Meditation exercises for dummies. Meditation Exercises for Dummies Preparation and Time

29.08.2023

Even 15 years ago, meditation was considered a kind of sacred knowledge, available exclusively to Buddhist monks and advanced yoga gurus. But with today's frantic pace of life, an abundance of stress and an overabundance of communication, more and more people are turning to meditative practices to calm the mind and relax the body. Let's try to figure out what meditation is and how accessible it is to the "man in the street"?

In the most general sense, meditation (lat. "meditatio", from "meditor" - I think, ponder) is a mental technique aimed at achieving a state of maximum concentration, in which there are almost no thoughts and feelings. Julia Hemenez, yoga teacher at NYM yoga, defines meditation as contemplation of the inner space, most often achieved by focusing on the breath and bringing relaxation and calming the mind.

There are many different variations of meditation practices, some of which have nothing to do with either yoga or Eastern philosophy. Just like Julia Hemenez says, if you are already doing yoga, it will prepare your body physically, and meditation will become a natural continuation of the practice. But in modern conditions, this does not prevent those who are not familiar with yoga from starting to meditate. According to Yulia, now there are special pillows and benches, sitting comfortably on which you can relax and do a short meditation at the end and / or beginning of the working day.

For the average city dweller, the expert advises the most basic relaxation techniques or ready-made complexes of the so-called “guided meditation”, which help both start meditating and set specific tasks for the mind so that it does not wander during practice. Our instruction will help you to master the basics of meditation on your own and start meditating correctly.

Meditation Rules

Sit with a straight back. It is the sitting position that is considered the most comfortable. It is not necessary to try to sit in the Turkish style or take the lotus position if these positions give you discomfort. The main rule is convenience. Place a pillow under your hips for maximum comfort. Imagine that you are being pulled up by the top of your head, and your spine is one straight line. Remember to keep your back straight throughout the practice.
Try to relax. Close your eyes and mentally walk through your body, stopping briefly at each of its sections. Start with your feet - feel how each toe relaxes. For simplicity, you can mentally say: “the little finger is relaxed, the ring finger is heavy and relaxed,” and so on to the very top of your head. Remember to relax your neck, eyes, face, chin, and tongue. Feel how your body becomes soft and heavy.
Don't move. After you have straightened your back and relaxed your body, try to fix this position and not move. Just sit and watch your condition. Feel how your body relaxes more and more. Be aware of what is happening around you, but do not react to it in any way. Just keep sitting still.
Concentrate on your breath. Bring all your attention to your breath. Inhalations should be shorter than exhalations. Breathe deeply, but silently. Use your diaphragm when breathing to fill your lungs with oxygen. Try to feel how the air feels in your nose, throat, chest and stomach.
Use a mantra. A mantra is a sound, word or phrase that must be repeated many times during meditation. Its purpose is to focus your attention. A short prayer, the word "Om" used in yogic practice, or any sound, such as "mmm", which causes vibrations in your body, is suitable as a mantra. For beginners in yoga, it is quite enough to simply repeat the words “inhale-exhale” simultaneously with breathing. You can say the mantra both silently and out loud.
Calm your mind. As you focus on the breath or mantra, your mind begins to calm down and focus on the present. This does not mean that you will stop thinking. Thoughts will come and go, and your goal is simply to observe them while continuing to keep your attention on the breath or mantra. Let your mind remain calm. Some days you will be able to handle the flow of thoughts more easily, some days it will be more difficult, but this should not disturb you.
Pick up the music. Music performs the same function as breathing and mantra. It helps to calm the mind and focus on the present moment. Ideally, the musical composition should be monotonous, measured and not too complex, so as not to distract you from meditation. Such properties, for example, have the music of the artist Deva Premal, who is so loved by yoga instructors. For beginners in yoga and meditation, you can use ready-made collections “for meditation”, and then choose “your” artist. Yoga teacher Julia Hemenez advises to carefully monitor your feelings. In her experience, music can both help tune in to breathing and distract, and this can only be understood by trial. Julia herself prefers to study either in silence, or to the latest techno and house music from Ibiza radio, because the rhythm of 110-120 beats per minute calms her down.
Don't overstay. There is no universal length for meditation. According to Yulia, here, again, everything is very individual and depends not only on your feelings, but also on your lifestyle and daily schedule. In any case, those who are thinking about how to start meditating correctly are advised to start with short practices - from five to 10 minutes, which can be gradually lengthened. If it is important for you to be in this state for a fixed time, set yourself a timer. Better yet, limit your practice time to music. Also, one way is to decide in advance how many inhalations and exhalations you plan to take.
Come out of meditation the right way. When you are ready to end the practice, gradually return your attention to what is happening around you. Feel the changes in your body. Gently make circular motions with your fingers and toes. Move your arms and legs. Now open your eyes and stand up slowly.
Meditate regularly. When mastering the skills of meditation, it is not the duration of the practice that is more important, but its regularity. Short "sessions" of five minutes each day will be many times more effective than two hours of meditation once a week.

