the terminology is exactly right, but a person can "hypnotize" herself so perhaps that is what you did. It sounds like a technique that hospital patients are sometimes taught to help manage stress, pain, etc.

Btw, I looked at my CD and it supposedly uses Theta waves, not Delta. Just wanted to correct that from my post above.

Autumn
Member

10-29-2003

Monday, August 23, 2004 - 3:44 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Butterfly, does it have to be a guided meditation then? Just it sounds like maybe you'd enjoy a soothing cd with just music, or sounds of the ocean or whatever you are able to relax to. (for ex. as Calamity posted some enjoy Theta waves while others cannot relax to that/go deeper, and others enjoy sounds of nature and so on.)

Butterfly2
Member

01-03-2004

Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - 7:01 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
good idea Autumn, maybe a soothing cd combined with slow deep breaths would do the trick.

For those of you who do meditate, do you do it on a (somewhat) regular schedule or just when you feel like you need to?

Karuuna
Member

08-31-2000

Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - 7:24 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Butterfly, you might try this link, I buy a lot of stuff from this catalog. As I said, I like the breathing meditations, but the Kornfield beginning meditations are good also.

http://store.yahoo.com/soundstruestore/meditation---prayer.html

Also, you can try here to check out some brief online guided meditations free of charge...
http://www.beliefnet.com/index/index_207.html


I meditate at least once a day for 15 minutes, and often twice. A regular schedule of practicing when you don't need it, makes it work much better when you do. :-) I also have a 7-breath meditation that I do when I'm feeling stressed or very upset, and by the time I'm done with the 7th breath, I'm considerably calmer.


Calamity
Member

10-18-2001

Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - 1:39 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks for the help, Autumn and Karunna.

Oh I really enjoy recorded nature sounds too. And I've considered using them to enhance mindfulness during meditation but that'll probably take a mental adjustment since in the past I've primarily used them as background noise. It seems to me, and perhaps I'm wrong here, that to be useful in meditation the sounds should be a focal point not background noise. But as someone with an active imagination, I'm not sure if making the experience even more vivid would be helpful. I have difficulty keeping my mind from wandering (not due to boredom but thoughts) as it is.

When I was a kid, it was either my mom or dad who had an Environments LP. That was the genesis of my pure nature sounds collection. I have about three dozen titles, most on CD but several on lowly cassette (naturally a couple of my favorites). I don't think I'd have made it through my freshman year of college, living in a quad dorm room, without my headphones and the peaceful lapping of waves against a boat filtering out the noise while I was studying. It was also during college that I become so dependent on a fan's white noise that I only just recently have been able to fall sleep without one playing in the background, lol.

I do better with breathwork and so-called "moving meditation" (yoga). So I'm thinking of visiting a labyrinth - there was a newsmagazine article about one in the area just two or three months ago. But I still think I could really benefit from the serenity and stillness of quiet meditation.

Autumn
Member

10-29-2003

Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - 3:08 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I tend to do more of a 'walking meditation' - there is just something about being outdoors that settles me. Its a great time for prayer, reflection, and just 'being.'

Calamity, let me know if you visit a labyrinth. I've been looking into them myself. Have you checked them out online? (there are some beautiful ones - and some that 'travel.')

Butterfly, my friend sent me a site called Zen that helps with your "breathing" - though you have to get through all the beginning stuff first. (like it says: let's concentrate, and then this fly buzzes around and if you click the fly he says: What? A measly fly broke your concentration?! lmao! But that is what takes you into the next screen which is the doorway to the candle/breathing exercise).

We can post links in here right? I don't want to cross any boundaries in case its against the rules or something.

Calamity
Member

10-18-2001

Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - 11:25 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Yes Autumn, you may post links. I guess if you have any concerns about whether a certain site would be considered off limits you could post a question about it in the Moderator thread.

That Zen place sounds intriguing btw!

I'll let you know about the labyrinth; I have explored a few online resources but didn't know there were "traveling" ones.

Autumn
Member

10-29-2003

Friday, September 10, 2004 - 9:54 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Sorry for being so late with these, I hope they work:

http://www.do-not-zzz.com/ -- this is the one I mentioned above ~ there are different levels you go through till you get to the flame/learn to breathe.

http://www.learningmeditation.com/ -- scroll down to the "Meditation Room" - click that and a screen should pop up with a list of various guided meditations.

http://www.canyonranch.com/spa_experience/main.asp -- some more meditations. (very calming)

http://www.brainsync.com/titles/meditate.asp -- this should open to a page of meditation cds, you can listen to samples of most of them.

Hope these help.

Calamity
Member

10-18-2001

Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 1:27 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks, Autumn! I'll take a look at those sites when I get the time.

I just received a 4-VHS & 1-CD meditation set on closeout. Got it really, really cheap (think it was more than 80% off) since DVD is dominating the market now and I guess they just wanted to get rid of their tape inventory.

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Sunday, November 07, 2004 - 11:40 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
What's the difference between a meditative (deep?) state and being hypnotized. Some years ago I had to "remove" myself from where I was -- mentally. I did. Two knowledgeable people on the subject recently said I hypnotized myself!! I really wasn't mentally where I was physically.

So what is the difference between a meditative state and a hypnotic state?