Time and place for meditation

Everyone who is just mastering the technique of meditation almost always has questions about the time of day and the place of practice. The ideal time to practice depends on the goal that you set for yourself when you are about to start meditating.

For example, morning meditation right after waking up is ideal for those who are determined to practice regularly. It is during these hours that our mind is most relaxed, in addition, a five-minute morning meditation will provide you with a positive attitude for the day. Meditating in the middle of the day is a good way to "reset." Daily practice not only helps to relieve accumulated tension, but also stimulates creativity and increases mindfulness and productivity. But the purpose of evening meditation is to draw a line between work and leisure. It is ideal for those people who want to leave work problems in the office, and not carry them home. In addition, short meditation sessions can be arranged throughout the day to calm nerves or relieve stress at times when you yourself feel that you need it. But it is not recommended to meditate right before going to bed. Otherwise, after a busy day, there is a danger that your practice will turn into sleep. “Meditation in the early morning before dawn and in the evening after or during sunset is the standard,” says Julia Hemenes, while noting that she herself performs practices during the day.

For those who are just about to start meditating, it is easiest to relax at home in a familiar environment and alone with yourself. But gradually you will learn to meditate in other places as well. For example, you can get a great boost of energy by practicing outdoors to the sound of birds singing or the sound of water. And a short meditation in transport on the way home will help get rid of the stress accumulated during the day.

“Meditation is a training for the mind, which we must train in the same way as we train the body,” notes Julia Hemenes. - It is meditation practice that teaches us to be more concentrated and calm. But most importantly, it teaches us to observe ourselves through our reactions and the reactions of our mind. Meditation is a real practice of self-knowledge with our own responsibility, it is a real panacea for the inhabitants of a big city, as it teaches the silence that we lack so much here.

Photo: www.istockphoto.com

Sometimes you can hear such an expression as a powerful meditation for dummies. So, beginners, people who have barely embarked on the path of spiritual practices, these same teapots are. There are various types and techniques of meditation. And you can read about many of them in my materials. Some require serious inner preparation, understanding of the way of life and philosophy of the East, while others, on the contrary, are perfectly assimilated with the West, and can be used by modern Western seekers. Some self-guided meditation exercises are so simple that you can practice them almost anywhere you are - at home, at work, or in a crowd.

Powerful Inner Development Meditation Exercises

Powerful meditation educates you. Not immediately, imperceptibly, gradually changes come into your life. Spiritual teaching, along with changes, establishes law and order in the space of your being, structures your value system and guides you along the path of settlement and internal organization. What are regular meditation exercises at home? Spiritual practices strengthen family ties, patronize in the formation of a family, give energy to start new relationships and end old ones, open hearts to love, and heal emotional wounds.

A simple ten-minute meditation at work can energize you as a leader, promote successful career advancement, and help materialize your goals. Simple at first glance, meditation exercises at home activate any stagnant processes in life, give adepts of spiritual practices an optimistic and open view of the world, and give positive dynamics at all levels of being. If your character lacks purposefulness and determination, if inertia does not allow you, if you feel that you have fallen into the trap of stagnation and spiritual hibernation, try for a while to produce the so-called easy meditations for dummies - the simplest meditation complexes that you can easily cope with and child. These, for example, include the Vipassana technique - breathing meditation and concentration meditation.

Light meditation at work - a few minutes to replenish your energy resource

If you are seriously engaged in spiritual practices, the time will come when brute energy will not be enough for you to provide elementary life. You will need energies of a higher order - the energy of justice and karmic balance. Regular meditation exercises at work help to understand and accept other people and the whole world as they are, i.e. without identifications, illusions and personal disappointments. Meditation really helps to learn the karmic lessons of life, relieves the feeling of injustice, the feeling of guilt for one's past, eliminates the internal and external struggle, gradually, day after day, bringing a person back to life.

Meditation is not for everyone?

What is meditation? There are so many conversations about this - in all interviews, the stars necessarily tell how they meditate, there is so much mysticism around (“I meditated and it came to me”), unnecessary excitement with an admixture of mantras and chakras (“I opened my third eye”), with stories about “ going beyond the limits of consciousness”, with the unattainable for many lotus position and the smile of the Buddha… that many of us do not dare to start meditating. And this, friends, is what we all need!

Meditation is just breathing in and out...

What is meditation?

This is an opportunity for a few minutes to stop this constant noise of voices in the head, shut up all your thoughts, focus, find a connection with yourself and calm down.

A year ago, my psychoanalyst advised me to start meditating in order to give me back healthy sleep. Then, however, I dreamed of at least 6 hours of sleep. My problem was that when I woke up at night, I could no longer fall asleep precisely because of thoughts, dialogues, internal conversations and anxiety. All this took the form of a neurosis - the dream became a fear, I was afraid of the night that I would wake up again at 3 o'clock in the morning and not fall asleep again.

This is how I described my condition in 2013:

This is hell. Stopped sleeping in the truest sense of the word. Of course, I fall asleep, but then I wake up and can no longer sleep. And it's good if I woke up after 5 hours. And if I opened my eyes at 1.40, having slept for only an hour and a half? Or at 3.50? And if so for several months? What if I only had 6 hours of sleep a few times in those months?

Sleep and Meditation Apps

When I was asked to “try meditation,” I replied, “How can I try? I have no idea what it is, ”and at the same time thoughts came to mind about Eastern spiritual practices(the phrase itself is a bit scary to my Orthodox ear). Knowing how much I love all kinds of applications for the phone, my therapist recommended them to me! I downloaded dozens of applications, although there are not so many of them (* I will make a reservation that I did not find anything in Russian) - most of all hypnosis for all occasions - from losing weight to quitting smoking, and, of course, for sleep. Listening to this is unbearable! Terrible longing! They are trying to (like) put you in a trance, for this they drive the 24th or some frame into the headphones, arrange a cacophony ... It just pissed me off.

But I also found meditation. We are talking about the so-called "guided meditation" (guided meditation). After trying a few apps, I settled on the Calm app, it's partially free, but the main meditations are subscription.

habit of thinking

habit of thinking. When we meditate, it is very easy to notice how thoughts constantly come to mind. We don't think of it as a habit and an addiction, do we? We try (try) to say “no” to sugar or smoking, which are unhealthy, but the habit of clinging (grasping) to every thought that comes to mind - isn't it the same thing?
We grab onto every thought, whether it's useful or just a waste of time. Many of us are not able (never tried) to give up thoughts. What if we could say, “No more thinking, analyzing, brainstorming for today”?
Insomnia is a great example of this. Nothing spoils sleep like a constant stream of thoughts. When our brain is active, even if we eventually fall asleep, the thought process does not stop. Sleep shallow (deep sleep phase does not occur). It doesn’t matter if the reason is excitement from what is happening in life or something else, we wake up tired. It was this cause of insomnia that tormented me, and perhaps it torments you too, and the reason depends on thoughts. We cling to every thought that comes to mind as if we had no choice. Meditation will help get rid of this addiction.

Let's start breathing...

Meditation: start breathing

For meditation, you need to find a comfortable position (it is not necessary to sit in the lotus position with a straight back, this is recommended for concentration - you can meditate anywhere and in any position - standing, sitting, in the subway (there is meditation for the road in my application), and at night we, of course, lie down. And start breathing. Breathe naturally.

With each exhalation, imagine your body getting heavier and heavier. You put more and more pressure on the bed/on the chair/on the floor (it gives you relaxation - you're not really pushing anywhere, it's all in your head).
Try different ways to control your breathing. For example, take a deep breath and say “one” at the end; on the exhale, when the lungs are completely empty, say "two" - this way you concentrate on the breath. Believe me, now I just have enough breath to quickly fall asleep if I woke up at night.
No psychosis, just breathe. The rhythm of breathing is natural, the count follows the breath, and not vice versa. After a while, the head should empty, keep breathing. Instead of counting, you can mentally pronounce almost anything, for example, for each exhalation, say the word “love” or “happiness” to yourself. In English, you can say I am (inhale “I”, exhale “Am”). You can concentrate on the area of the heart and send heat there ...
Our task is an empty head and even breathing. If a thought takes you away from your concentration on your breath, gently let go of that thought (in the form of a cloud, for example: see, it flew away?) and return to your breath. Inhale - exhale, inhale - exhale ... Breathe!

Inhale - exhale, inhale - exhale ... Breathe!

Live in the moment

You will notice that thoughts come to mind every second and how easy it is to catch on to a thought, and now you no longer follow your breath and worry again. What to do - habit of thinking! Our attention slips away from the present moment in which we now live and we move into memories, plans, conversations ... This eternal chorus in the head! It is clear that we need to think, but often we don’t think about how many times we start doing something and thoughts take us far away ... So it is with meditation - instead of concentrating on breathing, we begin to chew on daytime conversations, meetings and partings ...

There is another technique that can help. Ask yourself how useful is this thought? Is it useful to scroll through a conversation that was a week ago? What is productive about it? Thinking about what we will eat for dinner… Or writing letters that we will send tomorrow - is it really more important than our breath now (not to mention the fact that we will forget everything in the morning)? So if you catch yourself thinking, bring yourself back to the present moment and watch your breath again. Breathe in, breathe out... over and over...

Being obsessed with the notion of possibly having a conversation with your mom or an obnoxious co-worker is simply unwise. It eats up our lives, it's unproductive as hell. We can't predict how events will play out and I'm not saying that we are mostly obsessed with imaginary conversations that will never happen! This needs to be stopped, it corrodes the nervous system, I went crazy from it! Get back to breathing. If during the day you feel that thoughts have become uncontrollable, take a couple of minutes, close your eyes and breathe, get rid of this vicious thought process - this is the main task of meditation. Zen people can meditate during a rock concert!

* It is clear that at first it is not easy, but the more often we practice saying “No” to our thoughts and living in the present moment, the better and better our condition will be. Meditation gives a person control over his thoughts, which is otherwise completely unthinkable (forgive the expression).

In terms of time - 5 minutes a day is enough, it is best to have a routine and make meditation a habit. For some it is convenient in the morning (the head is not yet clogged), for some before going to bed to relax. You can’t sleep/get crazy/tired – stop the flow of thoughts and start breathing, gradually your breathing becomes slower, you breathe consciously, you feel your body… Just try it. It's not boring, we focus on our favorite subject - ourselves)

The material turned out to be huge, but I didn’t tell even half of what I planned ... I hope that this will help someone. I will be glad to the comments of those who have never tried it and those who are already meditating.

In the pursuit of time, we only drive ourselves more. It's time for everyone to re-read Carnegie, about how to "Calm down and start living." As a child, his advice was a big revelation for me. Helped a lot.
Katya, have you tried listening to asmr to relax? I really like asmrmania on UT, and I also like double valerian, I immediately fall asleep)))

Katya, have you read the book “Awareness. How to find harmony in our crazy world” by Mark Williams, Danny Penman? Highly recommend. Just about the fact that we are not our thoughts, and how to let them go and look at them from the outside.

Katyusha, it was very interesting to read your story. I just started learning meditation (TTC courses). But, I already understood the main thing, as you shared above: you need to think less about past situations (dialogs, including), about future events and live in the present, appreciate the moment you are in.
I am sure that your sleep has improved, as well as your general condition.

Kate, thank you so much for this post! I was good at meditating in vehicles (although this is strange) - I closed my eyes, breathed and did not think about anything. But now I have a car, you won’t relax in it) But I can’t at home! That's all I can't do! Wherever she sits, everything is uncomfortable, something / someone interferes, it seems that one of the relatives will enter or the phone will ring. I don’t know how to learn how to switch off at home just like in transport

Katya, thank you very much!
Another such disconnection from thoughts helps at work. Inhale-exhale, rhythm, pace, without thoughts and emotions. Only a few times I managed to do this - there is a feeling that you can fly. But it is difficult for me to keep this state. Meditation is very powerful.

Katya, thanks! In previous articles I wanted to ask the question, how to start meditating? And now you wrote - it's great.
I’m not very successful yet, but I remembered how I was at a science festival with a friend (a children’s event, actually), and there was a kind of mind-ball where I “won” everyone. The bottom line is that sensors are put on the head, which seem to read the activity of the brain. And there is a ball, it first lies in the middle of the “field”-table, at the same distance from two players, and then it starts moving FROM the one with less brain activity. That is, a more relaxed one, as it were, “scores a goal” for a tense one. There, as a rule, there is a monitor with a graph of this activity. In general, I literally scored a goal in 10 seconds to everyone who sat down with me, according to the graphs, it was clear that my brain, so to speak, was out. Even the organizers were surprised that I could switch off like that.
But the problem is that at home this effect is difficult to repeat. I'm going to look at the apps

I also occasionally have problems with sleep and, by the way, I also save myself by meditation. In general, I try to get up early in the morning and devote at least 5 minutes to meditation, sometimes it works out, sometimes not at all :))) But the thing is definitely useful!

Thanks for the helpful post and good info. Meditation and yoga also help me. I also love this kind of meditation: in the midst of the bustle, “turn off” from everything and watch the world around you: how the wind shakes the branches, the leaves fall, the cars drive. Just turn off your head and watch. Literally a couple of minutes. Very cool

I, too, used to have a skeptical attitude towards meditation, something from the series “Hari Krishna, Hari Rama”, and since I hate all religious manifestations, meditation was more of a dirty word. However, I read here a book by a former alcoholic who wrote that through meditation and yoga, his nervous system became much calmer and sleep, ruined by years of abuse, became normal again, he refused strong sleeping pills. I also decided to try it out of curiosity, downloaded the application on my phone, did it for 3-5 minutes a day without expecting sensational results. as a result, for six months now I have not touched alcohol, without an exhausting struggle with cravings. I stopped just trembling in the same scenario “I feel so bad, give me my daily 2-3 bottles of champagne to turn off the noise in my head”, this state is gone, my emotional background has stabilized! however, it seems to me that meditation helped me because I did not expect anything from it, it just happened so fortunately.

I have been practicing meditation since the age of 15 (now 40), then there was TM (Transcendental Meditation). For 10 years she practiced only her, then she began to try other practices.
It is always so strange and surprising for me to read about “difficult”, “terrible” and all that, this is by no means arrogance, it’s just that meditation is so simple and natural, but for some reason meditation means only vipassana, and complete silence, thoughtlessness, a state of emptiness. At TM we were taught that there is no right or wrong meditation. successful or not successful, each meditation is correct and successful, whatever it is, it is impossible to make a mistake or do something “wrong”.

My favorite descriptions from simple, “for dummies”:
1. Esther and Jerry Hicks (the teachings of Abraham) in the book "Teachings on the embodiment of desires in life" process No. 6. They also give recommendations on how to meditate (very simple), and explain that meditation is running and walking and listening to music and even driving a car.

2. Deepak Chopra in 100 Days of Healing Pain from Suffering (the book is priceless!)
Day 54
I will learn to connect with my source.
The first step is calm awareness.
This affirmation is about meditation. Meditation is the practice of going within to achieve an awareness deeper than thinking. Meditation is not just a time spent in peace and quiet, although both are necessary. You are returning to the source. Make it a habit for you to find time to be alone, preferably in the morning and evening, when you can close your eyes and immerse yourself. There are many types of meditation. A simple but very effective way is meditation on the heart. Sitting in a comfortable position, focus on the center of the chest under the sternum. When you are calm, say the word "peace" to yourself and watch how its influence spreads in all directions from your body. Repeat three times. After that, say the word "happiness" in the same way. After repeating three times, go to the words "harmony", "laughter" and "love". For longer meditation, you can repeat these words for as long as you like. Start with a five minute session and work your way up to half an hour. After finishing the session, sit quietly for a few minutes to experience the simplicity of calm awareness.

Hello!!! I have the same sleep problem as you, especially if trouble or or stress is coming - the night turns into hell. Only Gurdjieff's method helps me - how can I stop the internal dialogue: we lie down trying to relax, I try to relax the muscles of my face, then slowly start counting to 10. As soon as we catch ourselves thinking (any), we start counting again. The account is “chewing gum for the mind”, nothing more. At first, thoughts simply deafen, then they subside and there is a chance to fall asleep. It is also good to look at the flame of a candle.

To stop the internal dialogue, it is enough to relax the root of the tongue. It's easier than fighting thoughts.
It is also good to relax the hands, it is believed that when the hands are relaxed, we do not hold anything, and relax completely.

Andrei Duiko gave such an exercise, however, for back pain. But, he says that the back hurts when a person does not relax enough in a dream, and in order to relax well and fully rest at night, one must imagine oneself in bed as a stone, a large, heavy black stone, on which the sun shines. And as you inhale, speak to yourself with, as you exhale, the face.

Katya, the following technique helped me a lot: take a deep breath for 4 counts, hold your breath for 7 counts, exhale the air until your lungs are empty for 8 counts. Two repetitions are enough for me to pass out. It is said that such breathing slows down the beating of the heart.

What does it mean to "meditate on something"? This means that you purposefully concentrate your consciousness on something or on someone, and then you come into contact on a subtle plane with the object of meditation, regardless of what nature it has (spiritual or material) and where it is located (at what distance and in what world). During meditation, you perceive the qualities that the object of meditation has. Therefore, it is necessary to choose the object of meditation very seriously.

The holy scriptures recommend practicing only meditation on the transcendental world - the world beyond the sense perception of material reality - and meditation on God or saintly persons. Meditation on something material, for me personally, is experimental in nature, and it is known that it is generally harmful. Meditating on another person or their qualities makes sense if that person is a saint or has the qualities of a holy person. Prolonged meditation on an ordinary person can be harmful both to you and to cause anxiety to this person. The ideal option is to meditate on the personality of God or on his aspects (love, infinity, abundance, transcendental world).

Meditation on material objects

When you meditate on a material object, you will experience the destruction of that object. Since all matter is destroyed and on the subtle plane, this is one of its main aspects. Therefore, such meditation is meaningless and unpleasant.

Meditation on a person's personality

A person's personality is a fairly clear and obvious object for meditation. Therefore, meditation on a person can be effective for people who begin the practice of meditation. By meditating on a holy person, you enrich your personality with the qualities of a holy person that give you spiritual growth.

Meditation on Superhuman Personalities

Meditating on the personality of the Sun - one of the most important personalities in our universe - you will feel incomparable joy and enrich yourself with a joyful perception of the world and the energy of creation. Meditating on the personality of the Moon - also one of the most important personalities in our universe - you will be enriched with a sense of harmony and peace.

Meditation on the Supreme Personality of Godhead

Meditation on God is an activity of the highest meaning of human existence, therefore it is recommended to engage in meditation on the transcendent world and on God (which is essentially almost the same thing). As a variant: meditation on universal love (essentially it is a meditation on the aspect of God).

Preparation and time

Preparing for meditation comes down to simple things: choosing a place and time for meditation, and bathing. The best time is early morning hours from 4:30 am to 7 am. Meditation requires privacy, so find an opportunity to stay for 2 hours in as quiet a place as possible. Nothing and no one should distract you.

Immediately before meditation, take a cold shower (this is recommended for men in hot summers) or simply wash your head, face and feet with cold water. Washing with cold water is necessary to remove the accumulated subtle dirty energy, so women with long hair can wash their heads after putting a bathing cap on their heads (so as not to wet their hair). Without wudu, it will be much more difficult for you to overcome the uncontrolled appearance of thoughts (mind activity).

Situation

Solitude and silence are the basic requirements for an environment for meditation. The exception is music and the voice of saints. Often they help to achieve purification of consciousness. What is needed for meditation. Light a candle and place it in front of you. A candle is not a mandatory attribute of meditation, but helps to calm the mind, focus and clear the mind.

Pose

Sit down and cross your legs under you. The inner part of one foot is in full contact with the opposite leg, the other is partially. It is important that the legs are crossed and the feet look slightly up. At the same time, lean on something with your back. You should be comfortable. But you should avoid too soft surfaces that are too comfortable - the position of the back should be as straight as possible and extended upwards towards the sky. The arms are relaxed and lie so that the outer side of the wrists is in contact with your legs (the hands look almost up). You should sit on a surface that is soft enough so that your legs do not get numb too quickly.

mood

The first stage of meditation is relaxation and purification. Focus on your breath to relax. Pass mentally throughout the body - gradually relax the legs, back, arms, neck and head. First, concentrate in order on small areas of the body - on each finger, each muscle. Then "walk" through the body from head to toe, increasing the relaxation zones (feet, shoulders, face, etc.). After several such "passes" you will be able to give a general command to the whole body to relax, without concentrating on its individual parts.

Purification of consciousness is required so that you can better concentrate on the object of meditation. If your thoughts are rushing about, then you need to clear your mind. There is an effective way to do this. Start repeating “I wish everyone happiness” (out loud or mentally), putting into it the natural impulse of your soul. This impulse comes from the region of the heart in the center of the chest. You should feel warmth and light within you. Radiate this feeling along with the words "I wish everyone happiness." This may take up to 1 hour.

Concentration

To simplify concentration on the transcendental world, there is the sound Om. The sound “Ommm” should come from the chest - as if you are reproducing it with all your life force, the center of which is in the solar plexus. On the pronunciation of "o" you feel energy in the solar plexus. The sound of "o" makes your whole body vibrate and activate the energy centers that are located along your spine. Energy begins to rise from the lower centers to the higher ones (up to the top of the head). When you start to pull “mmm”, the concentration of attention is transferred to the point between the eyebrows and you feel the expansion of your consciousness, going beyond the horizon to infinity. At the same time, the sound “o-m-m-m” seems to press on your palate, and vibrations appear in your head. Then you look through the brow point at the world to infinity and realize its unimaginable scale. When you feel that your consciousness has gone far beyond the premises and is not limited by the material framework of the world, for example, you concentrate your consciousness on God, pronouncing his name (aloud or mentally).

At some point you will lose concentration on the object, then repeat everything starting with the sound Om.

If you concentrate on God or his aspect, then fix your concentration on the highest and finally dissolve (attach) to this state. You must be completely There - all your attention must go beyond you and beyond the limits of the surrounding matter as much as possible. The feeling of infinite love will come to you immediately. You will feel how this love fills everything around you, including you. Stay in this state for as long as possible. This is one of the possible goals of meditation, which elevates you spiritually. In fact, you use the potency of your soul. Each time you meditate like this, you strengthen your connection with God and cleanse yourself both spiritually and physically.

What is meditation? There are so many conversations about this - in all interviews, the stars necessarily tell how they meditate, there is so much mysticism around (“I meditated and it came to me”), unnecessary excitement with an admixture of mantras and chakras (“I opened my third eye”), with stories about “ going beyond the limits of consciousness”, with the unattainable for many lotus position and the smile of the Buddha ... that many of us do not dare to start meditating.

Meditation is not for everyone?

And this, friends, is what we all need!

Meditation is just breathing in and out...

What is meditation?

This is an opportunity for a few minutes to stop this constant noise of voices in the head, shut up all your thoughts, focus, find a connection with yourself and calm down.

A year ago, my psychoanalyst advised me to start meditating in order to give me back healthy sleep. Then, however, I dreamed of at least 6 hours of sleep. My problem was that when I woke up at night, I could no longer fall asleep precisely because of thoughts, dialogues, internal conversations and anxiety. All this took the form of a neurosis - the dream became fear, I was afraid of the night that I would wake up again at 3 o'clock in the morning and not fall asleep again.

This is how I described my condition in 2013:

This is hell. Stopped sleeping in the truest sense of the word. Of course, I fall asleep, but then I wake up and can no longer sleep. And it's good if I woke up after 5 hours. And if I opened my eyes at 1.40, having slept for only an hour and a half? Or at 3.50? And if so for several months? What if I only had 6 hours of sleep a few times in those months?

Sleep and Meditation Apps

To the suggestion to “try meditation,” I replied, “How can I try? I have no idea what it is, ”and at the same time thoughts came to mind about Eastern spiritual practices(the phrase itself is a bit scary to my Orthodox ear). Knowing how much I love all kinds of applications for the phone, my therapist recommended them to me! I downloaded dozens of applications, although there are not so many of them (* I will make a reservation that I did not find anything in Russian) - most of all hypnosis for all occasions - from losing weight to quitting smoking, and, of course, for sleep. Listening to this is unbearable! Terrible longing! They are trying to (like) put you in a trance, for this they drive the 24th or some frame into the headphones, arrange a cacophony ... It just pissed me off.

habit of thinking

When we meditate, it is very easy to notice how thoughts constantly come to mind. We don't think of it as a habit and an addiction, do we? We try (try) to say "no" to sugar or smoking, which are unhealthy, but the habit of clinging (grasping) to every thought that comes to mind - isn't it the same thing?
We grab onto every thought, whether it's useful or just a waste of time. Many of us are not able (never tried) to give up thoughts. What if we could say, “No more thinking, analyzing, brainstorming for today”?
Insomnia is a great example of this. Nothing spoils sleep like a constant stream of thoughts. When our brain is active, even if we eventually fall asleep, the thought process does not stop. Sleep shallow (deep sleep phase does not occur). It doesn't matter if the reason for this is excitement from what is happening in life or something else, we wake up tired. It was this cause of insomnia that tormented me, and perhaps it torments you too, and the reason depends on thoughts. We cling to every thought that comes to mind as if we had no choice. Meditation will help get rid of this addiction.

Let's start breathing...

Meditation: start breathing

With each exhalation, imagine your body getting heavier and heavier. You put more and more pressure on the bed/on the chair/on the floor (it gives you relaxation - you're not really pushing anywhere, it's all in your head).
Try different ways to control your breathing. For example, take a deep breath and say "one" at the end; on the exhale, when the lungs are completely empty, say "two" - this way you concentrate on the breath. Believe me, now I just have enough breath to quickly fall asleep if I woke up at night.
No psychosis, just breathe. The rhythm of breathing is natural, the count follows the breath, and not vice versa. After a while, the head should empty, keep breathing. Instead of counting, you can mentally pronounce almost anything, for example, for each exhalation, say the word “love” or “happiness” to yourself. In English, you can say I am (inhale "I", exhale "Am"). You can concentrate on the area of the heart and send heat there ...
Our task is an empty head and even breathing. If a thought takes you away from your concentration on your breath, gently let go of that thought (in the form of a cloud, for example: see, it flew away?) and return to your breath. Inhale - exhale, inhale - exhale ... Breathe!

Inhale - exhale, inhale - exhale ... Breathe!

Live in the moment

You will notice that thoughts come to mind every second and how easy it is to catch on to a thought, and now you no longer follow your breath and worry again. What to do - habit of thinking! Our attention slips away from the present moment in which we now live and we move into memories, plans, conversations ... This eternal chorus in the head! It is clear that we need to think, but often we don’t think about how many times we start doing something and thoughts take us far away ... So it is with meditation - instead of concentrating on breathing, we begin to chew through daytime conversations, meetings and partings ...

There is another technique that can help. Ask yourself how useful is this thought? Is it useful to scroll through a conversation that was a week ago? What is productive about it? Thinking about what we will eat for lunch ... Or composing letters that we will send tomorrow - is it really more important than our breath now (not to mention the fact that we will forget everything in the morning)? So if you catch yourself thinking, bring yourself back to the present moment and watch your breath again. Breathe in, breathe out... over and over...

This needs to be stopped, it corrodes the nervous system, I went crazy from it!

Get back to breathing. If during the day you feel that thoughts have become uncontrollable, take a couple of minutes, close your eyes and breathe, get rid of this vicious thought process - this is the main task of meditation. Zen people can meditate during a rock concert!

It is clear that this is not easy at first, but the more often we practice saying “No” to our thoughts and living in the present moment, the better and better our condition will be.

Meditation gives a person control over his thoughts, which is otherwise completely unthinkable (forgive the expression).

In terms of time - 5 minutes a day is enough, it is best to have a routine and make meditation a habit. For some it is convenient in the morning (the head is not yet clogged), for some before going to bed to relax. Can’t sleep / freak out / tired - interrupt the flow of thoughts and start breathing, gradually breathing becomes slower, you breathe consciously, you feel your body ...

Just try. It's not boring, we focus on our favorite subject - ourselves)

The material turned out to be huge, but I didn’t tell even half of what I planned ...

Hope this helps someone. I will be glad to the comments of those who have never tried it and those who are already meditating.